Hi all.<br /><br />Well, my worst fear has come true for my 88' 175hp merc. My motor is trashed, and the worst part is it didn't have to be!<br /><br />Earlier in the year I had a rash of small problems, one weekend was cut short due to a bad impeller (I should have changed it earlier since I just bought the boat, so I'll take the blame for that one). I took the boat home (200 miles away) and put a new pump in it and headed back to the lake the next weekend. As I was heading back to the launch, my tilt and trim quit. Another day shot running down and changing solenoids. The very next trip out everything was great, until I fired the motor up to head in. The "no oil" beeper continued to sound after the motor started, I shut it off immediately and trolled in (luckily I was very close to the boat launch).<br /><br />Here's where it gets interesting... I was sick of working on the thing every weekend, so I left it with a shop in the area that was recommended by a few people. I told the guy to check out the oil situation, whether it was a real oil pump problem or if it was a bad sensor. I also talked to him about just removing the pump and going to premix. He reccomended that I keep the injection system. I also had wanted to clean the carbs and check linkage, so I had him do that as well.<br /><br />I headed home, and gave him a call during the week. He said that the alarm computer was faulty and had a new one on order. Several weeks later the boat was supposedly finished so I headed back to the lake. I was greeted with the bad news that I had a bad switchbox, and he had decided I should remove the oil injection system and mix my fuel. He didn't do it though, as he didnt have the block off plate on hand. He said to use the boat, and leave it with him after the weekend so he could do that (for the same price as the alarm, which he didnt install, but assured me it was oiling properly). <br /><br />I take the boat out, get it on plane for a minute or two, and it bogs down bad. I troll back to the launch and take the boat back to him. He does a few checks, and says that the new switchbox is faulty, but of course he doesn't have another on hand. Another weekend shot. I left it with him to replace the switchbow again and finish the oil injection pump removal, and he said he would have it ready for the following weekend.<br /><br />4 weeks later, after letting me down for 3 weekends, he says the boat will be ready by the time I get there, and informs me that my stator was bad. I arrive at the lake to find that its not quite finished, but will be in the morning. The next afternoon I decided I would just go get the boat and head home to finish it myself. I can't believe how long it took for me to finally say "enough is enough". <br /><br />Now, after my long story, comes the bad part. Once I got the boat home I decided I had better check everything this guy "supposedly" did, as nothing he said seemed to be true. I went to the local shop (they had the blockoff plug that "was so hard to get" on the shelf). I pulled the injection pump and looked in the hole with a flashlight to find that the nightmare had come true, the gear on the crankshaft was stripped and the alarm had been working all along. The engine had not been getting oil. I did a compression check and found that one cylinder was only holding 60psi, and another was about 105psi. I had checked it right before I originally took it to him and everything was great, between 120 and 125psi on all six jugs.<br /><br />Here's where I need advice....<br />I pulled the head with the bad cylinders and found them to be scored. Not incredibly bad, but definitely not real good. I haven't measured the bores yet. They are chrome bores.<br /><br />What are my options? I'm pretty sure I can rebuild the thing myself (I'll probably have a few questions here). I know that the jugs can be replated if they aren't too bad, and that they can be sleeved as well. How much does this cost, and what kind of turn over time am I looking at? I have also found several sites that sell rebuilt powerheads, but they arent cheap (around 2800-3500 buckaroos). I know the cylinders are probably out of Mercury's specs with the scoring, but the bore size may still be OK. Is just giving them a hone job and replacing the damaged pistons and whatever else is burned up (the cheapest route) really an option? I have found a complete rebuild kit for about $1250 (new bearings. pistons, gaskets, etc). If I decide to get the kit, I would have the block properly repaired. I am guessing the whole job (with plating or sleeving) would be around $2000 if I did it by myself. <br /><br />So here I am...<br />$3500 for a rebuilt powerhead, I just install it.<br />$2000 (assuming I can get the block done for $750) for a rebuilt powerhead that I do all the work myself.<br />$300-$500 to fix just the damaged parts, and no real block work.<br /><br />I sure like the sound of my last option, since the rest of the motor and boat is 15 years old. Just how bad can a cylinder be before it just won't work? <br /><br />This isn't a new motor. I don't need the thing to perform like a race boat, I just need it to be semi reliable. <br /><br />Thanks for taking the time to read this and possibly offer input (at least condolences ;0) ).<br /><br />Rich
