3488 engine and transmission replacements-gctid393651

[Guest]

I have a 3488 command bridge with 260 hp gas engines. The boat is a 2002 and the engines have about 315 hrs. I have babied the motors as gas is so expensive and hardly ever go on plane or run hard - simply cruise easy. I recently have had serious issues with the transmissions and found that they were under sized. The existing trannys were Velvet Drive 2000's with 2.8:1 ratios. We found out that they had a manufacturers defect and were replaced with Liberty 3000 transmissions which are about 30% bigger. Now we have discovered, and discovery is still in progress, a cooling leak in the #8 cylinder or perhaps a cracked block. I am not enough of a mechanic to know eactly what is going on but I am hearing that the cooling system around the engine is possibly the cause. I need some insight or some ones history with these boats and this set up to contact me - Help !

Over the years, I have seen a significant number of these 3488's advertised for sale with new Mercruiser engines and transmissions. My own experience has put me on fire and I need to find out what is the problem with these boats and this configuration ? Is there a defect in the set up of these engines with the cooling system? I am looking at some serious dollars here.

Has there been any recall notices or other publications I can find information on this problem?

Thanks !

[2850Bounty]

You may want to post this in the MotorYachts section.

.

[ksanders]

Gwiz3488 wrote:
I have a 3488 command bridge with 260 hp gas engines. The boat is a 2002 and the engines have about 315 hrs. I have babied the motors as gas is so expensive and hardly ever go on plane or run hard - simply cruise easy. I recently have had serious issues with the transmissions and found that they were under sized. The existing trannys were Velvet Drive 2000's with 2.8:1 ratios. We found out that they had a manufacturers defect and were replaced with Liberty 3000 transmissions which are about 30% bigger. Now we have discovered, and discovery is still in progress, a cooling leak in the #8 cylinder or perhaps a cracked block. I am not enough of a mechanic to know eactly what is going on but I am hearing that the cooling system around the engine is possibly the cause. I need some insight or some ones history with these boats and this set up to contact me - Help !

Over the years, I have seen a significant number of these 3488's advertised for sale with new Mercruiser engines and transmissions. My own experience has put me on fire and I need to find out what is the problem with these boats and this configuration ? Is there a defect in the set up of these engines with the cooling system? I am looking at some serious dollars here.

Has there been any recall notices or other publications I can find information on this problem?

Thanks !

I had a 3488, abet a diesel one and never heard of a transmission issue or a recall.

Either way the boat is 12 years old, so any manufacturer financial support is long over.

There was a cooling system re-design that caused some diesel engine failures but that was early in the production run (1995-1996) and affected the diesel engines.

Best of luck

[Guest]

I have the same boat, a 34, 2002 with 5.7 mercruisers and the velvet tranny. To date I have had no problems with the tranny or the engine after about 350 hours. Thats just one data point but we'll see what others say. Hopefully there have been no recalls from the engine or tranny manufacturer.

good luck, I have always wonder how you get an engine and/or tranny out of the "engine room".

russ