Carver Owners Forum

If your engines are running good I would at a minimum continue your current maintenance practices as they seem to be working. Sometime somewhere down the road engines and transmissions will reach a point where they need to be rebuilt.

2800 hours is a lot but you are proof that proper maintenance provides a lengthy service life.

I always say that engine hours alone aren't reason enough to condemn an engine. There are other factors one must take into consideration, however most require historical data of previous owners' maintenance habits, the way they used the boat, possible impacts, etc. I wouldn't have a problem with 2800 hours if I knew she was properly maintained with high quality products. Without this knowledge though, it's a crap shoot and IMO one should approach it assuming the worst, such as oil changes not being done on a regular basis and that she was often pushed to the max. If you know what you're looking for, there will be some obvious signs of previous maintenance practices; old belts, spark plugs, hoses, wiring, etc. There will be signs/evidence throughout the entire vessel of how she was looked after.

A compression test is good but will only reveal so much. You may want to consider a leak down test, it may reveal what is currently a minor issue that will rear its ugly head later. Perhaps one of the best tests to do is a vacuum test. It'll paint a pretty good picture of how the engine is actually running and point to an internal issue if one exists or is evolving. The caveat here is that you know what the readings mean and what you're looking for. Even some technicians would be challenged to interpret a vacuum test properly, especially the new school guys.

If you've put on a lot of hours since the last oil changes, take oil samples and send them out for analysis before you do your next fluid changes, same goes for your transmissions. Ask them to point out any red flags, again this requires some experience as some elevated levels above benchmark don't necessarily mean there's a problem. These benchmarks are also usually geared to the automotive industry, there are some differences that must be considered when interpreting the data.

Before you do anything, in the absence of historical records, also consider that a previous owner may have had them rebuilt already. Unless the hour meters were replaced, they wouldn't reflect that as they can't be reset to zero after a rebuild so the hours displayed would include rebuild run time. Look for an engine rebuilder's tag, label, etc. on the engines. They usually put their business tag on a rebuild and some will also include details of the rebuild on the tag. If you find these, your worries might be over but still worth a call to the shop for details.

If you expect the worst and hope for the best, you won't get caught so off guard and might be able to prepare now for a major failure in the future or take preventative measures now to avoid that. Heck you can probably baby her at low rpm to get you from A to B for years, just be cognizant of conditions that might creep up on you requiring her to work hard such as outrunning an approaching storm, you don't want them to fail then! One thing is sure, that amount of hours IS a red flag without all the facts. Unfortunately no matter what you do, you can't predict whether they'll last two hours or another two thousand, even if they were rebuild. The deciding factor on what to do is to do what it takes to ease your mind so you have an enjoyable boating experience every time you head out. That comfort level is different for everybody so that and the wallet will dictate your course of action.

Finally, are the exhaust manifolds fresh water cooled also or raw water cooled? If raw water cooled, consider that moving into a salt/brackish water environment will accelerate what might already be weak manifolds that just might make that engine rebuild come sooner than later!

BTW, what brand are we talking about?

Viper thank you for the detailed reply. I agree with out records its a crap shoot, and I hope with the condition the hull and interior are in match the inside the of engines.

The engines are 270 Crusaders, the manifolds are fresh water cooled and are Osco Brand including the risers. So to my knowledge Osco closed 8 yrs ago so they all could be at least that age or newer being replaced with old stock.

When I purchased the boat I replaced all the 3” exhaust up to the risers, and had to replace the 3” metal 90’s and 3” Y collectors they were in really bad shape. It’s humbling to be talking about the manifolds, because I am out of the country till mid February and I have ordered new risers and elbows to be at the boat for my arrival home.

The other presents that await me is a vacuum gauge and compression tester. I am confident with the compression, but that vacuum one maybe a head scratcher.

The oil labs would be a great test, but I am very liberal with the oils. With the hours on the meters I do all oils every 50hrs just for my mental wellness. As I knocked on my wooden table we haven’t had a bad trip yet or major break down.

I have been given my wife’s blessing if I so choose to replace engines, but need to get through the prelim tests first. We love the boat but really have to decide if its the boat we want to be financially invested to. Because our journey on the ocean has just begun and we both love it.

Troy

Considering your other post looking for model recommendations for what will likely be a larger boat given that a bathtub is one of the criteria, you may want to reconsider spending any serious money on your current one if the plan is to sell it anyway.

I'd keep on running what I had as long as everything is working like a well oiled machine. Bank the $$ for the prize replacement power plants you think you would get if or when the day comes. You could put brand new power plants in and have issues these days, especially with all the added electronics on engines these days, at least yours are straight forward engines, I'd stay with what I had, especially if you appear to be looking for an overall upgrade in the future!

Well just got back from the boat and dug alittle further into the engines. Did compression test which was really good for the hours.

Port Engine 137-144 psi
Star 142-150 psi



I ended up continuing with the Spring maintenance and changed the Risers/ Elbows and 4" hose's. Took her out for a test run and it's amazing how well these 2800 hr run, including the mechanics at the yard that stood beside it for a half hour as it warmed.




Take Care
Troy

Before you decide on anything, do a proper leakdown test on those two low cylinders......that will let you know where the leakage is occurring, considering they are two cylinders beside each other.

See what comes out of it....really with that many hours, myself , I would not touch them as you say it runs fine, use em up then get some new high tech stuff, before the boss changes her mind..... ...

X3 vote for a leakdown test.

As for the vacuum gauge, take a look at this link : https://batauto.com/threads/vacuum-check.14064/.