This engine has given us trouble all season. We've enlisted the advice of our dock mates (several of whom are accomplished mechanics) and thrown a bunch of new parts at the problem but so far, nothing has solved the problem.
The problem, you ask? The engine will not, after some almost random time, run faster than about 2200 rpm. Below that engine speed it operates perfectly. The port engine, running from a common fuel tank, continues to run perfectly.
Having exhausted most of the common causes for this behavior, we called in a local marine engine mechanic. He did nothing more than measure the compression in each cylinder before announcing that "this motor has serious problems." The compression readings across the eight cylinders were all over the place from 125 lbs on a some, 100 lbs on others and one, number 8, with just 50 lbs.
The engine mechanic's boss proposed a complete rebuild as a solution. After we brought the boat to his yard, he and his crew would remove the starboard engine and ship it off to Jasper (in Florida?), where they would rebuild our old engine and then ship the rebuilt engine back to his yard for re-installation. He also mentioned how complicated these Chrysler LM-360 engines are and that there were a lot of different engine configurations.
The price for this rebuild? $11,000.
Obviously, this guy really thought he had us hooked and he laid it on, saying how unreliable local machine shops and rebuilders are.
He really wasn't interested in what we thought or what we had found, namely that the engine burns no oil and exhibits little or no blow-by. We suggested that a complete valve job might be the best solution at this point but he reiterated that "this motah really needs a complete rebuild."
We beg to disagree. In fact, it pissed us off that this guy took us for dumb boaters who don't know a wrench from a wench. Over the past 30 years, we've done three engine swaps ourselves on previous boats and they all worked perfectly. We also did the grunt work on a pair of GM 305 heads that were rebuilt by a local machine shop and that worked fine, too.
A look at our LM-360 shop manual shows that these engines aren't any more complicated than a GM small block engine and are in many ways very similar. Also, there aren't "many" different configurations of the LM-360 but only two, and those differences are minor.
So, here's the plan. We'll leave the boat in its slip and enjoy the fall season as we usually do. Remember, Frances lives on the boat and we don't want to cut her enjoyment of the season short.
Then we'll run the boat up the Connecticut River to its winter home, were she is stored in a shed out of the weather. The starboard engine will run fine as long as we keep the speed to 2200 rpm and if not, we can get up the Connecticut River on one engine. We doubt that will be necessary.
Once in Portland for the winter, we'll winterize the engines and begin the process of removing the heads on the starboard engine. We'll find a local machine shop that can do the rebuild. We already have one suggested.
While we have the heads off of the engine, we'll take the opportunity to put on new exhaust manifolds. Normally, that's very difficult to do because of the proximity of one manifold to our water tank but with the the intake and heads out of the way, it should be much easier. Well, okay, somewhat easier.
Hey, we still had a fun boating season, even if it was at 2200 rpm on that starboard engine.
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