Buying used 2011 F300 XCA - Cylinder head replaced twice (2013 & 2019)??

[CafeMike]

Hi -

Found a boat I really like with a 2011 F300 XCA - after looking at the boat I went to a dealer that I will use to do a pre-purchase inspection/testing of the motor. Provided model/serial # and dealer informed me that the F300 had a cracked cylinder head replacement in 2013 and again in 2019. Both instances state water in oil and were covered by Yamaha. The 2019 replacement was "good will" with parts covered by Yamaha, labor covered by owner.

- Motor now has ~ 1100 hours and has been used in MN and Wi.

- Two owner boat - current owner purchased from "friend" who took excellent care of the boat -

- All other maintenance has been preformed by owner.

- Overall condition of the boat, 9.9 Yam kicker and F300 is a 9 out of 10 from an appearance perspective.

My questions:

- Run or walk away? Seriously - if fixed properly I would hope this motor has plenty of useful life, agree?

- After 1,100 hours what is an anticipated annual cost of ownership on this motor? I would be hard pressed to run it over 50 hours per year.

Thanks,

Mike

[robert graham]

The price would need to reflect these issues to make it attractive to me…

[byron.akhavi@gmail.com]

Stay away from that motor. You are going to buy someone's problem and regret it. That is a serious red flag.

[Keithbaja]

U didn't explain that if it first the port then starboard said that was r&r.. But I'd also would not let a customer buy that unit. GOD, yams are NOT good outboards. FACT, sorry your kid wets the bed. MERCURY MARINE won in federal Cort that yams were dumping motors in the USA market and WONE ! But by then folks thought that they were good motors.. LOL. Wrong !!

[Rustygaff]

If the motor was properly repaired, I see no reason to stay away from it. It should have alot of life left. Any idea why the cylinder head failed? I have a 2011 F300UCA and so far it has been flawless.

[CafeMike]

The only data I had was cracked cylinder head and water in the oil. No other detail. I'm not sure if it was the same side or not. My search has continued. Thanks for the replies!

[CafeMike]

Rustygaff - what are your total hours? My thoughts are similar to yours, if fixed properly it should have plenty of remaining life. I had a 2000 HPDI that I ran for 10 years with one problem, trim switch on the motor (part $20 installed myself). Thx

[Rustygaff]

Rustygaff - what are your total hours? My thoughts are similar to yours, if fixed properly it should have plenty of remaining life. I had a 2000 HPDI that I ran for 10 years with one problem, trim switch on the motor (part $20 installed myself). Thx

I have approx. 725 hours on the clock.

[Keithbaja]

CafeMike. Yep, 2 strokes Rock. I've got 2005 twin mercs on my catermaran. Flawless. Plus no cly head or gasket. Most folks don't know that...oh did I mention no valves springs,timing chain or belt, balance shafts, oil pumps &Shafts exposed to the elements. And a host of other known issues. I fix motors 6/7 days a week. I my want my boat to RUN and RUN fast through big seas and wind. I think the only four stroke motors raced are MARINE 7

[zenoahphobic]

The thing with failures of any kind is that it affects other things, in this case water in the oil.
Now the engine would have sustained the crack in the head whilst running. You don’t know the circumstances behind the instances, had it seized and how long was the motor left with the oil/water before it was removed.
Water, salt?, would have got to every surface, and time would have the corrosion process happening.

[Keithbaja]

Zeno, EXACTLY

[Bill0749]

I’m currently an original owner of Twin 2017 F300’s with 500 hours . So far I needed to replace prop seals, upper seals and shift shaft seal as water was found in lower units. In addition , a trim seal had to be replaced. Never had fishing line wrapped around prop to my knowledge. I have an extended warranty on both engines which is really not worth a dime . I attempted to get both engines serviced by dealer but was told that boat would would be tied up for an unspecified amount of time as they were short handed with mechanics. Decided to do work my self , not too difficult. I’m just amazed how quickly seals went. I owned a 200 mercury engine for 14 years and never had to replace seals. What happened to quality and service these days ? What is the purpose of having an extended Warrenty on engines when they can’t even tell you when they can work on boat ?

[Keithbaja]

As a master Tech I've found yammys to be weak !! Tell me I don't know what I'm talking about..