Newbie engine question

[Sacredgrooves]

I am looking at a 9 year old Stingray 190RS. The engine is the 4.3 with 300 hours. What is considered "excessive" in engine hours (i.e. may be looking at replacing/rebuilding soon) taking into account above average maintenance and overall care of the boat?
Worst case scenario, the 4.3 needs replaced/rebuilt down the road; what is a typical cost associated with this job?
I cannot seem to narrow my search results down well enough to find these answers in a timely manner, so thanks for any help!

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Newbie engine question

That is not a lot of hours.Especially if it is a fresh water cooled motor or was run in fresh water.Even a raw water cooled salt engine that was properly maintained and flushed is not on the down side of its career.Do a compression test and run it and watch the temp to see if it climbs.Raw water system should run at around 140-150 degrees.A closed system should run around 180ish .Charlie

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Newbie engine question

Some people can trash an engine or boat in a matter of a few hours. Others can make an engine last for many thousands of hours through careful operation and preventive maintenance. Most engines are killed by neglect or inexperience. Condition and appearance of the boat and trailer may be an indicator of how well the engine and drive were cared for -- but that is no guarantee. Ask questions, and have the boat surveyed if you are not mechanically inclined and can't run specific tests yourself. There are lots of 40 year old outboards and I/Os out there that have never had any major work done to them.

 

[Sacredgrooves]

Re: Newbie engine question

Thanks for the info! I cannot seem to find a Marine Surveyor in my area (Raleigh, NC) any suggestions on how to locate one?
I have restored/replaced motors in classic cars so I assume that knowledge will convey to a degree, but until I dig in, a boat is a magical creature lol.
My only boating experience is 3 trips out on an old problematic Renken I temporarily owned and a handful of rides on friends boats.
This boat was used on a medium size (10,000 or so acre) freshwater lake and stored in a climate controlled garage when not in use(so they say lol).
Aesthetically this boat looks closer to 2-3 years old than the actual age of 9.

Here is a link to the boat if it helps. I got the price down about a grand.

http://www.theraleighboatexchange.com/stingray190rs.htm

 

[Muqwump]

Re: Newbie engine question

You shouldnt have much problems with that one but i would take it for a test run with the owner first.

 

[liquidlew]

Re: Newbie engine question

If you have to check it yourself, look at all the fliuds for signs of water, look in the bilge for high water marks (not good), run engine and check operation of outdrive. If at all possible try to do a compression check. Listen to the voice of experience, I didn't check the compression when I bought my first boat, it looked nice it stared up and ran fine so I rolled the dice and later found out after having difficulty starting on the water that I had low compression in one cylinder, and in the 2 years I've had it I've had to replace starter, outdrive motor, rebuild carb, manifolds and risers, and valve job.

The good news here is that the 4.3 Merc is a really good motor, even with a bad cylinder I hit 45 (on my speedometer, accuracy?) and was able to get an adult skier up with 4 people in the boat! And I just have a 2 bbl carb! I just put it all back together after having the heads done and total cost for valve job, new manifolds/risers, gasket kit, water circ pump, intake manifold (old one fell apart) thermostat, all new hoses, outdrive impeller and fluids, misc. items, bandaids and beer, about $1800. My local shop quoted me $2700 JUST to r&r the heads and get it running, no other new parts. You will learn to do it yourself unless you have a large $ tree in your back yard. And get the factory Merc Manuals! Very nice looking boat you are looking at, good luck!

 

[Lou C]

Re: Newbie engine question

That boat really looks close to new, man what a difference fresh water use makes. Here in the salt pond a boat that age would never look that good!
Anyway to me the main things are: check for hull damage, soft spots on deck (carpeted floors, carpet holds moisture) pull out the rear jump seats and check under there, look in ski locker, finally check transom and what you can see of motor mount stringers. You can check the transom to an extent by pulling up and down on the skeg of the drive and see if the glass flexes, should not flex at all.
As far as the mechanicals, the engine should start well and idle smoothly, run well at low and high speeds, and the drive should shift correctly into and out of gear. The Alpha drive being a dog clutch will 'clunk' into gear but there should be no grinding, jumping out of gear, or difficulty finding neutral on the water. Engine temp should be normal (depending on the 'stat, could be about 145 or 165). Run it long enough to let it get fully warmed up and if the water conditions permit do a few WOT runs. Keep an eye on the engine temp and oil press and listen for odd noises. Pull the dipstick before and after running to check the oil level, condition and appearance (should look like clear honey if changed recently, no milky appearance which suggests water). Finally if they will let you, pull the bottom drain on the drive with the boat on land to see of water comes out before the gear oil, that suggests leaking seals in the drive.
Only thing I see on that one that might concern me is the one piece Merc manifolds which are not made anymore. There is a conversion kit from Merc to use the 2 piece units but it will be a little costly. In fresh water use they will last for years though.
Good luck the pix are nice, I bet you will enjoy it if it checks out.