Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On Friday, 12 March 1999 03:00:00 UTC-5, HP Authorized Customer wrote:
I recently purchased a 1989 Stingray 17' with a 224 CID 165 HP engine. Can
anyone tell me if they have had good luck with this engine Mercruiser only
built if for 3 years. It has the closed cooling system. Also, if anyone
knows of any known problems that were common with the engine that I should
keep an eye out for.

Put a 4 barrel carb on and you will get 190 Hp

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On 11/8/2017 12:26 PM, wrote:

On Friday, 12 March 1999 03:00:00 UTC-5, HP Authorized Customer wrote:
I recently purchased a 1989 Stingray 17' with a 224 CID 165 HP engine. Can
anyone tell me if they have had good luck with this engine Mercruiser only
built if for 3 years. It has the closed cooling system. Also, if anyone
knows of any known problems that were common with the engine that I should
keep an eye out for.

Put a 4 barrel carb on and you will get 190 Hp


Pretty much an antique now. (note date of original post)

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

Mr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Pretty much an antique now. (note date of original post)
....
True, but kind of refreshing...

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On 11/8/2017 12:57 PM, Tim wrote:
Mr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Pretty much an antique now. (note date of original post)
...
True, but kind of refreshing...



Isn't that the Pontiac "Iron Duke" engine? My first boat had it.

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

11:58 AMMr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Isn't that the Pontiac "Iron Duke" engine? My first boat had it.

....
No. Actually it was based on half of a 460 CID Ford.like they cut one bank off. They did an alternator Staton similar to an outboard and put the really weak stator behind the harmonic balancer. When it toasted ( and they all did) you then had to pull off the balancer, pulleys, waterpump and brackets to change it.
Like a poster said, they had lots of low end torque and the engine was reliable, but the charging system wasn’t..
True, Mercuiser designed and built it. It was probably canned after three years because it was cheaper to buy somebody else’s engines instead of mess with their own..

BTWsomebody came up with a bolt-on kit to put a cheap self-exciting car alternator on the engine and a few years ago was getting a premium $4-700.00 out of the kit. That seemed outrageous. But was cheaper than a shop doing a single stator swap....

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On 11/8/2017 2:20 PM, Tim wrote:

11:58 AMMr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Isn't that the Pontiac "Iron Duke" engine? My first boat had it.

...
No. Actually it was based on half of a 460 CID Ford.like they cut one bank off. They did an alternator Staton similar to an outboard and put the really weak stator behind the harmonic balancer. When it toasted ( and they all did) you then had to pull off the balancer, pulleys, waterpump and brackets to change it.
Like a poster said, they had lots of low end torque and the engine was reliable, but the charging system wasn’t..
True, Mercuiser designed and built it. It was probably canned after three years because it was cheaper to buy somebody else’s engines instead of mess with their own..

BTWsomebody came up with a bolt-on kit to put a cheap self-exciting car alternator on the engine and a few years ago was getting a premium $4-700.00 out of the kit. That seemed outrageous. But was cheaper than a shop doing a single stator swap....



Interesting adaptations of automotive/truck engine for marine use.

The first ocean going boat I had was a 20 foot something or other with
the "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder engine. I can't for the life of me remember
who the boat manufacturer was. It was a relatively well known name ...
like Donzi or something and had a small cuddy cabin that I used to sleep
in. I wish I could remember who the heck made it.

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On Wed, 8 Nov 2017 14:59:39 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 11/8/2017 2:20 PM, Tim wrote:

11:58 AMMr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Isn't that the Pontiac "Iron Duke" engine? My first boat had it.

...
No. Actually it was based on half of a 460 CID Ford.like they cut one bank off. They did an alternator Staton similar to an outboard and put the really weak stator behind the harmonic balancer. When it toasted ( and they all did) you then had to pull off the balancer, pulleys, waterpump and brackets to change it.
Like a poster said, they had lots of low end torque and the engine was reliable, but the charging system wasn’t..
True, Mercuiser designed and built it. It was probably canned after three years because it was cheaper to buy somebody else’s engines instead of mess with their own..

BTWsomebody came up with a bolt-on kit to put a cheap self-exciting car alternator on the engine and a few years ago was getting a premium $4-700.00 out of the kit. That seemed outrageous. But was cheaper than a shop doing a single stator swap....



Interesting adaptations of automotive/truck engine for marine use.

The first ocean going boat I had was a 20 foot something or other with
the "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder engine. I can't for the life of me remember
who the boat manufacturer was. It was a relatively well known name ...
like Donzi or something and had a small cuddy cabin that I used to sleep
in. I wish I could remember who the heck made it.


The old ones used a Chevy truck engine. I am not sure if they called
an Iron Duke or not. We pulled an engine from a Nova (or some other
little Chevy) and tried to use it but things did not line up.
Fortunately we found a guy who swapped a truck motor for the car motor
and a few bucks.
That was in a 70s era 222 Aquasport.

