Hey guys, I recently bought a Mudbuddy 4400 about 7 months ago. I did not get much hunting time this winter and the motor only has 33 hours on it so as you can tell it's been lightly used. I adjusted the valves after 10 hours just like the book says and everything ran fine the rest of the season. Fast forward to the last couple weeks of deer season, the boat had been sitting for about two weeks since I had not gotten a chance to take it out. Anyways I got a break one weekend and woke up early with all my gear to go hunting for the weekend up in the delta. I went to crank the motor in the yard before leaving and it would not turn over? So firstly I checked voltage and was getting 12v everywhere next I pulled the plugs and tried turning the engine over and ice and water blew out the cylinders. Huge issue and as you can imagine I was HOT!! Seeing as this is a brand new engine and it stays covered in the yard the only explanation I can see water getting into the engine was through the exhaust. Last time I took the boat out I had to come in early due to a horrible rain storm that blew up on me and it down poured the whole hour and a half ride back home. I cover my engine when parked in the yard but not while trailering so this is the only point I can think water could have entered the engine? Anyways Back to the issue, I drained the oil after discovering ice and water within the cylinders and the oil was also milky, I opened the oil fill cap on the valve cover and poured a gallon of distilled alcohol straight through the engine with the oil drain plug pulled out and then let it dry out for a couple hours. Once good and dry I blew air through and changed the oil 2-3 more times while running for 5 or so minutes each time just to get it hot enough to evaporate any water left in the engine. I also replaced the oil filter each time! Anyways that was around 18-20 hours or so and up until now the boat has ran fine until last weekend. I was running up the delta to pull out a good friend of mine that had found himself stuck up in a little bay. While on the way there with another friend and his boat for assistance the motor made a loud noise and seemed to have lost a cylinder simuntaenously. To make a long story short I had my other friend out on the water pull me back to the dock and I got the boat home to discover it had definitely dropped a cylinder, one of my intake push rods had snapped? So my main question is what would cause this? The only thing I can think is that either a valve stuck or rocker stuck. The whole water and ice in the engine makes me think it could have warped a valve maybe? Im in the process of talking to mud buddy now and need to get this motor fixed ASAP. My main issue is rather or not this is a warranty issue or not, I dont see anything I've potentially done to cause this issue but then again I dont want to let a shop handle it and it not be covered under warranty and then me be stuck with a hefty bill when I could do the work myself anyway. Mud buddy has offered to send me another push rod but theres definetly more to the story than just a broken push rod, something obviously caused this. If you would please give me yall's opinion guys! Thanks!

There could have been rust on a valve making it stick, adjuster come loose or other things. Get a pushrod and see what happens. It would be nice to inspect and lube the valves / valve guides. A shop wouldnt know if it is a warranty fix until after inspection

Not exactly apples to apples, but I leave my PD out year round and have never so much as seen a drop of water in my oil or cylinders. A warped cylinder won't allow that much water in and not be noticed. You would be loosing so much compression that you would definitely feel a power loss. Another thing, I have never seen a pushrod "snap". They will bend and fall out of the rocker, but not snap. I have seen valves stick where they touch off on the piston and the pushrod will just bend. As far as the water, if your getting that much water in the block, I would tend to believe sabotage. Someone messing with you.

I pulled the heads off this weekend and found no scarring on either piston so I don't believe the valves were sticking bad enough to contact. On one side the push rods and valves seemed fine on the other both were bent and one of course snapped, this side I believe is where most of the water setteled. When it got into the engine I'd assume through the exhaust, settled in the heads and froze. I don't believe anyone sabotaged the motor the boat is kinda hidden from the street view of my home so it's not very noticeable but not completely ruling it out either.

I think it was the Russians.

I think it was the Russians.

Boy you can say that again.

Could very well be but it doesn't happen on my phone when I post, just my tube. Maybe a stutter type?

After hassling with mud buddy for what seems an eternity I got them to warranty the parts, I shipped them the heads and they machined them and sent them back. I did all the labor myself and everything seems to be running fine.........for now anyways.
They seemed to get a little smart with me and asked if I covered my motor while parked at home.....isnt a mud motor made for outdoor use??!?!?!? Anyways they agreed it "had" to have gotten in the engine through the exhaust while being trailered since I cover it while in the yard. So they then encouraged me to buy a trailerable motor cover.....$100 later I now have one. To me it boils down to a Poor Ass Design. #1 a mud motor is made for outdoor use in any kind of condition, rain, sleet, or snow. Why in the hell would it be NECESSARY that you cover the motor while parked in the yard. #2 More less how can you throw a cover over a motor after running it all day long and not expect to burn it to an ash??!?!?

These things cool down pretty quickly lots of people, including myself will run for miles to a hunting spot, then cover the motorin dry burlap shortly afterwards... no ashes as of yet.... and operating an engine in a downpour while it's up to temp is a lot different than letting it sit on the trailer and get rained on. If it's trimmed up at all uncovered that exhaust outlet is tilted so that ran could enter it (assuming we're talking about stock exhaust) Not gonna happen while running simply because the water would have no possible way of making it into the exhaust without being evaporated due to heat/combustion.

If it's NECESSARY to cover the motor while sitting outside in the yard, and that is a contingency for them honoring their warranty, then shouldn't they provide a means to cover it, and state in a placard or owners manual: MUST BE COVERED WHEN NOT IN USE FOR WARRANTY TO BE VALID? Just a thought, mudbuddy...

That being said, can't say I've ever heard of this being an issue lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Whats one more warning label

at least mudbuddy helped you out, that says something. They didnt have to

Shut up Russ....

Remove all warning labels and hand ouf free drugs. Let natural selection run its course.

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

Migrator knows somebody that snaps them pushrods nearly every time out.