1986 454 Crusaders, Synthetic?

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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Those are good motors btw, they are good at burning gas. We used to run my grandfathers Chris Craft 315 Commander across LIS for lunch at just about the stops which was about 40GPHish.

Used to take about 70 gallons to get lunch and back, I love doing lunch runs!

What does the 36 burn at WOT?

How are the risers? That's what kills marine motors, not oil.


Yeah, she's not why on drinking the fuel. At WOT, she will hit about 30MPH, which would be about 40GPH.

This boat has only ever been on the Great Lakes (no salt water). It has a closed cooling system as well. This "should" make the entire cooling system last a lot longer. The anti-freeze looks good. No signs of sludge or anything in it. Both holding tanks had a bit of welding repair to them. Is that of concern?

Do you think it's just a good idea to take the risers off and have a look-see? Or is this system (fresh water closed cooling system) known to last pretty much forever?

Looking for some advice Hatteras. Thanks.
 
Almost always worth it to look at the risers in any older boat!

That's the first thing that can get you a ruined engine and you'll not see it coming...
 
Well in fresh water risers can last a long time, I have seen 25 year old ones. Fresh water cooling only covers the manifolds, their should be anodes in the heat exchangers somewhere, lots of people forget to change them.

How are the temps when you run the motors hard? In salt water risers last about 5 years and you can watch the temps creep up as they start to fail.

IMHO if they are original I'd just replace them, a leaky riser is what kills most marine gas engines.

You can probably get away with a lot more in fresh water, but you still have to watch it those motors are coming up on 30 years old.
 
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Well in fresh water risers can last a long time, I have seen 25 year old ones. Fresh water cooling only covers the manifolds, their should be anodes in the heat exchangers somewhere, lots of people forget to change them.

How are the temps when you run the motors hard? In salt water risers last about 5 years and you can watch the temps creep up as they start to fail.

IMHO if they are original I'd just replace them, a leaky riser is what kills most marine gas engines.

You can probably get away with a lot more in fresh water, but you still have to watch it those motors are coming up on 30 years old.


Thanks man. On a highly trust boating forum, several gentlemen told me that risers in freshwater pretty much last forever....especially on Crusaders. Mercruisers, probably not. I might take them off this winter and just check them out...just to give me some piece of mind.

I'll also check out the sacrificial anodes in the heat exchangers. I'm thinking about ordering some new ones for my brother, since both tanks have had welding repairs on them....which may indicate that the anodes are long gone.
 
Well take one off and see what it looks like, I know freshwater is a very forgiving environment compared to what I'm used to so they might last near forever.
 
Originally Posted By: terminaldegree
Have you priced replacement heat exchangers for this boat? If there's evidence of a prior repair, it may be smart.


Crusader OEM heat exchangers are about a grand a piece.
 
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
Lotta great info here. 980 hours on 86 motors seems low...


Thats fairly typical on a Great Lakes boat. These boats don't get run a lot. One of the reasons is that taking the boat out for a short 2 hours cruise will cost you $400 in fuel. You can spend $2000 for fuel and the hour gauges only moved 10 units!! So, a 1000 hours on these engines would cost you $200,000 just in gas alone by today's price of fuel.

Crazy.
 
less than 40 hours a year. you buy a 36 footer with twin 454's, gas cost not an issue. might not be the case for 3rd owner though. I was in the marine industry late 80's and these GM big blocks were flying off the showroom floor.
Sounds like a great boat motor combo to work on. I would change the oil with whatever you like, marine gade, maybe. I myself buy anything that doesnt say "mercury". A trip to AAP or AZ should have you all set, oil, filters, plugs.
I'd make sure battery(s) were new and charged everytime out. Also good gas and keep it filled. get out on the water, drop anchor and enjoy!
 
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
less than 40 hours a year. you buy a 36 footer with twin 454's, gas cost not an issue. might not be the case for 3rd owner though. I was in the marine industry late 80's and these GM big blocks were flying off the showroom floor.
Sounds like a great boat motor combo to work on. I would change the oil with whatever you like, marine gade, maybe. I myself buy anything that doesnt say "mercury". A trip to AAP or AZ should have you all set, oil, filters, plugs.
I'd make sure battery(s) were new and charged everytime out. Also good gas and keep it filled. get out on the water, drop anchor and enjoy!


