So the Pro Max threw a rod today, now what.

[Jonesy23]

For those of you that had followed my previous thread about my issues trying to get my motors running right. This was the Starboard motor, the one that I finally got to run right or so I thought. Went out fishing today and the motor ran great all day, on the way back in the rpm's dropped off suddenly and then I heard the rattle. Shut it down and had to get back in on the other motor (glad I had twin's). When I got it back to the storage yard I pulled the plugs and the bottom one on the port side wash smashed and had some sort of gritty white stuff all over the plug. Put the motor in gear and tried to spin by hand and I could hear it clanking around. The stud that holds the tension pulley on was sheared off as well and the belt was shaved pretty good. I am guessing that the out of balance motor did the pulley in? The rest of the plugs looked normal. I guess my first question would be, what caused this to happen? My guess would be no oil in that cylinder? Wouldn't the "smart" craft had detected that?
So what are my options and how much is it going to cost. I didn't see any crack or leaking oil on the block as far as I could tell.
This was a 2001 Pro Max 300x with about 260 hours. (using 93 octane gas and Quicksilver Premium Plus oil.

[EuropeanAM]

Strange to have #6 failure, AND tensioner stud sheered at same time....

You'll have to begin teardown and inspection to determine the CAUSE... and the EXTENT of the damage.

Got a picture of the plugs?

Removing cylinder heads for a top-side inspection would be the logical "first" step.

While you're at that... might want to take a look at the PORT SIDE Thermostat on that engine (make sure it wasn't hanging OPEN with debris). MOST (not all, but MOST) #6 failures are related to COLD SEIZURE.

[Jonesy23]

I didn't get any pictures, it was getting dark and I still had to clean everything plus I was a little pissed and depressed and didn't want to mess with it anymore. I will probably go back next weekend and start tearing it apart and will get some pictues.

[Jonesy23]

Another thought, what is the possibility that the tension pulley went first and the debri was sucked down into the intake? I did find pieces of the belt on the motor even though the belt never completly broke. I also didnt think to look for any hardware that held the pulley on.

[EuropeanAM]

That is most certainly a possibility.

A topside inspection of #6 (via pulling the cylinder head) may lead to more information....

[Jonesy23]

Don, I was able to pull the head today and it doesnt look to good. I did get some pics but I will have to try and send them later after I get home. The rod never broke, it is still attached to the crank. The piston had a hole in the center and i was able to get it out after playing with it. So I am guessing my first thought of no oil was the most likely cause? The rod smashed up the cylinder wall pretty good, it appears there is a softer liner on the cylinder wall, this was broken thru in several areas. The inner block portion still appears to be intact. So i guess my first question is, can these cylinders be re-sleaved or is it junk?

[Gamblinman]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Jonesy23 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Don, I was able to pull the head today and it doesnt look to good. I did get some pics but I will have to try and send them later after I get home. The rod never broke, it is still attached to the crank. The piston had a hole in the center and i was able to get it out after playing with it. So I am guessing my first thought of no oil was the most likely cause? The rod smashed up the cylinder wall pretty good, it appears there is a softer liner on the cylinder wall, this was broken thru in several areas. The inner block portion still appears to be intact. So i guess my first question is, can these cylinders be re-sleaved or is it junk?</td></tr></table>


Lean condition in that cylinder..need to determine why that cylinder leaned out.


Gman

[Jonesy23]

I read on another forum where some guys bypass the oil injection system as well as the vst and mount a fuel pump on the boat and just add the oil in with the gas. What do you think of this method? Otherwise how can i determine what caused it to lean out? If I keep the current system i planned on getting all new lines for the oil system and cleaning up the elbows and T's, anything else?
What is a normal price to re-sleve the block? I will do the tear down and rebuild.

[EuropeanAM]

Jones..... there's no sense in jumping to conclusions. Assumptions SELDOM result in an accurate diagnosis... and almost ALWAYS result in a tendency to Repeat History (another FUTURE powerhead failure).

Teardown and inspection will be required. If the primary damage is ONLY to #6 cylinder, it is almost certainly NOT an oil injection failure. Oil injection failures result in ENGINE-WIDE damage, with obvious heat damage to crank bearings, rods, wrist pins, and to some extent- ALL cylinders.

