Need Help!

[Splendid]

Hello All,

I need help. I have a 2004 22zx that just had a coupler fail due to a mis aligned engine that was not set up right from the manufacturer. My brother, who has the same boat/ year had the exact problem this past summer. Needless to say, as I was having the problem corrected, my mechanic suggested a water test to check the height of the engine. He suggested this b/c again my brother had a problem with water ingestion entering his exhaust. To make a long story short, According to Mercruiser, Both our engines were installed 3" below Mercruiser specifications. Donzi appears to be brushing this off and is no help right now. My question is, has anyone had a similar problem? If so, what was the remedy/ outcome:

Thanks in advance!

[MR MAGOO]

Sounds like you might want to look into riser blocks between the exhaust risers and manifolds.

[Trueser]

Some other questions,

What exhaust manifolds are your running?
Is silent choice installed?
Original 4" Exhaust tips installed with Flaps?

Pictures will also help.

Was the motor ever checked for ALign before the failure?

[BigGrizzly]

I find this hard to believe since we all have had our boats a long time and this is the first time I have heard this too low answer. It sounds more like Merc than Donzi. If what you were told was true there would be hundreds of failures exactly the same. Engine misalignment will cause coupler problems and spline wear on the input shaft.

[Splendid]

i had th

[Splendid]

I am running the stock exhaust with the captain's call. I have pics from the test in my office. I will try to post them.

I had the drive serviced every year since I bought the boat new in 04. They "supposedly" checked the alignment. Anyway, the failure was a result of the port side rear motor mount defect. Also, the front lock washers on the front mounts were not set right from the begining. Mercruiser did step up to the plate and helped me out. Although, I was still out of pocket for about $1200.

My mechanic suggested the water test after we found water/ rust in my brother's exhaust valve. This resulted in low compression and damage to the exhaust valve. I had two water tests done. One that I paid for (low fuel and two people aboard) and one at the request of Mercruiser (which they paid for) Both failed miserably. The second test had the weight the boat was designed for as well as a full tank. Needless to say, Mercruiser came to the conclusion that both my engine and my brother's were installed below merc specs of 12 " We were in about 91/4" Enough for Mercruiser to state that this could result in engine failure. Now, as for the statment that this would have happened to other boats, all I can say is here's two that failed that were built within months of each other. Plus, Merc is saying that we have a problem. If the engine manufacturer is telling me this, then I have to believe there is a major flaw here. This could end up costing well over 2 K to fix. The suggestion is spacers and new 14 degree elbows. However, a mock up will have to be performed to figure out how everything will tie together. Plus, we are not sure of the clearence.

[chappy]

Has this mechanic performed maintenance on both yours and your brothers boat?

[Splendid]

He is a new mechanic for me this year. He is Mercruiser certified. Why?

[RedDog]

I'm with Big Griz - this doesn't make sense. And what is a "water test?" How does it tell you the engine is mounted low?.

[chappy]

He is a new mechanic for me this year. He is Mercruiser certified. Why?

It just seems like there's a lot of blame going around, from mechanics to Mercruiser down the line to the Manufacturer. Hopefully someone steps up and does the right thing for both you and your brothers ZX's. I hope it turns out with a good outcome for you.

Rich

[zelatore]

Not to add fuel to a fire, but around that same time ('04) weren't there a rash of Merc inboard failures due to improper exhaust installation?

I remember selling a 41 Maxum ACMY built around then with Merc big blocks. During the deal we learned one motor was beginning to ingest water. The root cause was lack of drop in the exhaust after the elbow. The solution (after the engine work) was adding a 2" taller riser, which maxed out the vertical clearance in the engine room. I can't remember now if the problem was deemed a Maxum installation issue or a Merc spec. issue; I just remember the guy got it fixed at no cost and there were reportedly recalls concerning the installation.

Not exactly related since this was an inboard, but the timing and similarity in failure seems awfully coincidental. If it was indeed an issue with the Merc spec for exhaust drop, then perhaps they spec for the sterndrive installation could have been faulty as well?

There are plenty of people here who know Merc better than me ... I'll leave it to them.

Oh yeah, and we still made the sale :)