"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"RG" wrote in message
m...


I am just wondering why a 5 year old boat with less than 130 hours on it
needed a new engine.


I can think of one reason, based solely on personal experience. Cracked
block due to winter freeze. Been there.


That's what I was thinking.


In my case, the boat was only four years old and in excellent condition, and
warranted a proper repair. I called a number of shops in town to ask how
they would handle the repair. I got a lot of stupid answers like "we'll
just go down to the junkyard and pull a 350 out of a wrecked pickup truck".
I finally came across a shop that told me he would only do the job one way,
and that was to order a new crated 350 long block direct from MerCruiser, an
identical replacement. The only thing used from the old engine would be
externals, such as carb, alternator, water pump, fuel pump, distributor,
etc. I towed the boat to his shop the next day. Had it back in two weeks,
and it ran exactly the same as it did before the incident, which is to say,
perfect. That was six thousand 1992 insurance company (thankfully) dollars.
Turned out to be a very strong selling point when I sold the boat 6 months
later, since I was able to produce the repair invoice to potential buyers.