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Broke my 502

fireguy

fireguy

Well-known member
Let me start out by saying, "I AM AN IDIOT".:brickwall:

Now that I have tha off my chest, through a series of events that all add up to being my fault, I failed to winterize my boat. It was kept in my very well insulated garage. Garage is heated, but I do not heat it because it never freezes, well at least not until this winter. I kept my bass boat with merc 115 OB in the garage for 6 winters and never winterized it, so I felt pretty safe.

Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:pissed:

So around the end of Feb I notice a big puddle under the boat. Take it to my guy yesterday and he fires it up and discovers 3 freeze plugs out, 2 completely out and 1 partially out. Maybe we dodged a bullet. Lets replace the freeze plugs and hope for the best.

Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:yell:

So upon refire we get good water out of the right side exhaust and a trickle out of the left. HMMM, maybe we still got lucky, give it a minute. Pow, the dipstick goes flyin out, hits the ceiling and water and oil go spurtin everywhere. Hit the killswitch double quick like.

Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:sick:

So, It looks like it probably cracked around the lifer valley, but we wont know til we get it out and start rebuilding. So many options and non are cheap.

While I have it apart, I may try building something a little stronger than the stock 502, and we always have the procharged option. Build a good strong blower motor bottom end and run it for a year until the warranty is up and then add a procharger.

I have already been on the phone with mkhammer and discussed a really beefy 509 he has, maybe a 540, a 500 HP option, or I could just put it back together in stock 502 trim. He is a really cool guy and has already been very helpful, I hope I can do business with him (possible geographic limitations) and highly reccomend him to you guys.

Oh ya, and BTW, Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:irked:
 
I feel sick for you, I hate to hear stories like this, I know of many, Like a freind of mine who changed the oil on his dump truck only to figure out he forgot to put the fresh oil in till it was way to late.(that was very expensive as big diesels are Big$$$)
If this was the origional motor in your boat maybe you can feel a little better that it was old and would need a rebuild soon anyway but it is still such a waste.
I hope something goes well for you in this, when things like this happen to me it usually gets worse before it get better.
Good luck
Rob
 
That does suck. Not the only person that happened to this year...they just don't know it yet. At least it is early in the season.

Others will find out Memorial day weekend.
 
Well whatever. Go get a new block fron GM @ around $1500, get some JE forged pistons and hone the block to fit them ( I think that they are a few thousands bigger) that way you will eliminate the metric rings on the original pistons, pick a blower friendly cam and put it together. A friend of mine had a 502 with a procharger and it ran really well.
 
Big Red said:
realitycheck.gif dooh.gif
Click to expand...


Thanx BR,
I knew i couls count on you for a well thought out compassionate reply. LOL!!!

I feel like a complete idiot. I have really made myself sick over this for 2 days. I appreciate the thoughts and even though it had about 550 hrs on it, it was still really strong. Ran perfectly every time.

Oldnavy,
What is the downside to the metric rings? I know it has them, but what gives?
I would love to go the blower route, one of my best friends has a Baja 272 with a procharged 502 that runs 83 on GPS with 4 people, a load of fuel, and 2 really full coolers.
 
fireguy said:
Let me start out by saying, "I AM AN IDIOT".:brickwall:
Click to expand...

fireguy said:
Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:pissed:
Click to expand...
fireguy said:
Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:yell:
Click to expand...
fireguy said:
Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:sick:
Click to expand...

fireguy said:
Oh ya, and BTW, Did I mention, "I AM AN IDIOT".:irked:
Click to expand...

i got what your saying......:poke:
sorry about your motor,thats a bummer big time!!

But at least you can do some "updates" and most importantly you learned something from it!!!

I hope!
 
While you are "learning" it is quite hard to "freeze" an O/B motor if you leave it in the down position. There is no comparison to an I/O in terms of winterizing. The O/B block is vertical, so it drains naturally with gravity (again, must be in the down position).

I almost puked when I read that the dip stick flew out of the block.:sick::sick::sick:

Sorry man.

HD
 
fireguy said:
Thanx BR,
I knew i couls count on you for a well thought out compassionate reply. LOL!!!

I feel like a complete idiot. I have really made myself sick over this for 2 days. I appreciate the thoughts and even though it had about 550 hrs on it, it was still really strong. Ran perfectly every time..
Click to expand...

MAYBE THIS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER

550 hours , the block did not freeze it just collapsed from being wore out. That thing had one foot in the ground 150 hours ago. The only thing you did was put it out of its misery. It was time anyway for a rebuild. Word of advice the outdrive is not far behind especially with a new engine in the works.
 
I feel your pain......My bad head gaskets resulted in the same effect, milk blowing out my dipsick.

Look at it this way, it is a perfect time to make it go faster now! And isn't that what you really want?
 
was it ...

an efi motor or a carb motor?

i have a motor thatll make it run at least 71-72, then i also have the procharger that will bolt right on and make it run at least 80-83....

thats how my 242 ran.

its all just sitting here for sale!! already sold the boat!
 
Boatn70,
Mine was an EFI and I absolutely want to stay with EFI.

And, I had already emailed the guy on st louis craigslist before I read your post. Thank you very much for the lookup.

I really appreciate you guys not beating me up too bad. LOL. I really wish I could chalk this up to not knowing any better, but I unfortunately have been boating and for 20 years.

Ya Hotdaddy,
I know the OB was always vertical and there is a big diff between OB's and IO's. I honestly figured it would be okay, but then we got a crazy cold winter this year and it bit me in the azz.
 
If you have any questions about modifying a 502 EFI, let me know. I am pretty sure I found out all of the quirks, hang-ups, and limitations of every system on that model. More or less, you can not repeat some of the frusterations I came across.
 
Big Block Parts

I can help you with internal parts and or build an engine for you , it can be a 540 or a 572 from a 502 block. Mike Huyser Oliver connecting Rods
 
with the harshness of this past winter you will have a bunch of company there...bad about your loss...but insurance will cover in most cases....and yes outboards are self draining in most cases so thats why you never had a issue with that..good luck..Rob
 
Again, thanx for the support and for all of the advice.

Convincor 242- funds are going to dictate that it stays a 502. A buddy of mine is tearing it down this week, I hope. From there we will inspect the internals and see waht can be reused.

EZStriper, I have read lots of threads about insurance ans I feel very fortunate to have State Farm Mutual, but alas no coverage for freezing.
 
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