No, the guy who bought this bought new probably spent $600,000 for it. He didn't care about fuel costs. But these hours are typical on a Great Lakes boat. Believe me. You really only see high hours on fresh water boats used for charter fishing or other business and of course in the salt water, where people run out 20-100 miles each way to fish, etc. But a lot of salt water boats are low miles too, if they are never fished from.

Why? I don't know for sure. But I guess one reason is, people who buy these boats new really don't use them. It's a toy. Same reason that $600,000 cars (when they were new) that are now 10-20 years old are have usually 2k-10k miles on them. Same concept I think. Find me a Ferrari with 80k miles on it? Or any ultra-expensive car for that matter: Rolls Royce, Lambo, etc. etc. People who buy these things don't typically use them like that.

I agree with you on the oil. I HATE anything MERCURY. Motors, oils, etc. etc. I think Mercury is JUNK!! On principle alone, I can't put that oil back in these motors....I don't care if that's all they have ever been fed....I'm changing their diets!!

Everything has been changed already: plugs, wires, caps, rotors, filters, etc. That's the first thing I did. I also took out the worthless Carquest batteries and installed three new Deka's. The old 1986 old-school Charles battery charger was removed with a new 3-bank unit from Master Volt. It bothers me that these marine BBC's don't use air filters on top of the carbs....instead they just have a flame arrestor. I'm thinking of trying to find a marine-compatible air filter for these babies.

We're going to use the boat. Mostly for musky fishing.
 
That boat probably cost about $100k new in the 1980's and gas was $1 a gallon or less.

A new 31 is in the $300k range with diesels, they also burn about half the fuel with diesels.

Most boat owners are afraid of their boats or just sit on them, I don't understand it. I own them to use them, and I do.
 
27 years ago it was a floating camper. Last thing you might want to add is a small Yammy or Honda generator. 1000-2000W. Come in handy overnighting it.
Get some pics up when you can!
 
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
27 years ago it was a floating camper. Last thing you might want to add is a small Yammy or Honda generator. 1000-2000W. Come in handy overnighting it.
Get some pics up when you can!


It's got an origin Westerbeke generator in it already.
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
less than 40 hours a year. you buy a 36 footer with twin 454's, gas cost not an issue. might not be the case for 3rd owner though. I was in the marine industry late 80's and these GM big blocks were flying off the showroom floor.
Sounds like a great boat motor combo to work on. I would change the oil with whatever you like, marine gade, maybe. I myself buy anything that doesnt say "mercury". A trip to AAP or AZ should have you all set, oil, filters, plugs.
I'd make sure battery(s) were new and charged everytime out. Also good gas and keep it filled. get out on the water, drop anchor and enjoy!


No, the guy who bought this bought new probably spent $600,000 for it. He didn't care about fuel costs. But these hours are typical on a Great Lakes boat. Believe me. You really only see high hours on fresh water boats used for charter fishing or other business and of course in the salt water, where people run out 20-100 miles each way to fish, etc. But a lot of salt water boats are low miles too, if they are never fished from.

Why? I don't know for sure. But I guess one reason is, people who buy these boats new really don't use them. It's a toy. Same reason that $600,000 cars (when they were new) that are now 10-20 years old are have usually 2k-10k miles on them. Same concept I think. Find me a Ferrari with 80k miles on it? Or any ultra-expensive car for that matter: Rolls Royce, Lambo, etc. etc. People who buy these things don't typically use them like that.

I agree with you on the oil. I HATE anything MERCURY. Motors, oils, etc. etc. I think Mercury is JUNK!! On principle alone, I can't put that oil back in these motors....I don't care if that's all they have ever been fed....I'm changing their diets!!

Everything has been changed already: plugs, wires, caps, rotors, filters, etc. That's the first thing I did. I also took out the worthless Carquest batteries and installed three new Deka's. The old 1986 old-school Charles battery charger was removed with a new 3-bank unit from Master Volt. It bothers me that these marine BBC's don't use air filters on top of the carbs....instead they just have a flame arrestor. I'm thinking of trying to find a marine-compatible air filter for these babies.

