what makes a engine "bomb" vs a "tank" motor?

[douglee25]

Since the customer (we) put demands on the engine builders to produce high hp motors, they are basically built on the ragged edge of destruction. Ticking time bombs from the moment they are fired up....

Doug

 

[Scraggly]

they are basically built on the ragged edge of destruction. Ticking time bombs from the moment they are fired up....

Doug

isnt this true about any good running 2-stroke?
mo anyways

 

[crammit442]

Since the customer (we) put demands on the engine builders to produce high hp motors, they are basically built on the ragged edge of destruction. Ticking time bombs from the moment they are fired up....

Doug

Good builders don't have to be on the ragged edge of destruction to make serious power. Especially in a freestyle application. Our motors run forever compared to high R race motors. Running good fuel and having a good builder to guide your choices in accessories makes all the difference. The little tiny details add up quickly in a complete package. I'm not saying that freak things don't happen. Some builders just have more freak accidents than other.

 

[douglee25]

Good builders don't have to be on the ragged edge of destruction to make serious power. Especially in a freestyle application. Our motors run forever compared to high R race motors. Running good fuel and having a good builder to guide your choices in accessories makes all the difference. The little tiny details add up quickly in a complete package. I'm not saying that freak things don't happen. Some builders just have more freak accidents than other.

Good point!

Doug

 

[Superjet3]

I agree, if a motor is built correctly it should last a long time. The only things that kill motors are human error and fatigue.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Sure did. I learned my lesson the hard way. Always talk to the person that set up your motor before doing anything different.

I disagree with BK about a motor lasting.
If a quality builder set up your motor it should last for a while. The reason your paying a builder is to help set it up. It should last as long as you do what they say and don't sink it, run wrong gas/oil, try to change things on your own or assemble wrong. Granted there are exceptions

I agree with you.... But, what I am referring to is you cannot fault the builder for things that are beyond their control......... IE Failures of pistons, rings, wrist pins, Crank bearings etc etc..... Those are beyond the builders control. How a ski is maintained is beyond a builders control... But you see all the time people blaiming the builder for their own mistakes or from part failures.

Case in point, KMAC was in the lead at Lake Norman, his new hotrods crank had the bearings let go, Is that the engine builders fault, his fault or Hotrods??

We are kinda saying the same thing.......

 

[Rickster]

The only things that kill motors are human error and fatigue.

Please enlighten us to what other factors could kill a motor?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Please enlighten us to what other factors could kill a motor?

The first thing that comes to mind is stupidity,I see alot of that here in the land of the couchers.:noevil:

 

[Watty]

I think a lot of people assume reliability to be an engine that runs good for a long time without any maintenance. There is a fine line betwen reliable and the amount of hours you can put on a stock/modded engine before you can expect it to fail, or have the performance start to drop off.

So, you have a stock SJ...it runs good and strong for a good 2 years until you decide you want more power. You take it down to your local builder and get a re-bore, throw a pipe, head, reeds, prop etc on it. Suddenly, after only one season on your new powerful boat, something goes wrong, and instantly, you look for someone to blame.

Stock engines are made to take a lot of punsihment AT LEAST until the warranty period expires. Any mods to said engine will make it wear faster and therefore see you replacing things more often. I know of a 61x cylinder with porting so severe (read: absoulutly screamed!) that it would need the pistons replacing every 6 or so hours because the porting mechanically trashed the pistons so fast. The point? Replacing pistons so often os a trade-off for having something that was a good 3mph faster than the other ski's on the track.