just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

New to forum just bought a 1996 Mariah Shabah 180 with 4.3 merc I/O with bad engine. they "winterized it them selves" .

Engine is blown got water in engine and spun bearings, but boat and drive is in good shape.

Got engine torn down cant find any cracks to naked eye and no obvious sign of where water came in at. The crank is shot. My cousin that deals with frozen I/o stuff all the time said the heads, ext manifolds, and block show no sign of freezing. He thinks boat maybe filled up full of rain water and came in thru rear seal? I I thinking on just going with remanufactured long block.

What did I get myself into?

Looking at marine remanufactured 4.3 long block from Chicago Engine for about $1600 and 500 core charge. Any one ever deal with these guys?

Had 2 outboard rigs before this 1984 Glastron ski-machine (awesome rig) and a 17ft bayliner (crapliner)...

Really looking forward to getting the Mariah going in next couple of weeks.

What are some other I/O things I should check while engine is out and have great access to all the out drive stuff?

My cousin's marina told me to put a mercruiser v8 350 and drive in it and give up on the v6 stuff..

any input on this

I am outboard mechanic used, to race outboards.. I/O stuff never worked on it before.

my cousin's shop does only off shore stuff and big I/O stuff... thus the put in a v8 in it reply...



thanks

Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

Depends on the boating you are doing for size of engine. Resale with a V8 will always give a better return. Love my 350 MAG

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Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

One of the problem areas with almost any I/O are the exhaust manifolds and risers. They are usually cooled by the raw water in most designs and they will eventually develop internal leaks or leaks at the gasket between them, and that water goes into any open exhaust valve while the engine is stopped. Was this boat used in salt water or fresh? If salt water, they say you have to replace the manifolds and risers about every 5-6 years. In fresh water, they last maybe 2-3 times as long.

While the engine is out, I would replace all the bellows and check the pivot for play (can you push the outdrive back and forth more than 1/2" without moving the steering wheel ?) These are things that are very difficult to repair or replace with the engine installed and less so with it out.

Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

Fresh water Wisconsin boat. It has the old one piece ext manifolds. 2nd set on the boat. They in good shape yet

Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

There is no replacement for displacement. That being said you would need to spend considerable more $ to change over to a V8 such as different outdrive gears, manifolds, accessories etc. While engine is out now is the time to change gimble bearing and all the rubber boots as well as the trim and tilt sensors if they are not working.

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Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

Check rear stringers, motor mounts and transom for rot while you have better access. My boy pulled his bad engine and ended up finding significant rot...enough to dooom the boat with all the other issues it had.

Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

Thanks for all the info I keep up dated as it happens

Re: just bought 1996 Mariah 180
 

Got the 4.3 rebuilt engine in and test ran July 3rd. Ended up being able to reuse original block and heads and intake and manifolds. The crank, rods, cam, lifters, push rods, and pistons where shot from bearing failure and water in oil. We figure they must of left the drain plug in and boat got filled up with water and came into to engine thru rear seal. Engine seals keep oil in, but WILL NOT keep water out!!!

They reline bored the block and checked everything for cracks. My cousin's marina had a very low hour frozen/cracked block parts engine. That he sold me the good used crank, rods and pistons.
Local engine shop put new rings, marine cam, lifters, lightly honed bores, ect and balanced, and rebuilt engine. The Heads got stainless new valves and springs.

Runs dam good got about 15 hours on it so far. I am starting to open it up for longer distances followed mercury break-in recommendations. The rings are coming in good and the oil use is almost zero at this point. It did used a quart and half in first 10 hours of used, about a 1/4 of a quart in 2 or 3 hours of run time. the last 2 times out oil level hardly moved.

I did install smart tabs -sx on it to help get faster on plan time and fix porpoise problem. so far really impressed with them.

Now trying to get correct size props dialed in. I want one for serious skiing and tubing and heavy loaded boat. One for light load with lots of top end for two or 3 people in boat. Then one for every day cruzin around use with normal load.

Put a new stereo and installed 2nd set of speaker in mounted in rear seat area, boat already was wired for this from factory easy install.

so far fairly happy with the boat and enjoy it. I found new local unknown sand bar to hang out on in river I run on. It has perfect fine hard packed sand bottom in about 2 foot of water runs out to about 4 foot and looks to be about 100 foot by 50 foot. Local fishing maps show mud bottom....:wink_thumbup: