2005 Nautique Super Sport 210 - Excalibur 330 - cracked block? Help

[2005SS210RV]

I’m in my third summer of owning this boat and new to the forum. I’ve used it a lot for various things with my boat and it has been very helpful. This is my first post.

I made a mistake winterizing my boat this year and believe I neglected to pull a plug on the block. When I launched yesterday, the boat began filling with hot engine water. Got it out of the water and back to the garage. Don’t know where to begin to fix this. Motor is Excalibur 330. Oil pressure and temp never got outside nominal while running. Checked oil upon return and level is good. There appears to be no water in it. How do I find the leak or leaks, repair them and figure out the extent of the damage? I think the freezing pushed out a plug of some sort as I found a 1” diameter or so metal “cup” in my bilge. Any advice is much appreciated. Sick to my stomach over this. It was such a great boat!

[bturner]

IMO you didn't make a mistake winterizing your own boat, you made a mistake not properly preparing for the task by not doing the proper research to complete the task. It happens/happened and now you move on from here, lesson learned. As far as the boat goes, it's still a great boat and will be as good or better if you do the repair correctly.

If you have a freeze plug laying in the bilge you are probably correct thinking the block is cracked. The attached picture would certainly seem to indicate that as well. If you fill the block and water come out that cracked IMO you can forget about the freeze plug and move on to locating a short block for your new engine build. You'll also have to decide on how you're going to approach the repair by either doing this yourself or hiring this out. I've assisted with this type of repair with an inboard which wasn't horrible but can't say I've done anything like this with a vdrive. The process is basically the same but with the added complexity of having to deal with removing interior components and an engine that's stuffed into the rear of the boat under a sun lounger. With a new short block you're basically uninstalling things like the accessory drive, electronics, intake and fuel system off the old engine and installing it on the new. They'll be a lot of research to do this correctly but it certainly can be done by anyone with moderate mechanical skills and the desire to learn and perform the tasks required for the swap. If that's not you then it's time to move on to finding a shop to do the work for you.

There are a lot of people that will look for a used automotive block for the replacement and go that direction, I've seen mixed results with this. I personally would prefer find something that's new or remanufactured with a warranty. The thought being that as long as you have it apart the delta in parts typically isn't that significant when you look at the labor involved to justify taking the chance with a junkyard 350 chevy that's 10 or 15 years old. Up here in the north Michigan Motorz is where I sourced an engine years ago.

https://www.michiganmotorz.com/5-7l-...nt-replacement

Jasper is another place I've heard a lot of people use as well.....

https://www.jasperengines.com/stock-replacement-engines

If there's any silver lining to this at all it would be your location. It looks like you're in FL which in general has a large pool of marine mechanics with experience swapping engines with all the saltwater repowers that get done.

[2005SS210RV]

Thanks so much for the response. Unfortunately I’m not in Florida, but Saratoga Springs, NY. I have moderate mechanical skills but don’t think I can take this on. This was my third time winterizing this boat. I agree not a mistake winterizung it but somehow got distracted during the process and made a very costly mistake. It happens.

thanks for info on motors. Need to find someone that can take this on. Not many marinas around me that do major engine work

[jmo]

Adirondack Marine is probably the closest Nautique dealer that could fix it for you. They are on lake George on the southern end. Good outfit, I bought my former 196 from them. There is also a Nautique dealer in the adirondacks, Lake Flower Marina (I think) my guess is that’s further away.