Hey Boater!
I have seen a lot of posts related to engine knock which has recently manifested in my 2001 290 Sea Ray Sunsport. Quick background: Engine has only 270 hours on it and receives all recommended annual service. The boat is also always stored indoors in heated storage. A week ago an engine knock started only under load at about 2000 RPM and up. The mechanic pressure checked the cylinders and noted low pressure on two. The low pressure plus hearing the nature of the knock lead him to believe the engine would require a head rebuild costing about $2k. Based on his experience and numerous forum posts he believes poor fuel as the cause of a failure. Unfortunately, upon dissassembly of the engine the issue was worse then expected. See attached pictures. I am hoping someone can help educate me on what would cause the failure in the picture. The mechanic still believes fuel may be the cause, however, my marine advertises there is no ethanol in there fuel and my starboard engine is not showing any symptoms. Also due to the extensive nature of the wear the issue has been going on for a while. I am embarrassed to say I never realized the engine was missing but am also curious why the knock symptom did not start sooner. The mechanic didn't pull the heads apart since there was no need after seeing the block. The knock could still be a secondary unrelated failure in the valves. I am more concerned with preventing failure on my starboard engine and the replacement port side engine. Any experience anyone can lend is appreciated.
I have seen a lot of posts related to engine knock which has recently manifested in my 2001 290 Sea Ray Sunsport. Quick background: Engine has only 270 hours on it and receives all recommended annual service. The boat is also always stored indoors in heated storage. A week ago an engine knock started only under load at about 2000 RPM and up. The mechanic pressure checked the cylinders and noted low pressure on two. The low pressure plus hearing the nature of the knock lead him to believe the engine would require a head rebuild costing about $2k. Based on his experience and numerous forum posts he believes poor fuel as the cause of a failure. Unfortunately, upon dissassembly of the engine the issue was worse then expected. See attached pictures. I am hoping someone can help educate me on what would cause the failure in the picture. The mechanic still believes fuel may be the cause, however, my marine advertises there is no ethanol in there fuel and my starboard engine is not showing any symptoms. Also due to the extensive nature of the wear the issue has been going on for a while. I am embarrassed to say I never realized the engine was missing but am also curious why the knock symptom did not start sooner. The mechanic didn't pull the heads apart since there was no need after seeing the block. The knock could still be a secondary unrelated failure in the valves. I am more concerned with preventing failure on my starboard engine and the replacement port side engine. Any experience anyone can lend is appreciated.
