Sad end to the season. 1985 Voyager, 235hp 2.6L Johnson

[Mklock]

Short story here and looking for other opinions. Finally got the 235hp Johnson running pretty well on the Voyager and was clocking 68mph bolted to the transom. Basically replaced ignition components, glued one magnet back on the flywheel and added CC Sport reed valves. Took it out 2 weeks ago and well after crusing at 30mph for 15 minutes or so turned around and gave it the beans coming home. RPMS around 5800-6000 for no more than 2 minutes and KAPOOT she stalls and I come to a roaring stop. Everything looked okay till I pulled #4 plug and had a lean condition and got the piston burned up. Anyways, tore it all apart and come to find out the exhaust had been leaking water into bank 1 all this time and washing oil away from the piston. Probably causing excessive heat and improper cooling, causing a ****ty time. After pricing out everything and honing the cylinders my self with all new pistons etc.... im walking into 2k for a *old technology DINO* although everything is original so thats the only bonus with keeping the crossflow on it.

Has anyone been down this road before and what did they opt towards. Parameters for me are under 5k$ and has to be a 2 stroke. I don't care about 4 stroke stuff.

[pcrussell50]

Horrible.

And now you have me worried about misbehaving exhaust dividers as a “hidden” time bomb that can destroy a motor. :(

But how can this be? The exhaust cover is a simple piece. If it is not damaged or poorly modified, and if it is installed with fresh gaskets and not leaking, how can it fail to do its job? Scary stuff, that.

-Peter

[Mklock]

Exactly. I mean this was a totally unmodified engine until I put sport reeds in it. I think this gasket failed well long ago before I purchased it and once I did the minor repairs to get it up and running tip top, the water was enough to send it over the edge and gave up. It's not totally a big blob of junk I'm just wondering to my self do I keep sinking money into it or move on and cut my loss. Even though the big bore 235hp was a over rated rating, it's still not an easy task to find a 200HP engine that you could count on that's not brand new.

[pcrussell50]

…it's still not an easy task to find a 200HP engine that you could count on that's not brand new.

Yep. I share your outlook here. I only see two ways forward… Get a motor with due diligence, compression check at a minimum, see it run, and leak down if possible. If it passes muster, buy it. Then pull the exhaust divider and re-do. Go through the carbs. The let her rip. This is what I did with my 2.4/200. It passed all the tests, then I re-did the exhaust divider, carbs, and heads (because it was a salt motor). Only a few hours on it but so far so good. :fingerscrossed:

That’s about all you can do, besides sending it straight Chris Carson or JSRE or whomever else on here is a good engine builder (and I know there are a lot of you who just lay low and don’t advertise).

-Peter

[derekfl]

you said honing bores and 6 new pistons 2k. what about backyard a-hole version? hone 1 bore and 1 new or ebay piston. couple gaskets. then stay off the loud handle to get you thru the month then spend the winter figuring out how best to spend real money.

[pcrussell50]

you said honing bores and 6 new pistons 2k. what about backyard a-hole version? hone 1 bore and 1 new or ebay piston. couple gaskets. then stay off the loud handle to get you thru the month then spend the winter figuring out how best to spend real money.

^^^Something like this ^^^

I’ve got a 2.0/150 with the top two holes low on compression 100/90 and too fast on leak down (I forget the numbers). Somehow it runs pretty well in terms of idling and not stalling and rips right through the power band, although I’m sure it would lose a race to a healthy 2.0. It’s been fine for family recreation use, which is all I use it for. But I just replaced it with a 2.4/200 anyway.

My plan (discussed here at S&F), was to bore the two weak holes and get new pistons. The others are fine, and keep the old pistons, (with fresh rings and hone only).

-Peter

[derekfl]

peter, i think i remember you saying you had a v6 with 2 less than optimal holes you have been running for years. OP has a short boating season. most of you guys do. come mid august you gotta think cheap quick patch job even if it just gets you 2 or 3 more saturdays. my boating season will start in another couple months when it gets cool enough... zillions of these all over ebay. or on fb in your town. https://www.ebay.com/itm/185365749499?hash=item2b28a8defb%3Ag%3AJbQAAOSwB2hiRijS&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4LXSxRP9kQfb7tdDoCWa7isY5Vrhf3RMIkbhShrK8EZk8kjK6rgkRt1uK0QtQ7vnqMNuwsKg9nXUQ1Z Rso4omjo%2FBw%2BRC%2F%2FmE5aAhrxut9yKOov3DX9G6I2FBixkys4Jn8FYp2lepQJaa4TiQW4Q1g%2BhRgLtVHOGJh4zNDnLd mfvhQOJ1sbo%2BN4vLkmBXy5Zwws9Q1MulANdQjKWyXmbIpsoJXAExbQPxj8ADUrthKdMPapXbrgVbWY8vJWL%2BF30u4IqGw8Ry jno1u9ti2J5WzAIfdZvFcXVLlScxBgVaboD%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_LE_Ny_Yg&LH_ItemCondition=4

[turboeddie]

just wondering if a engine monitor system could be used on the engine. cylinder head temps? they have become very popular on aircraft engines. good luck.

[derekfl]

We all should have water temp and water pressure gauges.

[pcrussell50]

We all should have water temp and water pressure gauges.

My boat that I ran the 2.0/150 on for years, and now has a 2.4/200 has the gauges for pressure and temperature. Only, they were not connected when I got the boat. NOW, (finally) thanks to threads like this, I'm getting interested enough to hook them up.

One place where I've never skimped though is on the overheat buzzer. I test it frequently AND I test the sensor itself, to make sure it closes the buzzer circuit.

-Peter

[mach351]

Put a used piston in it and get back boating. I’ve got a couple of 200’s I’ve been running for years that have each ate a couple of pistons each….I keep a box of used pistons and rings under the bench. A little acid to get the aluminum off the steel sleeve and then a ball hone and ta-da! Is it right? Nope. Is the cylinder round? Probably not anymore. Is the compression identical to the uninjured holes? Nope. Leak down?! Hahaha I don’t even want to know. BUT…..the motor runs…..actually still runs pretty damn good.