Help! re: replacing OMC 3.0 engine - should it stay or go now?

[sweetemotion]

Help!

I bought an older Bayliner, 1987, that has the older OMC 3.0L engine...I love it because I could afford it and I love the way it handles and is quiet in comparison to the outboard options...however, the start of my second season, last year, after using it 6 times, the engine had what looked like shaving cream all over the engine...water in the oil.

I hired someone to take the 'heads' off and inspect...he said the heads looked great - looks like a cracked block. A major bummer in that I just got done pimping the boat/trailer out to customize to my liking.

Is it worth trying to find an older 3.0L engine and put it in? I wouldn't know how to do it but a couple of friends who work on engines said that they might help out...OR, am I better off looking for a whole new boat?

Appreciate your responses - If I ask someone in the boating industry they say replace the boat...but I'm wondering if they're saying it mainly to sell me a new boat!

Has anyone out there tried this? (or know what to look for in getting an engine?)

Regards,
-bummed out in MN

 

[billy boater]

Re: Help! re: replacing OMC 3.0 engine - should it stay or go now?

if u can find a good deal on the motor i would say do it. its not that hard to install the hardest part is finding somthing high enough to lift the motor in and out of the boat. i would do a compression test on any motor u buy and make sure all cylinders are within 10 percent of eachother.

 

[sweetemotion]

Re: Help! re: replacing OMC 3.0 engine - should it stay or go now?

Hey, thanks for the heads-up. I did find a motor, but the guy wants $800...I only paid $2k for the '87 Bayliner to begin with...

-PS

 

[Maclin]

Re: Help! re: replacing OMC 3.0 engine - should it stay or go now?

If the outdrive and all other parts of the boat are in good condition and reliable then I would hang with it and try to replace the engine block. Sounds like to me you like the boat and it does everything you want it to, so I would try to fix it, just take some time to look for the right deal on the engine block or complete engine.

It is an older boat, and it is a Bayliner "economy" brand at that, and OMC is out of business, that is what most would look at as far as it being worth anything.

You have to balance the investment you have already made against what you are willing to add to that to get back to having fun on the water. You will probably end up with more invested that if you had found a different boat that did not have these problems, but maybe lose less than if you tried to get rid of it and start with another one. Either way you will have more in it than it may be worth to someone else but the water does not care!

 

[billy boater]

Re: Help! re: replacing OMC 3.0 engine - should it stay or go now?

i would pull ur motor and bring it to a local machine shop and show em whats wrong with it and ask em what it will take to fix it tell em ur on a budget and just want it to run. there is ways to fix a cracked block depending on where its cracked and how bad it is..