FML.

[MILD THUNDER]

Not exactly what i was hoping for.

Put boat in water last week on the river, man, was i excited. Got it up on plane, all systems check out good. Run in for a few minutes at cruise, and give it the beans. Wow!!! I thought! Accelerates like a SOB, and even on the flat river with not much trim, speedo hit low 80's in a short time. Sweet!

Got a bunch of little things done in time for another test run saturday with a different set of props. Idled out of hammond, get on plane, cruise at 3000-3500, and I get a wiff of a oil smell. Hmm, shut it down, open hatches, and yikes!!!! Milkshake sprayed out the starboard dipstick! WTF.

Get it home and notice water on #8 plug. It was too late saturday to tear it all down, and keith and I decided to leave it till the next day, and go enjoy a bbq and cocktails. Needless to say i was chewing on my fingers all night thinking about it. I kept really beating myself up over it. I thought, "WTF, I maybe I should stick to driving a truck, and not building engines!!! Who am I to give anyone advice, when my F'n motor didnt last an hour!".

Yesterday I couldnt wait to tear into it. Capped the engine water outlets and pressurized the block with water. Water poured out #8 plug hole. I thought, man, maybe I smoked a head gasket??? So, I yanked it all apart and pulled that head off. Only to find the gasket intact, but a cracked cylinder wall!!!

So now I get to yank that motor, tear it all apart, and go thru this $hit all over again. Not exactly what I was hoping this season to be like. The only thing that makes me feel a tad better, is this was'nt something I F'd up. I was really ready to throw away all my tools and stick to washing the boat and keeping the beer cold. See ya in July.....hopefully.....

[Ratickle]

My original post was a duh!

That's too bad. Were they bored out ?

[MILD THUNDER]

My original post was a duh!

That's too bad. Were they bored out ?

Yea. They are Mark IV 4 bolt blocks, .060 over. I bought this shortblock complete from a buddy, and the other I mirrored the build using one of my blocks. I think the machine shop that did the machine work missed the bus on this one. Either there was a hairline crack that didnt show up, a sonic test that wasnt performed, or something along those lines. Gonna have them go over the block with a fine comb, and if everything else checks out ok, sleeve it and put it back together.

[Ratickle]

That really sucks, .060 over should be fine...


My first post was talking about brand new Dart heads where one cracked in half....

[MILD THUNDER]

What really threw me for a loop was I did a compression test on #8 and it had compression, so i was like WTF? How can i have good compression if the head gasket is blown?? just wasnt making sense. Really didnt expect to find a cracked cylinder. Motor ran fine, no noise, missing, lack of power, etc.

[redhotsommer]

Sucks Joe. In fact, it was a pretty bad weekend for guys named Joe with Fountains...

[eightsecmopar]

Man that sucks.....I thought I was the only one with that kind of luck!

[B.Z.]

Sorry to hear Joe.....

[SC288]

Sorry to hear this Joe. Let me know if you and Tall Keith need a hand getting it back in the boat. You could also consider having Shaker do the machining etc....Craig has always talked highly of them....I think he is in Grainger though.

[Nevr2nd]

Joe, I feel the very same way, I had my boat in the water last weekend and to no avail. I had to limp back to the ramp on one motor and it still wont rev over 3000 rpms. This sucks, BIG TIME!!

I hope u get it going, best of luck!

[teamsynergy]

Sorry to hear this Joe. Let me know if you and Tall Keith need a hand getting it back in the boat. You could also consider having Shaker do the machining etc....Craig has always talked highly of them....I think he is in Grainger though.

You LaPorte guys need to learn to spell... its granger...

[SC288]

You LaPorte guys need to learn to spell... its granger...

Thanks for clearing that up jacka**....LOL

[MILD THUNDER]

got some work done yesterday. Got the boat over to mikes shop around 11am. Had engine pulled, stripped, and down to a bare block by 5pm. Goin to machine shop today. I have a feeling this block was no good from the get go.

However, I did find a replacement block on craigslist, near you indiana guys over in Millersburg??? 454 STD bore 4 bolt main from a car. Im done with these marine blocks for now. They just get too corroded from the inside.

[MILD THUNDER]

Machine shop looked it over, block is junk. There should have never been money put into this block. They are willing to do all the machine work for free to make it right if i get them another block, and will put me in front of the line to get it done asap.

[redhotsommer]

Good news!

[Twin Whackas]

Millersburg is over towards Amish country. I can get you directions if you need them or if you need someone to ride over with you to help get it, let me know. I could pick up some Amish beef jerky while over there.

got some work done yesterday. Got the boat over to mikes shop around 11am. Had engine pulled, stripped, and down to a bare block by 5pm. Goin to machine shop today. I have a feeling this block was no good from the get go.

However, I did find a replacement block on craigslist, near you indiana guys over in Millersburg??? 454 STD bore 4 bolt main from a car. Im done with these marine blocks for now. They just get too corroded from the inside.

[redhotsommer]

Millersburg is over towards Amish country. I can get you directions if you need them or if you need someone to ride over with you to help get it, let me know. I could pick up some Amish beef jerky while over there.

It's ALL about the meat with you, isn't it?

[ICDEDPPL]

That sucks Joe! (the bad block and all the extra work) good news about the machine shop thou not being douches

[Ratickle]

Everytime I catch the title of this thread I think Family Medical Leave (Act).


Are you applying for a leave because the boats family????

[teamsynergy]

Millersburg is over towards Amish country. I can get you directions if you need them or if you need someone to ride over with you to help get it, let me know. I could pick up some Amish beef jerky while over there.

Thats like 20 mins from me...