Boat engine 4.3 Volvo penta gl

[daddystoy]

Is it the ford engine or the Volvo leg? They stopped using Ford engines for quite a while, maybe for a reason?

I can't complain too much really. I've owned the boat since 2001. The package is originally a 1973 !!!
I've rebuilt pretty much everything since owning the boat. The motor and leg are actually incredibly straight forward to work on. And VERY RELIABLE. Zero sensors or computers on anything to cause problems. Any electrical issues might be a bad coil or alternator. 4 barrel edelbrock carb. Easy to find parts for everything. Lots of power for the boat and reasonably fuel efficient. Daddystoy is going to die a Vikings death with me in it when that day comes!

Oh... and it's caught lots of fish over the years and provided the best of times!

 

[wildthing]

my 22' had a KEM kodiak 4.3 alloy headers FWC ..vortec heads and 4bb holley when sold still almost on spec compression .. only thing with inboards is keep on top of maintenance... and every 3-5 yrs change out the bellows and gimbal bearing i took off the power assist steering pump and just went hyd steering even used the original steering ram ....so gave the engine a few more hp back from driving a another belt

 

[Fishing?]

I have a 4.3 Volvo Penta in my boat. I had issues and the mechanic recommended a refurbished long block from Mercuizer. The first one lasted less than 100 hours as did the second. In both cases Mercruizer paid for a replacement and installation as part of the three year warranty. So currently I’m on engine 4, warranty has expired, so hoping it holds together, so far so good.
I went with the Mercruiser because it was the only option at the time. You can’t buy a crate engine anymore that will pair with the leg, the 4.3 has been replaced by a new engine that won’t match up.

What do you mean by match up? The engines are basically independent from the leg. Unless you mean the exhaust manifolds and such. The legs usually have a large range for power and torque, gear ratios may be lightly different but sometime just a prop change is enough if the RPM range is similar. A 4.3 with a WOT of 4400 will use the same gears as a 5.7 with a WOT of 4400. The engines usually have a "engine flywheel housing" attached that will fit the two mounting bolts on the stern plate. Those bolt placements have been the same for decades.

Refurbished, used and rebuilt. If not done right can be lemons. Sometimes plastic gauge is used for bearing clearances (not great), rings set wrong too much over boring causing heating issues. If rebuilt get a racing engine guy to do the short block IMO, get it set up for racing.

I raced cars and the first 4.3's were problematic and eventually dropped from most race cars.
Any rebuilt engine IMO should not be more than 0.30 over bore and 10/10 on the crankshaft.
While doing this spend the extra bucks getting it balanced, this will often add horsepower and longevity. Even more if "blueprinted" meaning each bearing gap measured, ring gap measured and heads tested. My race engines lasted far beyond the 1500 lap refresh points.
For a boat use forged aluminum pistons, the new hypereutectic while lighter and closer in weight for balance don't like pre-ignition (detonation) or water much and used to crack. I'm an old guy so most of the new tech I tried was the beta version of the new stuff and quirky.

Got off topic, the boat described were solid boats, the engine and leg would be the last thing I would worry about. If necessary you could, if there is enough room, replace the V6 with a Chevy/GM V8, 5.0 or5.7 liter with little modifications, engine mounts are the same location but exhaust manifolds and risers need to be changed. If a closed cooling system then a good rebuilt engine is much, much cheaper than one new 250 hp outboard, likely the cost of three boats in the price range you are posting.

Ditto with the Volvo legs, while I am not 100% certain many are interchangeable so lots out there.

The really big issue I see now is the lack of boat mechanics, most got out because of the numerous individually unique and different outboards and pricey parts. Every new engine design requires different parts so not a lot of after market suppliers and longer wait times for parts. Even at 150/hr having a boat waiting for parts requires space, in Vancouver renting a person's garage costs up to a grand a month.

 

[noluck]

good write up Fishing

 

[ziggy]

What do you mean by match up? The engines are basically independent from the leg. Unless you mean the exhaust manifolds and such. The legs usually have a large range for power and torque, gear ratios may be lightly different but sometime just a prop change is enough if the RPM range is similar. A 4.3 with a WOT of 4400 will use the same gears as a 5.7 with a WOT of 4400. The engines usually have a "engine flywheel housing" attached that will fit the two mounting bolts on the stern plate. Those bolt placements have been the same for decades.

Refurbished, used and rebuilt. If not done right can be lemons. Sometimes plastic gauge is used for bearing clearances (not great), rings set wrong too much over boring causing heating issues. If rebuilt get a racing engine guy to do the short block IMO, get it set up for racing.

