Journey back from an engine disaster...

[Vettedrmr]

Background for this thread:

https://www.tigeowners.com/forum/gen...ike-a-disaster

Engine replacement underway. I bought a new long block from ATP Engines. Comes with a 1 year warranty, shipped promptly, and was well packaged. Here's the timeline of the recovery adventure to date:

Tuesday, 5/6/24: I took the boat out to the Marine shop at the college I retired from last year.

Wednesday: Got the long block from the trucking company and took it out to the shop.
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Thursday: Pulled the dead motor out of the boat.
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Friday: Just about finished transferring everything from the dead motor to the new one. Waiting on a 140 degree t'stat, which should show up tomorrow (Sunday).
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Hopefully this coming Monday we'll get everything plugged back into the boat, and Tuesday engine start and checkout. Fingers crossed!

Have a good one,
Mike

[lee]

Quick work

[Vettedrmr]

Take two Marine instructors that no longer have students but are still under this year's contract and have to be there, one owner who's retired and very willing to pitch in, and the right tools (a forklift is a magical device!), and you can get a lot done in a short amount of time.

Now I've got to figure out how to properly break in the engine.
EDIT: And on a different topic, I need to know the absolutely BEST engine oil to use (j/k, the mods may ban me for that one).

Have a good one,
Mike

[lee]

Best oil is like asking Best between Ford or Chevy. I would use a 15w40 oil myself.

[Vettedrmr]

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. Engine supplier says not to exceed 2000 rpm for 1st hour, the 3000, then 4000. Old school mechanics say to run it hard to seat the rings in the first 30 minutes. Others say just to use the engine, since it's a roller cam engine.

[lee]

I always tell our customers to just vary the RPM's and TRY not to go wide open for the first 5 hours.

[chpthril]

Opinions are like bung holes, and im happy to show mine. Drive it like you stole, Ricky Bobby! Bottom line, Once its lake-ready, just use like a normal day on the lake. Show me someone that read and followed the break-in procedure in their new car/truck and i'll show you the deed to some fine ocean front property in AZ.

[Vettedrmr]

Yeah, that's about what I've come up with. .

Progress today was good; got the engine installed, all the harnesses plugged in, hoses connected, etc. Had a few problems to solve, but came up with good solutions.

Tomorrow morning is final inspection and first engine run. Once that's done she comes home, then hopefully day after tomorrow is first lake run. Plan to stay pretty close to the ramp just in case, put about 30-60 minutes on the clock, then come home and change oil.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Thanks for the comments, and have a good one,
Mike

[Vettedrmr]

No pictures, but got the engine install finished, then spent a good 3 hours figuring out why it wouldn't start. Get a quick start, immediately dying. We checked timing, wiring, fuel pressure, etc., to no avail. Pulled a fuel sample, and the gas is pretty bad. We dropped the fuel injectors into an ultrasonic cleaner for 30 minutes, then cleaned them out (activate with low voltage and blow air through them). Reinstalled and we got her running, if barely in the beginning, with a lot of throttle lever (what else do you call having the throttle so far forward in a TBW system?).

As the engine warmed up, the engine computer relearning whatever it needed to, the idle smoothed out, and the throttle lever could be pulled back towards the normal idle position. But it still won't idle properly.

Next up is figuring out how to drain the bad fuel out of the tank, and buttoning up from the install. A lot of progress, but we're not at the finish line yet!

Have a good one,
Mike

[Matt Garcia]

Thanks for posting, lots of progress made!

[boatwakes]

The T-stat needs to be 160!!! If you run the 140 the computer will keep the injectors in warm-up mode and their pulse width is doubled burning more fuel and fouling plugs. The 140 t-stat is for carb engines ONLY. I did a write up on the site here a few years back about this issue.

[Vettedrmr]

The T-stat needs to be 160!!! If you run the 140 the computer will keep the injectors in warm-up mode and their pulse width is doubled burning more fuel and fouling plugs. The 140 t-stat is for carb engines ONLY. I did a write up on the site here a few years back about this issue.

Thanks for realigning my brain. I thought 140 was way too cold, but all the specs said 140, so even though I got a 160, the head marine tech felt that the ECM would get screwed up. It's frustrating to try to do the right thing, and STILL go the wrong way. 160 t'stat is on the list before first lake run!

[Vettedrmr]

boatwakes, got a question for you. Currently the center digital display is dead, which is the only place I can monitor the engine temperature. I'm working on getting that fixed, but until then would you continue to run the 140 degree t'stat as a bit of margin?

Thanks for all your help, and have a good one,
Mike

[Vettedrmr]

Gas shouldn't look (or smell) like this. Don't know how old the gas is, but I'm guessing 2+ years. Drained 40+ gallons of this dreck (14 before this photo was taken); fortunately our county had their semi-annual hazardous material collection day yesterday.

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After getting that muck disposed of, I put 20 gallons of fresh fuel in the tank and started diagnosing the poor running/idling. Wasn't fuel (which I didn't think was the problem, but it needed to be drained), so after discussing it over with my brother, I started digging into the ignition timing. The head shop guy kept insisting that the cam position sensor, located on the distributor assembly, was properly timed, that the computer would take care of all the timing. This didn't make sense to me, but being in his house, didn't argue it.

After getting the boat home, I kept fiddling with it, and during a conversation with my brother, the timing issue came back to the front of my brain. I did some digging and found an old forum thread (one of the best parts of this forum), and boatwakes had info in there about what the base timing should be. Sure enough, the timing was WAY too retarded. Pulled the distributor, advanced it one tooth, and now she starts and idles normally. I'm still not happy with what the timing marks are showing me, so I may have more adjusting to do, but at least now I can select a gear with the engine running.

It's going to be a couple of weeks before I can do any more; heading out to my son's wedding in Reno, NV.

Y'all have a good one,
Mike

[boatwakes]

Hey Mike, I would still run the 160* BECAUSE the alarm for the overheat is a separate switch in the thermostat housing and set to the same alarm temp regardless of thermostat temp.
As for your timing, which distributor do you have? If it's the crab cap AND has the cam sensor plugged in (some engine models didn't use it) timing is controlled completely by the computer as long as the mechanical installation of the distributor is correct to TDC firing. We have found when the distributor is installed advanced one tooth, it will idle wonderfully but when revved in neutral up to above about 2600rpm, it falls on its face. And when its a tooth off retarded, it will idle like crap and run great above about 2600.