serenityMD
Recruit
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2013
- Messages
- 3
I am looking at buying a 2002 boat with twin FWC Mercruiser 8.1's with 150 hours. It is reported to have been repowered under warranty in 2005/6. I had a mechanic check the engines out. He said they sounded good, showed no abnormal codes and had good compression. I had him take oil samples and sent them off to Blackstone Labs for an analysis. The tests came back terrible, especially on the port engine, with the following readings:
Aluminum 342 ppm / normal 3
Chromium 17 ppm / normal 0
Iron 2489 ppm / normal 17
Copper 97 ppm / normal 23
Lead 30 / normal 3
Potassium 70 ppm / normal 2
Sodium 3232 ppm / normal 7
2.3% fuel
+5% antifreeze / o% normal
The lab says that the metal readings are enough to show a failure of rings, bearings, etc. The potassium and sodium indicate antifreeze or raw water contamination. There was also fuel contamination. My mechanic, the broker and owner were shocked. The starboard engine had high readings on metal and anti-freeze, but not as bad. The thought was that the port sample may have contaminated the starboard sample.
Further inquiries revealed that in Oct 2012 the port engine had low compression on two cylinders. The head was removed, all valve springs were replaced and the headers and risers were replaced. The lab's position is that the work and the failures last fall could have left the contamination. They suggest replacing the oil and filters, running the engines for 5-10 hours and retesting the oil. If all goes well, everything goes back to normal or its a complete failure (and I walk away from the boat.) My fear is that we see improvement, but still not normal readings. Would it be normal for there still still be some metal contamination? Could there still be anti-freeze contamination? Any suggestions or insight?
Aluminum 342 ppm / normal 3
Chromium 17 ppm / normal 0
Iron 2489 ppm / normal 17
Copper 97 ppm / normal 23
Lead 30 / normal 3
Potassium 70 ppm / normal 2
Sodium 3232 ppm / normal 7
2.3% fuel
+5% antifreeze / o% normal
The lab says that the metal readings are enough to show a failure of rings, bearings, etc. The potassium and sodium indicate antifreeze or raw water contamination. There was also fuel contamination. My mechanic, the broker and owner were shocked. The starboard engine had high readings on metal and anti-freeze, but not as bad. The thought was that the port sample may have contaminated the starboard sample.
Further inquiries revealed that in Oct 2012 the port engine had low compression on two cylinders. The head was removed, all valve springs were replaced and the headers and risers were replaced. The lab's position is that the work and the failures last fall could have left the contamination. They suggest replacing the oil and filters, running the engines for 5-10 hours and retesting the oil. If all goes well, everything goes back to normal or its a complete failure (and I walk away from the boat.) My fear is that we see improvement, but still not normal readings. Would it be normal for there still still be some metal contamination? Could there still be anti-freeze contamination? Any suggestions or insight?