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On 11/8/2017 3:09 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 8 Nov 2017 14:59:39 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 11/8/2017 2:20 PM, Tim wrote:

11:58 AMMr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Isn't that the Pontiac "Iron Duke" engine? My first boat had it.

...
No. Actually it was based on half of a 460 CID Ford.like they cut one bank off. They did an alternator Staton similar to an outboard and put the really weak stator behind the harmonic balancer. When it toasted ( and they all did) you then had to pull off the balancer, pulleys, waterpump and brackets to change it.
Like a poster said, they had lots of low end torque and the engine was reliable, but the charging system wasn’t..
True, Mercuiser designed and built it. It was probably canned after three years because it was cheaper to buy somebody else’s engines instead of mess with their own..

BTWsomebody came up with a bolt-on kit to put a cheap self-exciting car alternator on the engine and a few years ago was getting a premium $4-700.00 out of the kit. That seemed outrageous. But was cheaper than a shop doing a single stator swap....



Interesting adaptations of automotive/truck engine for marine use.

The first ocean going boat I had was a 20 foot something or other with
the "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder engine. I can't for the life of me remember
who the boat manufacturer was. It was a relatively well known name ...
like Donzi or something and had a small cuddy cabin that I used to sleep
in. I wish I could remember who the heck made it.


The old ones used a Chevy truck engine. I am not sure if they called
an Iron Duke or not. We pulled an engine from a Nova (or some other
little Chevy) and tried to use it but things did not line up.
Fortunately we found a guy who swapped a truck motor for the car motor
and a few bucks.
That was in a 70s era 222 Aquasport.



I just spent some time Googling up boat manufacturers and finally
remembered the manufacturer of my first boat. It was a "Regal".
It was a 20 foot I/O and definitely had the 4 cyl "Iron Duke" engine
although Mercruiser called it something else. Looked similar to this
except it had a cuddy cabin instead of an open bow.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GMOvwNkkOWo/maxresdefault.jpg

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

On Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 3:18:07 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2017 3:09 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 8 Nov 2017 14:59:39 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 11/8/2017 2:20 PM, Tim wrote:

11:58 AMMr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
Isn't that the Pontiac "Iron Duke" engine? My first boat had it.

...
No. Actually it was based on half of a 460 CID Ford.like they cut one bank off. They did an alternator Staton similar to an outboard and put the really weak stator behind the harmonic balancer. When it toasted ( and they all did) you then had to pull off the balancer, pulleys, waterpump and brackets to change it.
Like a poster said, they had lots of low end torque and the engine was reliable, but the charging system wasn’t..
True, Mercuiser designed and built it. It was probably canned after three years because it was cheaper to buy somebody else’s engines instead of mess with their own..

BTWsomebody came up with a bolt-on kit to put a cheap self-exciting car alternator on the engine and a few years ago was getting a premium $4-700.00 out of the kit. That seemed outrageous. But was cheaper than a shop doing a single stator swap....



Interesting adaptations of automotive/truck engine for marine use.

The first ocean going boat I had was a 20 foot something or other with
the "Iron Duke" 4 cylinder engine. I can't for the life of me remember
who the boat manufacturer was. It was a relatively well known name ....
like Donzi or something and had a small cuddy cabin that I used to sleep
in. I wish I could remember who the heck made it.


The old ones used a Chevy truck engine. I am not sure if they called
an Iron Duke or not. We pulled an engine from a Nova (or some other
little Chevy) and tried to use it but things did not line up.
Fortunately we found a guy who swapped a truck motor for the car motor
and a few bucks.
That was in a 70s era 222 Aquasport.



I just spent some time Googling up boat manufacturers and finally
remembered the manufacturer of my first boat. It was a "Regal".
It was a 20 foot I/O and definitely had the 4 cyl "Iron Duke" engine
although Mercruiser called it something else. Looked similar to this
except it had a cuddy cabin instead of an open bow.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GMOvwNkkOWo/maxresdefault.jpg

Classic old lake boat.

I remember that when growing up my dad had a boat very similar to this:

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/general-boating-outdoors-activities/boat-topics-and-questions-not-engine-topics/634582-aluminum-runabout-bowrider

A Starcraft with cable steering and a Mercury motor with "Thunderbolt" ignition. I still remember him hooking up the water hose to the adapter that screwed into the leg and firing it up out in the yard. I always thought it was a cool old boat.

Mercruiser 224 CID 165 HP
 

- show quoted text -
I just spent some time Googling up boat manufacturers and finally
remembered the manufacturer of my first boat. It was a "Regal".
It was a 20 foot I/O and definitely had the 4 cyl "Iron Duke" engine
although Mercruiser called it something else. Looked similar to this
except it had a cuddy cabin instead of an open bow.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GMOvwNkkOWo/maxresdefault.jpg
....

That iron duke is otherwise known as a 3.0L which was ranged in 120-145 hp. Depending on carburation, cam and compression. They smoke a but but are tough little buggers...