Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

[POINTER94]

I have been doing a minor restoration on my boat and I was over at a friend's house doing a surge brake job. Had to order parts on line so I left my boat in his driveway for about a week. I went over tonight and next to my boat was a boat he had salted away for 3-4 years behind the garage. 1979 AMF fiberglass crestliner with the 470. She's a little rough, but I see a bright future.

He is a solid engine guy so this is his business, and he is encouraged that it is half a ford 460. I have heard that this engine is problematic. We popped the engine cover and it has a cooling system. Very unusal for my neck of the woods here in Wisconsin. Do all 470's have this type of closed cooling system and what is up with the lack of an alternator? I have searched the forum but my search criteria is coming up with zip. What charges the battery? I have seen the retrofit kits but retrofit from what??

He has ordered a solinoid for the starter and I guess is motivated to get this rig back to seaworthyness. Engines are not my specialty but he see's no problem with the 470, and I don't want to discourge him based on my research.

 

[dubs283]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

yes all 470's have closed cooling

i would run away from that boat as fast as i could!!!

 

[JustJason]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

470s use an outboard style charging system... and they aren't very reliable. They are big money to convert to an alternator and bigger money to fix them when they break.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

he is encouraged that it is half a ford 460

I was pretty discouraged by a whole 460......I would be less excited by a 1/2 a 460..... and an aluminum one at that!!

In good running condition the 3.7 is said to run well......It's when they have problems that everything goes downhill.....

 

[dubs283]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

In good running condition the 3.7 is said to run well.....

running well = running like a tractor

 

[45Auto]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

Hard to believe you can't find anything out about the 470 from searching. What search engine are you using???? I get PAGES of crap about them any time I do a search.

This link has a pretty concise rundown of what to look out for on the 470. Make sure you read the bottom of the page, "Other Issues with the 470", not just the top couple of pages about the cam wear/coolant leak issue:

http://www.sterndrives.com/470information/470coolantleakrepair.html

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

Mr. Pointer, long time.....
The only thing Ford about the 470 is & it's various mutations is the head.......
The rest was designed by Merc, an experiment gone horribly wrong, IMHO.....
The ignition has a stator & such & can be upgraded to an alternator, for like $500, when it goes.....
The cam seal is funky & will leak coolant into the oil when it goes....
The older heat exchangeres need to be upgraded from 3" to 4", because they weren't getting the job done....
The only upside is that these engines pack alot of punch for their size & weight....
My advice is to get it running & sell it while it is running good.....

 

[mylesm260]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

.......a 3.7 is like the inside of a burning building....

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Ok, I have heard the complaints and now I have seen one.

If he is an "engine guy" he should get a kick out of this one! First off it is not "half a 460". it is a Mercruiser aluminum block with a Ford 460 cast iron head. They are very prone to head gasket failure, so first thing is a compression test. Low numbers in 3 or 4 indicate gasket/valve problems. The "alternator" is part of the harmonic balancer, and expensive to fix. If it is not charging, go with a alternator kit. It probably has a 3" heat exchanger, but it really needs a 4" to cool it adequately. It is a good little engine when it runs, so have fun.