replace engine? 2012 SANTE 230

[BreezyE21]

I posted earlier this year about a possible cracked head gasket that was allowing water into the engine. A mechanic told me he diagnosed the issue and sent me back out on it. It hydro locked again on me, so this time took it to the local Water Sports Central. They just got me an estimate : 30K to replace the engine. Has anyone here replaced an engine? Are there any reliable shops In the southeast US that do good work at a reasonable price? I can't afford to dump 30K into a boat that I was planning to sell for 65K. Any advice is appreciated.

[NautiqueJeff]

For a new ZR-409, that price is absolutely appropriate, especially in a v-drive. We do repowers all the time at Silver Cove Marine, and that price is right in line with what we charge. I assume this came with a new 80-series transmission too, correct?

[jpwhit]

I posted earlier this year about a possible cracked head gasket that was allowing water into the engine. A mechanic told me he diagnosed the issue and sent me back out on it. It hydro locked again on me, so this time took it to the local Water Sports Central. They just got me an estimate : 30K to replace the engine. Has anyone here replaced an engine? Are there any reliable shops In the southeast US that do good work at a reasonable price? I can't afford to dump 30K into a boat that I was planning to sell for 65K. Any advice is appreciated.

I'm assuming current engine is probably EX343 5.7L. What make it so expensive is that GM has phased out and halted production of the 5.7L engine. As a result PCM, Ilmor, Indmar no longer offer that engine. So you're forced into an upgrade into a to a different newer better engine. The real issue is long term support. If you go with a new engine from PCM then PCM will support and stand behind the engine and any factory authorized installer.

The much cheaper route is to find an independent mechanic that'll essentially order and install a rebuilt 5.7 long block from a rebuilding house such as Michigan motors. But there are no end of nightmare stories with going that route. You have very little support or remediation if anything goes wrong. The mechanic that does all that work won't get much support help from the rebuild house. So if he installs the engine and something doesn't work right, best he'll get is the rebuild house to replace the defective long block. But they won't pay him for his time and labor to swap everything again. Net this option isn't so bad if you're capable to get the long block from the rebuild house yourself and do the swap out and handle any issues. But it's very hard to find a good honest and reliable independent mechanic to take this job on. There just isn't enough money in it for them relative to the possible headaches. So often what ends up happening is someone a bit shady will be the only ones that'll offer to take it on. Then they typically do the swap, give you the boat back, and then you're on your own to hope all works fine. If it goes wrong, they'll tell you to take it up with the rebuild house yourself.

[BreezyE21]

Yes the estimate includes a 6.0 engine and a new transmission. Let me ask you fellas a question:
Last fall, I had water in the engine. The mechanic told me they "diagnosed and repaired the issue" and sent me on my way. The receipt makes no mention of the culprit, so I didn't think too much of it at the time. Lesson learned there. After only 2 days of use post repair, it happened again. This time, took it into a local shop and their diagnosis is the entire engine is shot. The original mechanic is now ducking my calls. I am going to have to file a claim and/or go to court to get reimbursement. Is it fair to say that A) the likely culprit of the original problem was most likely a cracked head gasket, and B) gone unrepaired, this problem would likely lead to total engine failure if the boat was driven again?

[jpwhit]

Water getting into a marine engine can ruin the engine in so many ways that it's really hard to speculate. Just having water sitting on critical parts over the winter can start corrosion and lead to severe engine damage. The problem in this case is there is almost no way to likely know at this point what was the original source of water intrusion and what the first mechanic actually did or didn't do. Even legal action at this point is likely fruitless, because mechanics are fallible. To get a legal settlement there will have to be proof the mechanic willingly and knowingly negligent. And that's nearly impossible to prove.

Good trustworthy mechanics are worth their weight in gold.