Boats with replaced motors
 

I am looking at a boat for sale that says it has 570 hours on it but the motor was replaced 400 hours ago. This throws up a big red flag for me. Has anyone purchased a boat with a replaced motor?

I did. Bad things can happen that has nothing to do with the boat or how in functions. A friends water intake got blocked and he blew his just some times bad things happen. As long as the fixed the the problem that caused the engine to blow it should be no problem. They replaced mine with a block direct from indmar.

There's a lot of reasons a motor can go bad and not just from neglect. If it was replaced by a quality professional shop then it's no different than the factory doing it.

I pulled the motor down on a boat i bought once and rebuilt due to owners neglect. It was fine afterwards with no issues the three years i had it, it's still going strong with the guy that bought it years ago.

I would ask more questions if I came across the situation. Why did it get replaced? Who replaced it? I would even go as far as to call the shop and give them the boat owners name in order to find out as much info as I possible could.

If I was satisfied with the answers...I would not hesitate to buy the boat

400 hours ago? Seems like if there was some big problem it would've reared its head by now.

My first engine went at just 120 hours, was defective from the factory and threw a rod. My replacement engine installed by the factory now has 700 trouble free hours on it!

This was the reply.

Motor was changed under warranty because boat came from the factory with the LS1 corvette motor, which is not the motor for wakeboarding.


Malibu realized the mistake and changed it with a new Moon-soon 350 Chevy motor. The Moon-soon has more lown end which is better for wakeboarding.

That doesn't make sense. Is it the original owner selling it?

OMG....I'm calling BS.

Simple solultion - Get the hull number and give malibu a call and verify that story.

Yeah, there is something a little fishy. He is asking a rock bottom price too. He did send me pics of it in a garage today, and invited me to come take a look at it. The only thing is that it is 500 miles away. I don't want to drive all the way there to find out its a POS. I talked to the local Malibu service guy down there and he said he is familiar with the boat, but hasn't seen it since 2007.

Just like robert said, my motor had a default in it and threw a rod at 150hrs. The motor was replaced and now the boat has 405hrs on it and have never experienced any problems. If the guy can just prove that it was replaced and done properly have him take you out in it and test it out. Its a risk per say but doesnt mean that its just a bad thing. Good luck

So, did the engine story check out with the dealer?

Just got this back from them.

"Yes we did a bobtail motor which is a complet with out transmission and v-drive"


Not sure what bobtail means though?

Moon-soon 350? It could all be legit and the guy just doesn't know what he is talking about and is just attempting to reiterate names and numbers he misheard from the dealer when they replaced it, but it bothers me when a seller doesn't even know the correct names of things. I'm assuming he means a Monsoon 340 which is one of Indmar's versions of the GM 350cid V8, its the motor that is in my friend's 04 Response

Paul, Bobtail is just the name given to motor that is ready to have a transmission bolted on. Just because the engine blew doesn't mean the transmission had an issue.

I'd not be concerned about the boat. But I'd be concered about a guy who doesn't know the name of his engine.

Exactly. There are lots of boats with new engines, unfortunately our sports are very hard on them and our manufacturers are light years behind auto manufacturers in terms of reliability.

My boat has a new engine, and the first was replaced under warranty before I bought it. Especially after that many hours, I would not have any concerns. But the guy calling it a Moon-Soon or whatever means to me he probably hasn't looked at the engine close enough to check the dipstick.

I wouldn't sweat it at all. Check it out and if the engine looks well cared for and has the proper marine parts then no big deal. Marine engines die for all sorts of reasons... Common for bad winterization to crack a block, or you get guys running small blocks and uber ballast turning 4000+ RPM at riding speed that just wears out rings and bearings, or an overheat that got too hot before noticing, or any number of other reasons.

As for the guy... Raises a few flags but if the boat looks alright and engine has the proper marine parts (from what you can see at least) I wouldn't sweat it. Some guys don't know about their toys. They buy big dollar item and pay for someone else to service it or fix it when it breaks.

There are two separate issues here.

1. There is a boat with a replaced motor. That's no big deal. In fact, it could be a good thing, as you get a newer motor.
2. We have a seller whose explanation doesn't make sense. It's possible this guy knows nothing about boats and doesn't know what motor he has, but it seems odd that he wouldn't know why it had been replaced. The buyer here contacted the dealer, can you confirm whether it was replaced under warranty like the guy says? If he's hiding why the motor was replaced, what else is he hiding?

That was the dealers reply. He never mentioned it being warranty work. Normally in this situation, I would walk thinking its a scam, but the dealer knows the boat, he invited me to come look at it, and sent pics of it in his garage(which could be fake). I guess I will have to drive down there next weekend if he still has it.

You guys are too much. The boat is what it is. I find it amazing how many of the site resident boat owners couldn't pick a water pump or shaft log out a line up. And yet posters here are suspicious because the guy doesn't know anything about his boat? yer killing me. Go and inspect the boat and verify title in hand and actual present condition. Have it checked out if you lack the skills personally. The boat is what it is. It runs how it runs and history means squat. Today means everything.
If you are that paranoid include a full disclosure statement in your closing. Most states don't require it but it is the buyers right to include it.

Who shot Kennedy? and we never landed on the moon. I gotcha.

Why would replacing the motor throw a red flag? I would be more worried about the fact the dealer hasn't seen the boat in 2-3 years, especially since the guy doesn't seem overly boat savvy.

We removed and tore down the 350 in our boat after it swallowed some water and the compression got low in a couple of cylinders. Then sent it away in pieces for a rebuilt and reinstalled over winter. If you get a good motor, rebuilt or new, instead of a bad one I don't see the problem really.

If you can't/won't drive 500 miles maybe there is someone on here that is closer who might take a look for you.