1994 echelon missing

[martinarcher]

How much of the work do you want to do yourself?

Bummer man. Sorry to hear about the engine! Any idea what caused the damage? Was the chunk still around or is it long gone? I could still be in the muffler or exhaust.

footnlingline is right on with the first question. How much of the work do you want to do? If you can do engine work yourself you can save a lot of cash. Pulling an engine from a boat like yours and mine is a bit simpler compared to a car since there are no fenders or hood to deal with.

If you can get a longblock and swap the marine parts (raw water pump, exhaust, carb, starter, ignition parts, etc) over yourself and re-install the engine you can save a lot of money.

If your into slalom or footing it would be a great time to think about an upgrade for a few more ponies too. Can you say 383 stroker?

[bigeasybu]

im do all the work myself i think i can i think i can will be my mantra. i've been looking at a site called us engines inc they claiming a 300 hp replacement engine 7 year warranty for 2195.00 less 200.00 winter discount plus 150.00 delivery fee and im guessing some sort of core fee. i havent any idea what could have caused this damage anybody got a guess ? what i do know is i have a damn solid boat good hull nice interior works very well for my needs. so im gonna upgrade to this 300 hp engine and should get another 10 to 20 years out of my echelon. i trust if i have any problems one of you gurus will set me straight. so anybody ever dealt with usengines.com ?

[Woodski]

The work won't be too hard as MA noted it is pretty easy to pull the engine. Root cause is probably pre ignition or detonation, causes would be bad fuel / low octane or too much timing advance but that would tend to damage all cylinders. The other culprit would be something got injested and sucked through the combustion chamber (like the wing nut holding the spark arrestor on). Many of the suppliers of rebuilt engines have plants in Mexico where the labor is cheaper, they are basically rebuilt used engines. GM offers everything from parts > short blocks > long blocks > complete crate engines through the Performance Parts catalog / website.

Boosting power from the as delivered 265 hp on the mid 90's Echelons (and others) to the more current 330 +/- is a very good upgrade. Depending on how you use your boat should dictate your willingness to determine the value of the upgrade. Personally, as a skier / barefooter, the more the better and well worth it particularly for the low end grunt of pulling up a skier, barefooter and then the top end power for heavy or multiple footers. If top end is nit a big concern, then the 310 hp option is very good. Note: as you shop for an alternate engine, the marine cam is different than the street cam, so make sure you either use your current one or get a marine cam. It has more low end torque.

The limiting factor on the power output for that engine is the cylinder heads. To get the most, you will want the newer Vortec style heads that were introduced on the CK pickup truck line in 1996. That is a very good upgrade and those can be found at a junk yard if bargain shopping. If you want a little more, the fast burn cylinder heads will really wake up a SBC and allow 400+ hp if desired.

[bigeasybu]

woodski i'm actually pretty excited about it. i'm going with a 300 hp upgrade from a distibuter named usengines.com . they been on line for 5 years and in business for 30+ . we mostly kneeboard and wake boarder with the kids. ill slalom and barefoot but i'm the last of a dying breed it seeems. i should be able to bring this whole project in for under 2500.00, with the help of the great people on this board. without the confidence i got knowing i got y'all behind me i'd have to pay for the labor

[martinarcher]

woodski i'm actually pretty excited about it. i'm going with a 300 hp upgrade from a distibuter named usengines.com . they been on line for 5 years and in business for 30+ . we mostly kneeboard and wake boarder with the kids. ill slalom and barefoot but i'm the last of a dying breed it seeems. i should be able to bring this whole project in for under 2500.00, with the help of the great people on this board. without the confidence i got knowing i got y'all behind me i'd have to pay for the labor

It sucks to have to change the engine, but I agree - upgrading to a new 300+ hp longblock would certainly be exciting. Getting it all done under $2500 is pretty dang nice too!

I'm with Woodski on the material ingestion. I was wondering if you found the piece of the engine from that cylinder and if you found something else with it that could have been ingested that caused the damage. When you pull the engine it might be worth peeking down the hard exhaust tubes. The stock silencers are pretty restrictive and could possibly trap the parts depending at the angle they are in the exhaust..

Edited January 20, 2011 by martinarcher

[bigeasybu]

ok guys i did it yesterday ordered a 300hp long block from usengines. 2595.90 to my door. i'm guessing i should paint it before i put it in the boat. any suggestions on type of engine paint? gonna start taking all the parts off the old engine tomorrow. ive got some 1" white tape and will label all my wires. transmission do i just remove the bolts around the edges then the engine should slide foreward off the spline. will the tranny fluide stay in the unit or do i need to drain it ?

[bigeasybu]

new long block came in yesterday. its pretty started stripping down the old engine, my god rest its soul, should have the new engine dressed in the old ones clothes and repainted in a week.ready to put a new heart in my old trooper.

[EchelonMike]

ok here it is. after ideling around about 5 hours, i was driving santa around venetian isles delivering presents to all the good boys n girls, started getting a miss in my 1994 echelon 350 mercruise. went out to open water opened it up 4800 rpm to burn off plugs. got up on plane then started losing rpm then stumbling badly. back at idle very pronounced miss. started with the fuel tank vent hose clear noticed alot of debris in tank so i pulled it out drained it. used my electric oil remover pump and vaccumed it clean checked the fuel path all the way to the carb looked clean. changed all the plugs gapped them to factory spec .035 replaced the coil. visually inspected the distributer cap looked good to my eye. at idle i pulled each plug wire from distributer. at the second plug from the front starbord side there is no change. not a mechanic just a guesser n part changer. anybody got suggestions ?

Not sure about a 94 model, but my 97 Echelon Mercruiser 350 (carb) had some sort of electronic module on the distributor. The new owner last year starting having some ignition issues and then it would not start. He replaced that module and it was back to perfect again. Not sure if yours has that or not.

I would guess spark or fuel issue. Since it revs fine under no load then stumbles under load, I am inclined to think a fuel delivery issue (clogged filter, carb, fuel pump, etc).

Let us know what you discover!

-- Mike