Throwing in the towel.

[fparkell]

Have a 1974, 28" Silverton w/ twin 305 mercruisers. The boat has a new refrigerator, all accessories, etc. Have been informed by a boat mechanic that the port engine is on the fritz, possibly a cracked cam shaft. Can anyone advise how to get any money out of a boat like this? Have already put enough money into it and am looking to cut and run. Are there boat salvage yards that would pay a nominal amount of money?

Minimally there is $250.00 dollars worth of gas in it!!

 

[cooter2506]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Doubt a salvage yard would give you much for it. Put it on ebay or craigslist and get what you can out of it. But I think I would get a pump and get that gas out of there and use it in your trcuk, car lawn mower and or your buddies can buy some off of you.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Have been informed by a boat mechanic that the port engine is on the fritz, possibly a cracked cam shaft.

Ok,


I'll bite.......... How does this "Mechanic" know it has a "cracked camshaft"?

 

[skargo]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

So one engine going south is the only issue?

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Ok,


I'll bite.......... How does this "Mechanic" know it has a "cracked camshaft"?

Oh oh oh, ME Too! How in the heck can he make a diagnosis like that??? Does he have x-ray vision?

(Hint, broken camshafts on Small Block Chevies are not very common, at all.)

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

When was the last time you found an "easy to get to" spark plug on a Marine engine? And the mechanic says "cracked" camshaft, not broken. So, I'll ask AGAIN (for the smart alecks who think they know everything), how can he diagnose a cracked camshaft, unless the motor is apart, which the original poster has not told us?
Something is fishy here. Is the mechanic offering to take the boat off your hands?

 

[gadget73]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Cast iron is pretty brittle. If its going to crack, it goes all the way through in just about every case. Detecting a broken cam is really simple though, watch the distributor and pull a valve cover. Spin the motor and watch it. If the distributor doesn't spin, and only some of the valves work you definitely have a broken cam. With a Ford, thats opposite but the general idea still applies.

usually the only way those snap is from being way over-revved. At my last job, we had 4 pieces of a cam on the shelf that came out of a big block. The boat came out of the water jumping a wave at WOT, it spun to the moon and kablam went the camshaft.


Gonna have a hard time selling a boat with a dead motor. fresh motor probably runs you maybe 2 grand, plus install if you're not doing it yourself. Just say 4 grand as a guesstimate. Unfortunately that boat is worth a whole lot less than normal sale price less 4 grand as it sits. At this point you're looking at project boat status and a low price. Someone who is mechanically inclined will pick it up, stab a motor in there, and get a good deal on it.

 

[gadget73]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

well, "good deal" is always relative in the boating world. Bring Over Another Thousand

 

[ParallaxBill]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

"I'll bite.......... How does this "Mechanic" know it has a "cracked camshaft"?"

Not likely he could know.

Most cam problems from high mileage Chevys is cam lobe failure. Usually the exhaust lobes and only after a lot (100,000+) of miles. This is easy to diagnose by watching the rocker arms move when cranking the engine over. An engine with a broken cam isn't going to run or move many rockers.

 

[fparkell]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

The mechanic did not say for sure that the camshaft was cracked he said the last time he encountered probelems similar to the ones he is running into the engine had a cracked camshaft. He also said he could "mic the flywheel" to get a better idea? I am not looking at attempting to make any money off the boat I just really don't know how to go about getting rid of it. The boat is definitely a project boat if anything. As old as the boat is of course the engine trouble is the most difficult to remedy. I know that paying a mechanic hundreds of dollars for continued diagnosis is not the way I want to go.

Thanks for all of your suggestions and coments.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

He also said he could "mic the flywheel" to get a better idea?

If you're "mechanic" actually said he would "mic the flywheel" you need to run as fast as you can from that place!! He is feeding you serious line of Barby Stry-sand. The really smelly kind!

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Yes if he talked about mic'ing the flywheel you need to find a competent mechanic, I will second the cam lobes wearing/flaking right off in older SBC's especially with todays blends of oils.
Is it backfiring thru the carb, running rough, low on power and generally just running bad ?

 

[ken_23434]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

What does a cam and gasket set run... about $300 tops?

Dumping a boat over that?

About making money off the boat.. Well, advertise the other engine and the outdrives for sale. Other people with "projects" might be interested. The "broke" engine can be sold that way. If it's just a bad cam, that is definitely a salvageable engine. Sell the electronics and any other "premium" items then sell what's left of the boat (or donnate it for a tax credit).

