Bad times w/the 383...opinions wanted.

[Dakari]

Hi gang-

I took the X out for the first time this weekend. Over the spring, I took out the original Marine Power 350 FLV in order to have it freshened up over the course of a few months. My FIL had a pair of 383's in his garage from an abandoned project and offered to loan me one for the season. We accepted, and I installed the motor. This engine has a history. It was built in 2005, was installed in their project, and promptly blew-up shortly after installation. The engine builder admitted fault in their build and rebuilt it at no cost. It sat unused until this year. Since installing it I had run it for appx 1.5 hrs on the trailer, and it's obvious that it has a collapsed lifter. The builder was contacted, and recommended running it this weekend in the lake, at reduced power, to see if the lifter would free itself. I ran the X at the dock, then took it upriver to the lake. After about a mile @ 2500rpm. I stopped and opened the hatch to give a listen. Not only was the rap still there, but the bilge had oil in it. We pulled the boat, and I found that the fuel pump has a crack in the casting. There was around 3 quarts of mixed gas and oil in the bilge, and no obvious source of the oil leakage. The bilge was clean when I left the dock. The oil looks emulsified.

Now I'm at a crossroads. Should I have the 383 attended to, or pull it and have my 350FLV gone through and re-install it. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Thoughts/opinions?

[silverghost]

Replace the cracked fuel pump and see if this will fix your issues.
Could this be where that rapping sound is comming from ?
This might be where the oil & gas mixture in your bilge is comming from ?
Might you have cracked the canical fuel pump's casting when installing this engine in the X-18 ?

If it is indeed a stuck valve lifter~
I wold not run the engine very long with a bad stuck rapping lifter; if this is indeed your problem,
It will soon hammer the daylights out of that one lifter lobe of the camshaft.

Replace the fuel pump and see what happens.
Might be a cheap & easy fix ?

[Dakari]

Thanks Brad-

I already have the new fuel pump on hand to do the replacement. However, I went out this morning and checked the dipstick and the engine is FULL of water,oil and gas. Like I said earlier, it ran fine on the hose, the problems only started once I put some load on it. I think I've had it with this 383. I've read mixed reviews about the engine shop that built it, especially their 383's. I'm off to talk to my local engine shop here in Rowley, MA (Bouchers) to see what they recommend.

[silverghost]

Does this engine shop know anything about building engines for marine boat use ?
Many engine shops have no clue how to build a performance boat engine.
They just build streetrod/hotrod engines which will not work in a boat.

What sort of cam profile did they use ?

Could this be a exhaust cooling water reversion issue ?

I would dump this engine shop and find another familar with building marine engines~~~that will survive more than an hour or two.

water, oil & gas in bilge & engine sump ?
WOW~~~
Sounds like this engine is just now a pile of worthless scrap iron.