Mercruiser 165 engine problems
John Etzel
problems. I think that the #1 piston is busted because I have 0
compression. Other cylinders seem normal. When the boat quit running
it happened all at once and the engine started smoking something
terrible. I have several questions regarding my problems.
1. Is the engine worth rebuilding. I have been given prices from $2k
to $8K. I only paid $3.5 k for the boat. The boat and engine are
almost like new and the engine had only about 200 hours on it before
it blew.
2. Is it possible to get a factory rebuilt engine? I understand from
reading newsgroup posts that this engine was troublesome. Is there a
possible conversion to a different engine that could be made to a less
troublesome engine?
3. Any information on this engine and its history would be greatly
appreicated. I am a total novice when it comes to boats and marine
engines although I am fairly knowledgeable about auto engines.
Lloyd Sumpter
> I have a Mercruiser 165 hp 4cyl inline engine with some major
> problems. I think that the #1 piston is busted because I have 0
> compression. Other cylinders seem normal. When the boat quit running
> it happened all at once and the engine started smoking something
> terrible. I have several questions regarding my problems.
>
I'm a little confused. I thought the "big" 4-cyl Merc was a 170 hp. The
165 is an inline 6.
If it's the "big" 170hp 4-cyl, it's not a great engine. It's a
frankenstein model made by Merc by essentally cutting a V8 in half.
However, I was told that converting to, say, a 4.3L V6 is hard/impossible
to do.
If it's the Venerable 165hp inline 6, that's a great engine (basically a
Chev truck engine). There's lots of spares, parts, rebuilt ones around.
Have the engine looked at by a pro to see if it's worth rebuilding, or buy
a rebuilt one and replace it.
Lloyd Sumpter
"Free Time" Campion 18 - with the smaller 120hp 4-cyl.
HLAviation
>problems. I think that the #1 piston is busted because I have 0
>compression. Other cylinders seem normal. When the boat quit running
>it happened all at once and the engine started smoking something
>terrible. I have several questions regarding my problems.
>
>1. Is the engine worth rebuilding. I have been given prices from $2k
>to $8K. I only paid $3.5 k for the boat. The boat and engine are
>almost like new and the engine had only about 200 hours on it before
>it blew.
>
> I am a total novice when it comes to boats and marine
>engines although I am fairly knowledgeable about auto engines.
>
Just fix the engine, don't do everything to it, just fix what broke. Sorry I'm
not familiar with a 165hp 4 cyl. The 165 6 cyl is a Chevy 250 straight six,
the 470/ 170 hp is a morphadite chopped off Ford V8 and since half a Ford is
twice as bad as a whole one, they are somewhat of a problem, not real bad, but
not my preffered engine. So as you see, if you know how to patch up a car
engine, you have the requisite skills to patch up your boat engine. So go
ahead and pull the head and see what you can see. BTW if it was a hydraulic
lock that busted the piston, take a real close look at the head, rod, and crank
for damage, and suspect the exaust manifold as a possible culprit.
http://hometown.aol.com/hlaviation/
Butch Ammon
Ditto here.... I have the 165hp Mercruiser on my old '75 Sea Start trihull.
All the other previous posts are correct. The 165 is a Chevy small block
straight 6 that is rugged as all heck.
Butch Ammon
My web page:
http://members.aol.com/ammonc/butch.html
THUNDERBOATRENT
in any event you can go to any auto engine rebuilder since it is either model
is a inlne chevy and can be rebuilt for way under $1000. good luck
John Elliott
wrote:
>first of all a 165 merc is a 6 cylinder, if it is a 4 cylinder it is the 120.
>in any event you can go to any auto engine rebuilder since it is either model
>is a inlne chevy and can be rebuilt for way under $1000. good luck
Okay boys and girls, the Merc 3.7 / 165hp IS an inline 4. It is the
predecessor to the 170 and basically a Ford 460, cut in half. The
biggest problema are with the aluminum block and the water pump / cam
shaft configuration. Rebuild / replace? Well, I can't say that I
would spend more than 2k on the motor, but that's me. From what I
understand, there is no easy/drop in replacement for it.
If it were me, I'd give some thought to getting out from under the
boat if you only paid 3500 for it, cut your losses and run. You can
get a nice used boat for the 5 - 8 thousand you are talking about
putting into the motor.