We're going to use the boat. Mostly for musky fishing.


I, on the other hand have had nothing but the very best service and support from Mercury. How can you make such a broad statement? I have had LARGE motors, over 1k hp to Mag 350's to a merc 140 hp. In the 32 years I have been using them Merc has performed as advertised or better. Their service has and is just outstanding. For me anyway.
Just received 2 sets of props back from the racing lab. On time and looking good. To bad the lake is frozen!!!!!!!!!!!
OBTW. this is only my opinion. Not a broad statement.
All the best.
Joe
 
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Time for an OLD Mercury story.

Wayyyyy back during the Apollo moon shot program we used to idle up the Indian River to see the show. Passing Patrick AFB my 115 Merc blew a rod, knocked a hole right in the side of the block! Motor had 25 hours on it, I had just quit using Merc oil as required for break in at 25 to 1.

Drove it 3 miles to a dock at the AFB, the MP's were kind enough to let Mom bring me a trailer. Upon inspection at the dealer we were given a new powerhead and an admonishment not to use pre-mixed gas/oil at the marina. We ran straight gas for an hour at cruising speed in a 6 cylinder 2 stroke!

I have never had any other issues with a Merc and I think they work just fine!
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
less than 40 hours a year. you buy a 36 footer with twin 454's, gas cost not an issue. might not be the case for 3rd owner though. I was in the marine industry late 80's and these GM big blocks were flying off the showroom floor.
Sounds like a great boat motor combo to work on. I would change the oil with whatever you like, marine gade, maybe. I myself buy anything that doesnt say "mercury". A trip to AAP or AZ should have you all set, oil, filters, plugs.
I'd make sure battery(s) were new and charged everytime out. Also good gas and keep it filled. get out on the water, drop anchor and enjoy!


No, the guy who bought this bought new probably spent $600,000 for it. He didn't care about fuel costs. But these hours are typical on a Great Lakes boat. Believe me. You really only see high hours on fresh water boats used for charter fishing or other business and of course in the salt water, where people run out 20-100 miles each way to fish, etc. But a lot of salt water boats are low miles too, if they are never fished from.

Why? I don't know for sure. But I guess one reason is, people who buy these boats new really don't use them. It's a toy. Same reason that $600,000 cars (when they were new) that are now 10-20 years old are have usually 2k-10k miles on them. Same concept I think. Find me a Ferrari with 80k miles on it? Or any ultra-expensive car for that matter: Rolls Royce, Lambo, etc. etc. People who buy these things don't typically use them like that.

I agree with you on the oil. I HATE anything MERCURY. Motors, oils, etc. etc. I think Mercury is JUNK!! On principle alone, I can't put that oil back in these motors....I don't care if that's all they have ever been fed....I'm changing their diets!!

Everything has been changed already: plugs, wires, caps, rotors, filters, etc. That's the first thing I did. I also took out the worthless Carquest batteries and installed three new Deka's. The old 1986 old-school Charles battery charger was removed with a new 3-bank unit from Master Volt. It bothers me that these marine BBC's don't use air filters on top of the carbs....instead they just have a flame arrestor. I'm thinking of trying to find a marine-compatible air filter for these babies.

We're going to use the boat. Mostly for musky fishing.


I've had Evinrudes and Mercs in the family for 20+ years w/o any issues at all. Also Carquest batteries are made by Deka. Same battery, different label.
 
The gas inboards are all about the same, since everyone uses GM internals. I can't say one brand is really better than the other. Merc owns the outdrive market, although I still think Volvo makes a better drive. They all have their problems, manifolds rot away, water gets into drives, etc.

Their older outboards didn't hold up very well in salt water, but in the past decade all the outboards do pretty good. Lake boating is always fun because I get to see all the stuff that long ago rotted away in saltwater, like old Merc's and Force outboards!

I can't comment on anything over a stock 502 because I don't play with go fast boats.

Generally marine motors are all about the same, they break.
 
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