After having boats for over 30 years, our family finally had our first catastrophic engine failure about a month ago. Our Verado 250 (400 hrs) went boom in a big way, sounded like hitting a oyster bar went it blew, which we didnt since we were just pulling out of the Marina.
Long story short, repairers said something about gas and oil mixing due to a bad seal and it blowing the port side of the motor off. The motor has been repaired, but I was wondering (Chris V. or others with exp.) what we should pay close attention (1-year left on warranty) when we get back on the water to make sure there are no bugs overlooked.
You know, things that would give us warning signs that we may need to get checked out. (the smart gauges beeped after oil was pouring out of the side of the engine last time) The motor is an 06, and it is fully serviced before every season.
I know we should got a Yamaha, yada, yada, yada, but weve never had problems with our past Mercs, Rudes or Yamahas. Just hoping to avoid using our Tow membership for a few more years.
Sound like you had a connection rod let go since the block was ventilated. Fuel dilution of the oil can cause bearing damage leading to a con rod/brg failure. However, if you are checking the oil a a regulare basis you will typically see the level rising before there is an issue. Also, smell the oil when checking level. You will be able to smell gas if there is any dilution.
my buddy has twin 250 verados on his triton, its an '04 boat and hes them replaced twice for blowing up. but i had a similar situation on my 25 johnson, my brother told me that he added oil to the gas tank, and about 1/4 mile down the river it went out with a loud pop too it. later that day he said that maybe he forgot to add the oil.
paul
other than checking the oil, not alot you can check.
pay attention to the gauges. 1 thing that can lead to a potential issue, is fuel burn.
if you have a fuel managment gauge, you can keep track of fuel burn. often when a problem is first starting, you will begin to burn more fuel at any given rpm.
Thank you Hairball and Chris V! We don’t have a fuel managment system, just a regular gauge. But we know what it usually burns, 2 to 3MPG or close to it depending on MPH, RPM.
We’ll watch the oil level and fuel consumption a bit closer.