North American Turbocoupe Organization



marine 2.3 out of a four winds boat q
Keith Pellerito Offline
Senior Member
#1
I hope this is the right forum to post this but our boat is an 89 four winds with a ----you guessed it, a 2.3 ford. Well, we just put it into the water and it was spitting milky stuff out of it--safe to assume that is not good. Anyways, a question that I have if anyone here knows is......Is there a difference in the base block of what is in the boat than our blocks? I have an extra one that I was thinking it would work but I would ask you guys first. One nice thing about the boat is easy access, it is in the open and has a carb! thanks guys
yeah it is fast, just a little slow getting back to the garage!🚓
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Martin Offline
Senior Member
#2
Keith, I don't know if this is the right forum to answer as well!!! Having had a tad experience with boats (Read, a hole in the water in which to throw money) Have you checked if there is an intercooler using raw water intake for the engine oil or perhaps an engine oil cooler to engine oil? Marine engines have a variety of ways to keep them cool. I have run into rutured tubes in intercoolers that put water into the oil via the cooler plumbing!
If indeed the block is a 2.3, given all the information that this site has provided, about the only difference between the 2.3 Turbo and Carbed model is the oil port for turbo oil return. The rest, is the same! I say this about the base block!! Most marine apps use a different cam, as the engines tend to run at a fixed RPM ( within a specific range).
Now, perhaps is the time to look at a 2.3 turbo update for your Four Winds. Would make an interesting swap, and even more interesting power/fuel comparison!
Martin
Stock 87, no mods, Black with the grey interior.
Boost High, Fly Low
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Matt S Offline
Posting Freak
#3
Those are not the only differences between n/a and turbo. The n/a blocks have different heads with heart shaped chambers that have higher compression. The pistons and rods are not forged. Those are the main differences off the top of my head.

Don't know about Marine, but I would assume it is not turbo friendly if it doesn't already have a turbo.
Sold it Sad*
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Martin Offline
Senior Member
#4
Sorry, I guess I should have been more specific in that I meant base block, and not all the componenets. The cam notation was for reference only!
To Add: Marine engines normally have the severe service components installed when built, to mean forged rods, pistons, nodular crank, with added balancing and subtle items like brass or stainless frost plugs etc. They are generally built to high spec and high compression, as even the distrib does not use the same advance mechanism as a car would! The turbo block would be a suitable swap for the marine app, if one is willing to swap the components. THe "base Block" is strong enough! Rest of the goodies would have to be matched and carefully checked!
As for the swap, I meant that it might be interesting to put a 2.3 Turbo (Carbed) unit in, complete, to see what it could do in this app, perhaps better fuel economy? Cooling is usually not an issue, as you can size the flow of a marine intercooler to hold most marine engines in a nice tight tempature band, something us land Yacht drivers have had problems with!
Having said it would be interesting to see how a turbo would work, it would also take some interesting experimentation with prop pitch and diameter to achieve the most desirable results, not something your average boater really wants to get into!
Martin
Stock 87, no mods, Black with the grey interior.
Boost High, Fly Low
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Hurff Offline
Senior Member
#5
And the following is just my opinion....

For a turbo application, this most likely wouldnt be the best choice. The engine we all love & cherish is usually only boosting (read max power) for 1/4 mile or so at a time. Boats on the other hand are running at a significant part of full power for hours on end. Keeping the engine in boost will have the exhaust glowing read in a car, it would most likely be a disaster in a water cooled jacketed exhaust.

A turbo diesel on the other hand.... well they are built for it. There has to be a reason that boat builders dont have a 300 dollar turbo hanging off their motors that could increase power w/o having to run a larger motor. My guess is the longevity/heat issues associated with gas turbo applications.
1987 TC - RIP
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#6
Hurff is exactly correct. A boat engine is almost always under full or near full load. Our 2.3T engine was not designed for sustained boosted operation.

I ran my first turbo engine about 10 miles at pretty much flat out. When I slowed down I had enlarged the pin hole in the piston.
Pete Dunham


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Martin Offline
Senior Member
#7
Ouch (Pete). I have had freinds swap out there old Mercruiser 302's abd Volvo Penta for the Ford Ranger Turbo Diesels, and they worked very well. Growing up on the coast here in BC, I have seen many "unique" power plants tried in boats of all sizes, from a Briggs 3.5 horse with a hull through shaft, to my personal favourite, the 16 foot 454 powered (sorry about the Chevy, but thats what we had to work with) Jet Ski boat that has a registered high 1/4 in just under 16 seconds. Turbo gas engines was something I did not see played with. Although, turbos on gas were somewhat of a "Black" science to us in those days.
THe water cooled exhaust would prove a tough! Given that I am back here on the coast, for the time being, this may be another "Little project" I might just look at! Without the water cooled exhaust, maybe a bit less boost, a big engine coolant to raw water inter cooler for the engine temp, well, And of course serious offerings to the Turbo Forces of the universe, who knows!
Heck, this was a good learning thread!
Martin
Stock 87, no mods, Black with the grey interior.
Boost High, Fly Low
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AT8TC Offline
Junior Member
#8
would the turbo even be able to build boost with no load on the prop????
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Martin Offline
Senior Member
#9
AT8TC: THink of the prop as the same as your cars tire on the road. THe boat has to move forward so the prop has to cut the water. THere would be load on the engine, no doubt! I di note that there would be some good experimentation on pitch and diameter. To coarse and you would never get a decnet top speed or fuel economy, too fine and it would take forever to get on step. Just how much the turbo would actually work, once on step, would be related to the boat weight, desired cruising speed, fuel economy and the engine dispacement to match that criteria! The harder the 2.3 has to work, the more boost it would make, not unlike our cars cruising the flats than hitting a hill!
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the history of Turbo's goes back to Aircraft, where do to altitude they needed to get more "air" into the engine. THat is a prime example of prop and loading to create boost!
Martin
Stock 87, no mods, Black with the grey interior.
Boost High, Fly Low
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Keith Pellerito Offline
Senior Member
#10
wow, and here I thought you guys only knew about cars. The block is cracked and all that is planned is taking everything out of the boat motor and putting it into one of my extra blocks (thanks pete). So hopefully all goes well but impressive knowledge guys!
yeah it is fast, just a little slow getting back to the garage!🚓
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