Crankshaft Rebuilding

[emodisette]

I own a 1995 200 HP Johnson pushing a Cajun just over 20' long. After running at 6000 rpm (maybe a little more) for a few minutes, the weakest link on my motor finally gave out. It happened to be the #5 Piston Rod connector where it wraps around the crankshaft. Needless to say, the #5 "chicken-neck" on the crank is pretty busted up, and needs to be replaced. The cheapest new crankshaft that I have found is $2200 bucks. I have found a few places in Texas that will rebuild this section for about $700 to $800. Is a rebuilt crank reliable? Assuming that the machinist knows what he's doing. Or should I bite the bullet & get a new crank or a rebuilt motor which I've found for about $3200 to $4000. Does anyone know of any reliable machinist's in the U.S. that I can ship my crank to?

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Crankshaft Rebuilding

Check out neecaprecisions.com or get a used crank. These are not a normal wear item so there's plenty of good used ones out there.<br />I'm surprised running 6000RPM caused damage, I'm sure the V-6 experts will have some questions.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Crankshaft Rebuilding

I agree. Lots of used ones around. Pauls suggestion, as always, is good. If you have trouble getting a good used one locally call Jack at Superior Marine at 800-338-9281.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Crankshaft Rebuilding

Oh, and I also agree that the 6000 rpm didn't do it unless it was 6000 in neutral for an extended period. We run the stock crank, rod and bearings at 9000+ with no problem. Most likely there was an issue with the rod bearing first.

 

[emodisette]

Re: Crankshaft Rebuilding

GOOD NEWS!!! Neeca did the job w/ great results! It cost me about $450.00 to get the crank done and a few other items that was discussed (checked main & upper bearings, replaced lower bearing, straightened crank, etc) and $60 bucks for shipping. Instead of welding new metal to replace the old, they grind it down & use oversize bearings. I've had the motor complete for about 2 1/2 months now and it runs smooth. After getting the new pistons & parts, I realized that pistons #3 & #5 were oversized by 20 so back to the store I went. Obviously, something like this happened before & word didn't get to me from the seller! It cost me about $2500 in parts & tools to do the complete rebuild which was much less than the $2500 to $5000 quotes that I was getting which didn't include fixing the crank. I also installed a water pressure gauge, temp gauge, & a new safety horn (which was fried & not working). The only problem that I ran into was after I was finished, the motor had an intermittent miss when idling, & top speed was 35 mph @ 4000 rpm compared to 68 mph @ 5800 rpm before. I thought that maybe the boat needed a tune up so I took it to a marine shop to pay out $250 just for them to tell me that I had cylinder coil wires # 2 & #4 swapped!! Oh, well, I'm happy that I'm back on the water & thankful to NEECA for helping me make it happen. And it probably would still be sitting up in my yard if not for iboats! Thanks so much for the help & info!

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Crankshaft Rebuilding

Cranks aren't a problem to build up and re-machine, if the shop is set up to re-cut cranks.....gotta run them off center to cut the journal after welding it up....no big deal