I would be looking specifically at the following items, IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER:

-Who cleaned the injectors... were they FLOW tested, and were the results WITHIN SPECIFICATION for these injectors? Many can clean them... only a very limited few can tell you if they're out of spec (or calibrate them).

-PORT SIDE THERMOSTAT: REMOVE AND TEST. Check for DEBRIS in the thermostat. The failure you described (wrist pin failure with completly destroyed piston) could easily have been caused by a COLD SEIZURE (failure of that bank to come up to operating temperature before you hammered down). I've suggested this inspection before....

-REEDS. Look for chipped, cracked or missing REEDS.

In many cases, a cylinder can be resleeved. Of course, there must be adequate parent metal present to ALLOW a sleeve to be placed in the block... some things can be repaired- some simply can't (or aren't wise to attempt). Again, teardown and inspection are required.

That should get you started on your way....

[Jonesy23]

Thanks for the response, I got the motor 1/2 way tore down and hope to get the rest of the way today. The damage appears to only be in the one cylinder but I haven't pulled the crank yet. The thermostats are clean, I haven't tested them yet but I should note that this happened at the end of a 7 hr day of fishing. Ran 23 miles out, moved around several times through the day and had run about 5 miles at around 4k to 4500 rpm when the piston went. The injectors were cleaned by a local guy who does high performance auto and marine injectors, he flow tested them and cleaned them, according to his report, he was able to clean up the spray pattern on most of them and was able to improve flow slightly but all were in spec (again, according to his report). I got the reeds out yesterday and they were all intact, there were some that had small gaps from being fully closed and I will replace all when I put everything back together but overall I would say they looked pretty good.
I am trying to upload the pics I took so hopefully they will be up in a few minutes. I do not see where there is an option to load pics.

[EuropeanAM]

To upload pics, you must "host" your picture somewhere on the web (shutterfly, etc).

Right click on the picture (at it's web location), choose "properties", and copy the entire address location of the picture.

Then, as you're posting, click this icon (next to the Bold, Italic, Underline):

This will put up a set of bracketed "img" statements in your post. Paste/copy the location you found between the two bracketed statements.

[Jonesy23]

I e-mailed you the pics. I will try and post them as you described but may need my wife to do when she gets home later today.

http://keithsboatpics.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

This is the link, best I could do right now.

[Jonesy23]

After looking at it again I am pretty sure that the tensioner pulley and belt are the culprit. The belt was shaved by at least 1/3 and the plastic pulley was about 1/2 gone (comparing to the other motor) i found belt debris in the intake and the entire motor is covered with belt and pulley debris. I guess its just a case of bad luck. Don, I ordered a repair manuel from you that shipped yesterday, I couldn't get the power head the rest of the way off so I will wait for the manual but I will probably need some assistance in putting together a parts list. I would also appreciate any insight as to items to go ahead and replace since I have the motor torn apart.

[EuropeanAM]

Let's see what the block and crankshaft look like after it's torn down.

It will be necessary to get some better quality photos.... the thumbnails are clear, but it's impossible to see enough in the thumbnails to determine much.

Any evidence of reed damage (or pulley debris) in the #6 reed (or any others)?

[Jonesy23]

So I got it all torn down, I took the block to the local Merc mechanic, he has a guy that will pick it up and do the machine work and re-sleve it if its possible. The crank, all the other pistons, rods, bearings, intake, etc.. were in excellent condition. The bottom reeds were damages as well as the cage but they were blasted with metal pieces from the broken piston. They had metal pieces on both sides of the valves. Several of the other reeds had small gaps and were not closing all the way so I will go ahead and replace them all. The rod and pin bearings on the bad cylinder were still wet and all the crank bearing and other pistons had plenty of oil on them and looked excellent. The only evidence of rubber was in the bottom of the intake. So i am not really sure what caused the problem. I will check the thermostats, have the #6 injector checked out, check fuel pressure once everything gets put back together. Anything else?

[EuropeanAM]

Have ALL SIX injectors flow-tested, cleaned, and calibrated as needed.

I'd highly recommend a full set of Fiber reeds... TDR would be a good choice.

[Psychologist]

I would certainly get those injectors cleaned. Don't try to save money their, you will regret it!