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Old 05-23-2017, 11:57 AM
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Chris Simenstad Chris Simenstad is offline
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When to rebuild?

My 1975 Ericson 32 has been in my possession 11 years now. From what I can tell, the raw water cooled Atomic 4 is original. It has no hour meter, but the engine gets regular use year round. When my kids were small we did a ton of weekending and motoring. One summer I went from the SF Bay down to Southern California and motored back, and most summers I go up the Sacramento/San Joaquin Rivers, which means 25 hours of motoring to make that trip.

This engine has been one of the most reliable things on the boat. It always starts on the first or second try, is quiet, and still has plenty of power.

According to the original water temp gauge (which is flickering and is on my replace list), most of the time it wants to run at 170 degrees, which is a little hotter than it used to run (I did a vinegar flush over the weekend, which didn't help much; I may do another acid flush but I am hesitant given the age of the engine).

Also, I've never had to adjust the oil pressure, but I need to as at cruising speed it is now down from 40psi to a little over 30 psi.

It smokes a bit at startup and also when accelerating after a long idle, but the oil level doesn't go down much, maybe 1/2 a quart between 50 hour changes. The last time I did a compression test, the cylinders were all between 90 and 100 psi.

Other than recommend routine maintenance, I have replaced the exhaust manifold and riser, alternator, raw water pump, coil, rebuilt the carburetor, and changed over to electronic ignition.

When I put the boat away I run 5 gallons of fresh water through the block so when the boat is not in use the engine has fresh water in it. Lastly, I treat every 5 gallons of fuel with both Stabil and MMO.

So here's my question: at what point, barring come sort of catastrophic failure, when do I need to yank the engine for a rebuild? Does the engine lose power, start using a huge amount of oil, etc?

Since this engine has been so reliable, I am hesitant to just do a rebuild, but then again, the engine is obviously aging.

Other than bay and local coastal use, I have no plans for long distance cruising, and if I did, I would pull the engine in November and rebuild it, or put in a swap.

Thanks for reading this long e-mail, and for any insight about engine life.

Best,
Chris
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