What would you do?

I purchased my first Nautique, a 2005 Ski 206, two years ago. In other posts you will see that in the time I've owned it we've been taking care of engine issues since we got it. Appears that the boat has not been in the best care over the course of it's life. At any rate, we got all of the engine issues ironed out and were really excited to replace the vinyl, stereo etc this year and finally have a boat that we could just maintain. Or so we thought...

I have had it out multiple times and have skied several times already this year with no issues. I took it into the dealer to have them give the boat a once over before the heavy summer season. They called me to tell me that the engine had a knock that they suspected to be a bent rod and that the whole engine would either need to be rebuilt or replaced altogether.

Lots of things on my mind...did I miss the knock through the first few months of the year? Is it plausible that it just magically occurred under their care?

I am thinking of taking it for a second opinion to confirm their diagnosis, but if it turns out to be true, my wife wants to get rid of this boat and trade for a newer single-owner boat where we have a more precise idea of the boat's history and how well it's been cared for. (She actually said the words that every man dreams of: "Honey, I think we need to get a new boat.")

The way I see it we have a few options:

A) Rebuild/Replace the engine and keep the boat, knowing that after replacing the entire engine we're not likely to run into many more unexpected issues due to lack of care/maintenance of the engine by previous owners.

B) Sell the boat "as is" and let someone else deal with deciding on how they want to repair it.

C) Repair and sell. And if this option, will rebuilding or replacing the engine get better resale value?

Is there anything else that I'm missing/not thinking of? I have a basic working knowledge of engines but I know there is far greater expertise among the members of this site. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

Charlie

Charlie

Me and that guy Pete in the other reply to your post usually find ways to disagree on things but not in this case.

From a previous post, it seems that you had it at Buxton Marine before and that's maybe where it is again

To start with, I'd be going there and having them run it for me to be able to hear the knock that you didn't hear in your time using it. I'd want to hear it in the water under normal conditions, not on a hose in their lot or repair bay.

Then like Pete said, get a second opinion about the noise if there is one that's new to you and where it's coming from.

Damper plates, transmissions etc can be a source of some funny noises.

Yes, second opinion is in order

They can make some clunking first revolutions of the season and still be good to run, maybe the heard that and need the work?

That vintage should have the lt1 based engine I suspect

I’m wondering if a bent rod would present itself by showing lower cylinder pressure on a compression test or even better yet with a bore-o-scope examination (piston not reaching TDC due to loss of rod length caused by hydro lock). Is there any way short of pulling the engine and then the oil pan to examine for hydro lock?

Using some form of localized listening device that I’m not familiar with might pay dividends too. Hope it’s a damper plate or something a bit less costly to alleviate!

Link? Guessing this is the one
http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=43319&title=strange-flooding-condition

1) What was causing the flooding?
2) There was no mention of it not turning over (cranking) if it hydro locked would it still be able to crank/turn over with the starter.

I just went back and read the previous post Gun Driver copied.
You had a bad injector and used the boat for many hours in that condition.
Since power soft the injector was either plugged and not giving you enough fuel or stuck open allowing to much fuel in that cylinder, maybe not closing and leaking while parked.
It may have some cylinder damage but the fact it ran great after the repair points to it being in pretty good shape.
You might check compression in they cylinder before tearing anything apart.
It needs to be within 10% of your other cylinders.

Sorry after further research I noted that you had not originally purchased the boat from Buxton. We have a total of 5 boats from them. Most of them used,but maintained by them.
I just think their service dept is getting a little too overwhelmed by the volume they are doing right now.

Went to Buxton this morning, the knock is indeed there and it most definitely was not there when I dropped it off. I definitely would have noticed it. The tech explained to me that after he swapped out the oil, filter, impeller and trans fluid, he went to fire the engine for the first time and it hydrolocked instantly. When he opened up the cylinder, gas was found. After he cleared it and restarted the knock was there, and bent rod is still the suspect. I did take it for a second opinion from an independent mechanic and he agreed that a bent rod is likely the issue and rebuild would be required.

Is it possible that my flooding issue from last year was the root cause of the excess fuel? I believe the tech I work with at Buxton is fantastic but the service advisor is the one who led me to believe that the flooding wouldn't do any permanent damage to the engine. Am I way off base here in thinking that the two issues are related?

I will also note that I have been amazed at how poor the level of customer service has been at Buxton. I have had to initiate every single contact, and they have made no apology or attempt to resolve the fact that the rod bent under their care. Their one saving grace with my experience has been the tech who spent the longest amount of time with me explaining everything. I have a feeling that selling G-series boats with six-digit price tags is a lot more important to the company than servicing 15 year old ski boats.

So where to from here? My wife is strongly in the camp of selling as-is and getting a new boat altogether. Any other ideas/options I should pursue?

That thought had crossed my mind. Unfortunately, the only ski boats they have are closed bow which is a dealbreaker for us.

What exactly is involved in removing the engine, getting it ready to be re-built by a machine shop and then reinstalling? Buxton said it would be about $6000 to get all of that done. I just spoke to a shop that will do the rebuild for $2000, but I would have to bring them a pulled engine. I am quite handy but have never tackled any sort of major engine work before. What would I need to be able to do in order to remove and reinstall the engine? And how much time involved?

Are there any how-to guides, tutorials or recommended resources? Any special tools required beyond wrenches and socket set? If I'm going to take this on, just want to know what I'm getting into!

I don't know Buxton, but busy new boat dealers don't really want this kind of work, it ties up a ton of time that can be spent on things they view as more profitable. I'd definitely pull the engine yourself, it is not hard and I'd recommend you get a mechanically inclined friend to lend a hand, that way when putting it back in you'll have "backup" in terms of any doubts you have. A reputable rebuilder will do a good job, I'm guessing you'll spend more than $2,000, maybe it turns into $3,000, but a 206 in good shape is well worth it IMO. And you know from experience what a great engine that is.

Mark, in an above post Charlie said:

"When I purchased the boat in June 2017 it had 415 hours and it is now up to 485. Way too young to be requiring a rebuild if it was cared for properly all it's life, right?"

So he doesn't have the benefit of knowing if it was overheated, or any other past problems. I'm thinking you pull the engine, hand it off to a rebuilder, after partial tear down get their opinion on what they see and decide whether to do a full rebuild then or not.

I would be a fan of handling this rebuild yourself. First reason being, if there was something funky going on at Buxton a reputable machine shop will tell you the rod is A-ok and the bearing was spun or damaged due to lack of oil (would then be their fault).

I would have them document the engine serial number and possibly casting numbers on their work order before you sign it refusing their work.

Most of your external engine parts are very easy to remove/install and could be handled by anyone somewhat mechanical. The more you pull off before going to the machine shop the less money you will spend. You can clean up/prep all of the pieces you keep at home at your leisure. Label all wiring you remove so you remember where it goes.

The only part that will require a special tool would be distributor installation and timing adjustment on this engine. (I forget the procedure now for an EFI 5.7)

When the engine goes back in there are plenty of shaft alignment threads and even a video by Pete himself so that would be easily handled when you understand the concept.

Whoops, thought I saw 5.7. Even easier then !