CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

[handball]

I recently read a report written by a noted florida surveyor regarding his opinion on crusader and another unnamed competitor.From other articles he has written about problems with mercruiser engines it seems this competitor might be mercruiser. My question is for you experienced mechanics that deal with engine problems do you feel that regarding the 350 blocks that crusader is that superior? One of the things mentioned is that on crusader engines the risers are included on the fresh water side of the cooling circuit and on the mercruisers they are salt water cooled causing many engines to swallow water when they fail, which he says happens quite often.He also mentioneds crusaders have 4- bolt stepped and stabilized main bearing caps, whereas the other engines have 2- bolt unstepped, unstabilized main bearing caps.Another problem that is mentioned is that mercruiser uses head gaskets that on sea water cooled engines only last about 4 to 6 years before they fail and cause real problems.<br />The reason I am concerned is the boat make {sea ray} that I am considering buying seems to be only outfitted with mercruiser 350 cubic inch 260 h.p.engines and only rarely can you find crusaders in a sea ray.<br />Is the mercruiser engine problems that bad? should I avoid sea ray boats in order to find a boat with crusader engines in it?<br />The boat that I am really interested in is the 30 ft. weekender which normally has twin mercruiser inboards about 1989 vintage.

 

[magster65]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

All 3 mercruisers I've owned have coolant in the manifolds and the raw water dumps in the riser only. My Chris Crafts exhaust was at least 20 years old w/ salt water use only. They were way overdue (had no money those days) but never failed. There's horror stories with every brand. Mercruiser makes good equipment. I prefer it.

 

[Bondo]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

AS to the cooling system issues, I can't say...I'm living in,+ around Freshwater... Manifolds,+ risers seem to last Damn near Forever....<br />AS to the basic Block issues, They BOTH use Chevy Blocks..... 2 bolt blocks are Stepped just like the 4 bolt blocks.... I haven't a Clue what "stablized" refers too... ALL main bearings are Stabilized.. They Move,+ your Done !!! A 2 bolt block is Plenty Strong Enough for 400hp, 5500rpms... Your Not building a Race Engine for a 30' boat.... BTW, Merc. uses the 4 bolt blocks only on the Magnum Series engines...<br />As for the head gaskets, the Only Bad ones i've come accross, went bad for Other reasons(overheats,etc.)... All the engines I deal with are Raw water cooled, In Freshwater.... Besides, you're looking at a Closed Cooling, So It's Not Even an Issue...<br /><br />In Closing, Go buy the boat of your Dreams... <br /><br />Mercruiser Builds a Very Fine Product......

 

[hydrabass]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

the reason the crusader era ended in searays was that the company was bought out buy brunswich , which is the company that owns merc. it wasn't that one was better than the other .just for your info.

 

[conimicut1]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

it seems to me the main arguement is the cooling issue. I don't have any experience on the overall benifits of fresh/raw water cooling. You can convert. The blocks should be very similar. A 4 bolt main is not needed for RPMs, they are best on trucks which can experience low RPM detonation during towing. The detonation trys to bang out the main bearings. The chevys have a great stock bottom end.<br /><br />If you are looking at the boat of that age, figure just replacing the manifolds and risers in the cost. Go fresh water cooling if you are worried. The issue I read sometimes with twin motors is if there is OK room in the bilge to really accomadate them. If they are crammed in there I guess there are heat issues and such. I'd search for problems with the baot itself, not the drive. And figure repair costs and getting a choice of mechanics, especially on an older boat, mercruiser wins easily on that topic.<br /><br />One last thing, Mercruiser is the biggest sterndrive builder, up to 90% of the market. SeaRay is huge too. They gotta be doing something right.

 

[mabbott]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

In my opinion,,,this will solve both problems/issues.<br /><br />Tiara 31 with 454 Crusaders.

 

[JAZZedBW]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

Is it true that if you boat in fresh water only, you don't have to have Closed Cooling?<br /><br />JAZZ

 

[DJ]

Re: CRUSADER OR MERCRUISER

JAZZ,<br /><br />You do not NEED closed cooling in either salt or fresh. However, the engine, manifolds, etc. will last alot longer if you do.<br /><br />Many bodies of fresh water are nearly as corrosive as salt.