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

It sounds like your mechanic and the word crack have a glass pipe in common.

I would get a second opinion or get one of the big guns here to write you a 300 word essay.

If you like the boat, you could fix it yourself with some help from your friends.

If the hull is sound and not a total rat, there is some value there.

Take some deep breaths and look at it from a different vantage point.

Tell us more of what the symptoms are please.

 

[fparkell]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Symptoms:

Port engine was running fine. Left dock and headed down bay holding rpms @ 3000. Engine surged and died. Initially I thought I had ignition problems ie. coil, points etc. Talked to mechanic and he said that he started checking electric and connectors were brittle so he started replacing wires. Next he stated the starter was shot. He said he had to get an after market starter so he did. Now the starter will not disengage. He got the engine going, however, based on what he observed he thought the cam shaft may be cracked.


Thanks again.

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

A quick question....Is the mechanic your brother in law, a family member or close friend? Where is the candid camera hiding? Are we being punked?

I would suggest you don't use him. It sounds like he is changing a bunch of parts and wishing for a fix.

Starter, wires and camshaft are all engine parts, that he got right.

If the cam shaft was cracked, Why change the starter and wires I wonder.

Sorry to be so coarse on the lad but you should find a different Mechanic.

A compression check will tell you allot about your cam shaft, better yet look look to see if the distributor turns or look into the oil fill and see if the rocker arms are going up and down. Did this guy put the wrong starter on also.

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Dont Give Up

Dont Give Up

You will need to locate the engine problem by checking the engine systems and accessories for malfunction and or proper operation. Anything that other guy touched Could also now be bass ackwards.

In your case, engine does not run. Right off the bat, it makes trouble shooting easier.

First I would suggest checking the oil to see if you have chocolate milk, water in oil, If yes, check the spark plugs and the spark plug holes for water, A bad manifold or riser can cause the engine to run rough or suddenly stop.

If none of the above is a problem, Take the coil wire off the good engine and turn the engine and listen to the sound of a normal turning, good compression
non cracked (LOL) camshaft sounds like.

Next pull the coil wire off the bad engine and listen to how it sounds.
Compare the sounds.

If the bad engine turns over different, changes speed or jerks to a halt, you may have internal problems.

The sound will tell you if you need to do a compression check, if the cam shaft is in two pieces or the the mechanic needed rehab.

 

[xltier]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Have a 1974, 28" Silverton w/ twin 305 mercruisers. The boat has a new refrigerator, all accessories, etc. Have been informed by a boat mechanic that the port engine is on the fritz, possibly a cracked cam shaft. Can anyone advise how to get any money out of a boat like this? Have already put enough money into it and am looking to cut and run. Are there boat salvage yards that would pay a nominal amount of money?

Minimally there is $250.00 dollars worth of gas in it!!

you would be surprised how many mechanics are out of work and would love to work on a boat on the side.its just a chevy v-8.cant get much easier than that.grab a cam kit for a truck motorfrom summit engine.a couple hundred bucks.if you even need it.an hour more work to know for sure.or you will always wonder.

 

[gadget73]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

If the starter is not disengaging, either its wired wrong or shimmed wrong. Could also be the wrong starter. A messed up cam will not cause that problem. If you have counter-rotating engines, using the wrong direction starter on the motor would cause all manner of grief, but its easily fixed by using the right starter.

Basically as Popeye indicated, its time for some diagnosis. It may be a simple fix, it may be a toe tag but without an accurate diagnosis its hard to say what the best course of action is.

 

[Lightnig]

Re: Throwing in the towel.

Hmmm, these guys are right, this mechanic doesn't know what the heck he is doing.

I mean, really, who checks for a cracked cam by mic'ing the flywheel???

Any mechanic worth his salt knows the right way to check for that is by checking the run-out on the muffler bearings...










Seriously, run - don't walk to the nearest exit and find someone - ANYONE else to work on your motor. This guy is either:

• The worst mechanic ever
  
• Certifiably stupid
  
• Trying to take you for a ride to milk as much money as possible out of you
  
  or
  
  
• All of the above

I think C myself.




As already mentioned, even if it actually does need a cam, this job on a S.B. chev is a piece of cake. If you are the slightest bit mechanically inclined, I would suggest ordering a nice cam kit, picking up a book from Amazon and tackling the job yourself. Really shouldn't take more than a weekend's worth of work.