My boat in in the hospital

[Skeeter]

Took my boat down to Dr. Homer in Rockspring this morning to have the carbs rebuilt on it. I had replaced the blown up 200 Venom with another one in 2007, but it would not run as good as the other. It would crank and run smooth but had a lack of power. Droped it off at noon and he calles me at 1:30 and says the carbs are not the problem. He did a comp. check and all were about 75-80 except one that was at 95. He put a scope on the head to look around and seen where the head gasket had been leaking. He pulled the heads and found where someone had replaced the gaskets and didnt get all the old gasket off so the new gaskets did not seal good. Everything else looked ok except the head surface was pitted really bad. Looked as if it had been run in saltwater and the water leaked around and corroded the head surface. Good news is that I can't shave the heads cause the piston is already flush with the head. So in other words the block is non rebuildable. He is going to surface them the best he can and put on some kind of copper based epoxy, new gaskets, torque them down the let the epoxy cure for about 2 days and harden. He said if I baby it that it won't help so for me to just run it like I always would. Its's not a matter of IF it blows but WHEN!!!!! It could last 1 week or it could last 1 year who knows? But I will feel better on the water knowing I don't have to baby it to go fishing........WOOOHOOO!!!!!!!

Here are some pics...

 

[Shark]

Glad to hear it's going to be fixed. That's good emoThumbsup

It will bite big time to be out fishing in no mans land and have it breakdown.
emoBawl emoMad emoHoppingmad

There are plenty of friends here who will come fetch ya off the lake and tow you back to the docks. emoDance emoApplause

 

[tennvols42]

Yeah i'm glad to hear that too, Kinda. Only now i might be a little more cautious getting in the boat with the motor running right.

 

[xrfoxracer]

just BE CAREFUL with them down there... not trying to talk trash ... just as a heads up

but the guy i bought my boat from(MY OLD BOSS) bought the boat from him.... and it blew up a 2 weeks after buying it... homer "rebuilt it" supposedly for him ....and i bought it from him directly after.... took it to the outboard doc and guess what it was all engineered up and had to have it rebuilt by The outboard doc THE RIGHT WAY...... the pistons were all burnt up... i didnt think anything about buying it because it had just been "REBUILT"

In your case i guess thats better than nothing though since it cant be rebuilt

so a bunch of money later the outboard doc got me fixed up.......

 

[Skeeter]

Homer don't really work on them now. He dose small things and just hangs out. The mechanic there is named James and I have heard alot of good things about him, but I have also heard bad things too.... Different people different opinions. I just hope mine in good.... emoSmile

 

[wrechin2]

Skeeter,
You asked..... Here is your answer.... Sometimes on mercury blocks we can not port due to chrome/ nikasil blocks (2.4L) We shave the block .050 then shave the piston top .050. This "tricks" the block into thinking it has been ported .050 and not damaged the coating. That is the looper omc block and are kinda hard to come by and usually not cheap. The block may be able to be decked and not have to do anything to the pistons. Ususally they do not come all the way up to the deck. That will be a good thing that they have some room in it. Would raise compression and that is a good thing. Will help acceleration and hole shot. The block has the idle reliefs drilled just above the exhaust ports (top picture 8:30 psoition, small round hole). This will not effect cranking compression much but a running compression will be effected more. Ususally thread and plug those idle reliefs. Is that the gasket dust in the cylinder???? So to answer you question... there is a better way to fix it. Cheaper? NO, More reliable? Yes. Would be basicly a rebuild with some machine work. So you can go that route and take a chance that when it blows it makes windows in the block and the price increased dramaticly due to parts damage. Just my 2 cents worth. Hopes this helps and answers your question.

 

[Skeeter]

Wrenchin2, Yeah that was gasket dust in the cylinders. He had just cleaned the head surface and called me down to look at it. As long as it will last me for the 09 season I will be happy. Maybe mama will let me buy another boat or motor for Christmas

 

[wrechin2]

Drop the n...wrechin..LOL! Those are strong engines. That one is actually about 245. I have a buddy that has built alot of those and they dynoed them before and after. He said alot of the loopers were under rated. I built on stock due to the crack in the water passage behind #1. Had to have the block welded. Keep a eye out on ebay. Maybe a block will pop up reasonable. The last block I got was a mercury v-6, I gave $78 shipping and all. It is the block I am building for racing. I needed another block like need a hole in my head. I have 8 mercury v-6 blocks!!! Kicking them around. But if I needed one I wouldn't be able to find one. Just a thought.

 

[Skeeter]

If repower the boat I will go with a 225 (max rating). When the first one blew it was only turning about 6300 (go figure emoRolleyes ). It was a VERY strong engine. I knew at those R.P.M's you cant run it long but I guess my foot got the best of me. The one that blew was a 98. This one is a 94 and I have heard that the bore is smaller on the 94's. You know anything about this? I am running a 24 Raker but I have a 26 waiting here to try out.

 

[wrechin2]

Both would have been the same bore. 88-2000 are 3 5/8 unless it is a fitch engine. Yours is carbed and should be finger ported. May be the difference, years may be wrong that you have been told. Port timing/ carbs are the only difference between 200 and 225. That is the case for most engines of the same Cubic Inches. I can take a 2.5L 150 raise the port timing to 225 pro max specs, now it is a 225. The build up I am doing on the Q/A page, I am turning the 150 block into a 200 by port timing. That is the only difference in the blocks. There is alot of hidden potential in those engines. I read a article where Alan stroker (was on the development team that broke the worlds record for fastest outboard/ engineer with OMC) got something like 350 HP out of that engine with very little port work. Didn't say exactly what, most omc block have alot of flasking in them. Cleaning it up helps alot.