I would go with a rebuild of the Atomic Four if faced with the same dilemna. In general sticking with the inboard will be the best option both from a performance and resale standpoint. If you haven't done so already I would suggest visiting the Moyer Marine website for advice on the A4. If my Atomic were to give up on me I would likely order a rebuild from Moyer or consider rebuilding myself. There are a few members on this site who have rebuilt an a4. If you are mechanically inclined and have basic tools you can do most of the work yourself. The machining can be done at any decent machine shop. I would think any Atomic could be put right for $1500 or less if you are going to do the work yourself. Please elaborate on what you mean by "blown"...have you had the engine apart yet?
Jarod
Jarod
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HI,
Atomic 4s are pretty stout little engines and still have life in them. What is going on with yours? Unless seriously trashed, you probably can rebuild this.
Also, if you're on a tight budget, start looking around for a used one. It is not unreasonable to find a running A4 ready to drop in from $500-1000. People love to yank perfectly good A4s to repower with a diesel. These little engines often end up in the back of a yard's shed for not much money, or they get thrown out
I wouldn't do an outboard on an E30. I think you're to a size where you really should keep an inboard, and unless you had long range motoring needs (diesel), keep the A4. It'll give you the biggest bang for the buck on a tight budget, and I think you'll do much better on your resale on this size boat with any type of inboard over an outboard.
Atomic 4s are pretty stout little engines and still have life in them. What is going on with yours? Unless seriously trashed, you probably can rebuild this.
Also, if you're on a tight budget, start looking around for a used one. It is not unreasonable to find a running A4 ready to drop in from $500-1000. People love to yank perfectly good A4s to repower with a diesel. These little engines often end up in the back of a yard's shed for not much money, or they get thrown out
I wouldn't do an outboard on an E30. I think you're to a size where you really should keep an inboard, and unless you had long range motoring needs (diesel), keep the A4. It'll give you the biggest bang for the buck on a tight budget, and I think you'll do much better on your resale on this size boat with any type of inboard over an outboard.
It is pretty difficult to say until you start tearing into the engine. I would look at it this way....if there is something seriously wrong with the engine it should be pulled out of the boat even if you go the outboard route. So why not pull the motor and try and figure out what happened? My only concern is that you may pull the engine based on the assumption it is seized when indeed it is not. It is your engine and you know it better than I, but many "seized" atomics have been unseized and run well to this day. The easiest route if the engine is indeed seized solid would be to buy a short block off of moyer, but this may be beyond your budget. I believe the moyer short block goes for around $2700 US. The short block option includes all the usual items such as the block, crank, pistons, cam shaft and valves, plus a complete late model reversing gear, aft housing, oil pan, new water jacket side plate (including "T" fitting and diverter), flywheel and flywheel housing. I think the first order of business would be to post on the Moyer website and ask the folks over there what they think as many of them have already undergone this process. When you post try to provide as much info as possible including the history of the engine as you know it and any information that may help them troubleshoot the issue.
moyermarine.com
moyermarine.com
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Really need to be sure this engine is seized. I honestly don't understand what you mean by seized due to compression, unless you have hydrolock going on. Engines seize due to lack of oil, spun bearings etc. Low compression could result in lots of blow by, but seized due to compression, like not turning over, doesn't make sense, unless you're full of water in the cylinders.
Do you have the hand crank that goes into the front of the flywheel? Regardless, pull the spark plugs, and see if you can turn it by hand. If you don't have the hand crank, pull the starter and using a large screw driver, carefully (don't break a tooth or the end of the screwdriver) see if you can move the flywheel by turning it via the now exposed teeth on the ring gear.
If the rings have become stuck on this engine, buy some Marvel Mystery oil, and put an ounce or so into each cylinder, and let it sit a few days, and then see if you can get the engine turning over. Sometimes stuck rings can be worked free.
Any detail of how it was running and stopped running would be helpful. Did water get sucked back into this from over cranking trying to get it started, and then it wouldn't turn over?
Do you have the hand crank that goes into the front of the flywheel? Regardless, pull the spark plugs, and see if you can turn it by hand. If you don't have the hand crank, pull the starter and using a large screw driver, carefully (don't break a tooth or the end of the screwdriver) see if you can move the flywheel by turning it via the now exposed teeth on the ring gear.
If the rings have become stuck on this engine, buy some Marvel Mystery oil, and put an ounce or so into each cylinder, and let it sit a few days, and then see if you can get the engine turning over. Sometimes stuck rings can be worked free.
Any detail of how it was running and stopped running would be helpful. Did water get sucked back into this from over cranking trying to get it started, and then it wouldn't turn over?
All good advice from Emerald. One of the most common issues with the Atomics is introducing salt water into the engine from overcranking. If you have water in the oil it should be readily apparent on the dipstick. The answers to the questions above might provide some insight into what may be going on. Try hand cranking as suggested above before doing anything to drastic.