I raced cars and the first 4.3's were problematic and eventually dropped from most race cars.
Any rebuilt engine IMO should not be more than 0.30 over bore and 10/10 on the crankshaft.
While doing this spend the extra bucks getting it balanced, this will often add horsepower and longevity. Even more if "blueprinted" meaning each bearing gap measured, ring gap measured and heads tested. My race engines lasted far beyond the 1500 lap refresh points.
For a boat use forged aluminum pistons, the new hypereutectic while lighter and closer in weight for balance don't like pre-ignition (detonation) or water much and used to crack. I'm an old guy so most of the new tech I tried was the beta version of the new stuff and quirky.

Got off topic, the boat described were solid boats, the engine and leg would be the last thing I would worry about. If necessary you could, if there is enough room, replace the V6 with a Chevy/GM V8, 5.0 or5.7 liter with little modifications, engine mounts are the same location but exhaust manifolds and risers need to be changed. If a closed cooling system then a good rebuilt engine is much, much cheaper than one new 250 hp outboard, likely the cost of three boats in the price range you are posting.

Ditto with the Volvo legs, while I am not 100% certain many are interchangeable so lots out there.

The really big issue I see now is the lack of boat mechanics, most got out because of the numerous individually unique and different outboards and pricey parts. Every new engine design requires different parts so not a lot of after market suppliers and longer wait times for parts. Even at 150/hr having a boat waiting for parts requires space, in Vancouver renting a person's garage costs up to a grand a month.

The long blocks were sourced right from the manufacturer. As such you have no say in the assembly, they are factory refurbished because that model of 4.3 was out of production!

As for matching up, that came from several suppliers who told me that if I was to buy the new model of 4.3 I would also have to change the outdrive because they didn’t match up.

I’m no mechanic so I tend to take the advice of the professionals None of which were backyard mechanics and had well known and reputable track records. Are you suggesting a 2000 4.3 can be replaced with for example a 2023 4.3 without changing the leg? That was my first choice, but I was told it couldn’t happen!

 

[noluck]

it does appear to have the same bellhousing pattern

 

[Fishing?]

The long blocks were sourced right from the manufacturer. As such you have no say in the assembly, they are factory refurbished because that model of 4.3 was out of production!

As for matching up, that came from several suppliers who told me that if I was to buy the new model of 4.3 I would also have to change the outdrive because they didn’t match up.

I’m no mechanic so I tend to take the advice of the professionals None of which were backyard mechanics and had well known and reputable track records. Are you suggesting a 2000 4.3 can be replaced with for example a 2023 4.3 without changing the leg? That was my first choice, but I was told it couldn’t happen!

There would be differences but more in technology rather physical measurements.

The leg has a spline that inserts into a dampener attached to the flywheel. Totally independent from the engine. The size of the spline would likely be the same diameter with maybe a different number of splines but that could be fixed easily by just mounting a correct hub.

When buying a new outdrive they want to know engine type or boat model and hp.

This is a diagrams of an engine and outdrive.
Outdrive;
You can see the spline that slides into hub mounted at the back of the engine
This is the rear, the bolt patterns stay the same, the flywheel and hub bolt to the end of the crankshaft.
This is the rear of the engine with the flywheel housing and damper hub mounted. The spline from the leg slides into the hub. The fly wheel housing is a separate part from the engine and it has the the two mounting bolts that attach to the transom housing which is totally separate from the engine.

Are all Chevy bellhousings the same?


Arguably the most popular and consistent pattern of all time, the Chevy Small Block pattern has remained virtually unchanged since 1955. The LS engines introduced an additional hole at 12 o'clock and added structural oil pan attachments, which for most versions are the same.

Essentially any chev motor that has the same fly wheel housing bolt pattern, which is the same for all older chev type engines, can be mated with the outdrive.

The differences will be horse power, torque and RPM range which may require changing the gear ratio in the leg or changing props but that would require a really big increase in both power and torque. Like if you attached a 8.1 liter chevy engine which BTW has the same flywheel housing bolt pattern.

A 2023 4.3 liter would require much more electrical parts and sensors over the older model due to needing a computer to do a lot of things like timing, fuel injection, anti knock, just a lot of modern stuff that wasn't automatic. Maybe some of the older stuff would not bolt on as easy, throttle, alternator, etc... As far as using the older block, there are still some engine rebuilders that probably rebuilt your refurbished engine, they just ordered and installed it for you, I know one marine guy that did that, quite common. Would a 2023 4.3 been better? No doubt but the outdrive could have been used. What outdrive is on the boat? 270, 280, 290? Dual prop? They all had powerful engines in front of them.

These older boats aren't rockets, you don't need to pass a physics test to work on them, they are just not as profitable. For the most part a boat built and powered in 1960 is the same as in 2020 physically mechanically with just a lot more electronics, computers, sensors and will get a bit better fuel economy. But the physical mechanics are the same.

Engine/Bellhousing - transom plate - outdrive. Outdrive just slides through the transom bearing into the spline of the hub.