Boats with Re-built motors...What to Think?

[terabika]

Also I do not know where are this mess about idling a diesel comes from. I have driven 18 wheelers across the United States for a million miles. Every night during the summer I idle the truck all night long so that I can rest comfortably in air conditioning while I sip my martini. Turning an air compressor is probably not much strain for a motor capable of 1400 foot pounds of torque . I rarely turn the motor off whenever I get out of the truck and these motors go forever ! 500000 miles is no big deal for a large truck motor. On the opposite side of the spectrum I tow around a refrigerated trailer which has in it a little Yanmar. It is squirreling about at max power almost all the time to try to keep the temperature inside at 10 below while I'm hauling ice cream across the desert in the middle of summer. That poor little thing works its arse off!

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by terabika

If someone has a fist full of receipts for pistons rings etc. And claimed they themselves rebuild it, I would think a rebuilt motor a good bet. Of course one needs to be motor knowledgeable themselves to be able to listen to the motor and discern if it is running up to snuff. Also just talking with the person about the rebuild should yield confidence or no confidence regarding their motor knowledge. I do not see hundreds of posts of peoples Yanmar s failing because a rocker arm bushing wasn't replaced upon rebuild.. I currently have a Pearson wanderer 30 foot and just scored a $1,700 running Yanmar which puffs heavy black smoke for one second on startup that which I plan on completely rebuilding. A small part of the reason being that it is much easier to get the engine into the boat piece by piece then assembled . It is much cheaper as well. Considering the boat had no Running motor before it will certainly increase the value of the boat. I have owned four or five boat with no motor, which I fell off the anchor to sail. Or an outboard motor just enough to get me out of range of the Anchorage.

That engine has dribbly injectors based on you discription.
Not an expensive fix.

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by terabika

Also I do not know where are this mess about idling a diesel comes from. I have driven 18 wheelers across the United States for a million miles. Every night during the summer I idle the truck all night long so that I can rest comfortably in air conditioning while I sip my martini. I rarely turn the motor off whenever I get out of the truck and these motors go forever 500000 miles is no big deal for a large truck motor. On the opposite side of the spectrum I tow around a refrigerated trailer which has sometimes amrn it squirreling about at max power almost all the time to try to keep the temperature inside at 10 below zero while I'm hauling ice cream across the desert in the middle of summer. That poor little thing works its arse off!

Yes, run the motor all night at idle for the aircon....but next morning you "work the arse off it" thus removing the overnight varnish deposits. Perfect....run for millions of miles like that...all truckers MUST do it.
But boat owners abuse their motors because they varnish them for too long and rarely work them hard. Diesel motors run forever on the governer, as you know. Be they huge Cummins or tiny 5hp air cooled Yanmars as described earlier. They will all run forever if loaded as designed.

[terabika]

Also I don't know where this notion of never idling diesel motors comes from but, having been an 18 wheeler driver for a million miles I can tell you that, hours per day, especially in summer, a big diesel motor idles as much as it runs down the road. When I go to sleep at night that motor turns an air conditioning compressor which probably isn't much strain for a motor capable of 1400 foot pounds of torque. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the little motor running the refrigeration unit on the trailer which works its little arse off trying to keep the ice cream at 10 below zero while I'm driving across a desert in the middle of summer.

[Tientos]

Tientos was launched in 1980 with a Perkins 4236 rebuilt from a fishing trawler that sank in Cyclone Tracy in 1974. It lasted (including a circumnavigation) until we had rebuilt in 2013 in Malaysia.(we had undertaken 2 trips Australia to Thailand) We imported the Perkins rebuild kit from the UK (arrived in 3 days via DHL) and had the motor rebuilt by the local Perkins Dealer. Total cost less than AUD3K. Have no problems with rebuilds of Perkins and this was verified by Australian professional. This motor will probably see us out.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

My current boat has a Volvo Penta MD6A - talk about old haha!
The MD6A is very Fred Flintstone, but it's also a very basic engine that does it's job.
Some people love it has a hand crank starter - .

What a great engine. I have three Dufours (2 from 1973 and one from 1976. All have the MD6A and I love them. They are built like tanks. Two of them even run! The third boat was given to me and is my project boat. Of course, a free boat is never free. I am pretty sure I can get the engine to turn over and run.

I love the hand crank, and aside from the decompression lever being in an area that is not easy to reach, mine are easy to start using the hand crank. The crank means I don't need a jump starter as a back up!

[terabika]

Originally Posted by brianlara 3

Yes, run the motor all night at idle for the aircon....but next morning you "work the arse off it" thus removing the overnight varnish deposits. Perfect....run for millions of miles like that...all truckers MUST do it.
But boat owners abuse their motors because they varnish them for too long and rarely work them hard. Diesel motors run forever on the governer, as you know. Be they huge Cummins or tiny 5hp air cooled Yanmars as described earlier. They will all run forever if loaded as designed.

So it is not the idling which hurts a motor; it is the idling only of a diesel motor. As long as people work their motor on occasion all is good. I would think the bigger sin is to not let them run warm long enough to evaporate the condensed water inside the crankcase.

[ArmyDaveNY]

I would check the posts for information about the specific diesel the boat has. I am sure you will find lots of useful information about that specific engine and in particular, what to check when testing it. It is very common for particular engines to have particular problems. I used to race Alfa Romeos (IMSA and SCCA) and the factory mechanics could tell me what parts to expect to fail and what to replace them with. Once I learned this, they were very reliable. Likewise, the Cessna 172 with the Lycoming 0320H engine could be trouble unless you used Tanis heat. If you did this and changed the oil religiously, it was fine.


My experience with marine diesels is limited to old Volvos, a few Westerbekes, and only a couple of Perkins and Yanmars. Each of these had their quirks but eventually I learned what to look for. I only wish I had asked on these forums sooner!


If you already specified the engine, I apologize for having missed that post.

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by terabika

So it is not the idling which hurts a motor; it is the idling only of a diesel motor. As long as people work their motor on occasion all is good. I would think the bigger sin is to not let them run warm long enough to evaporate the condensed water inside the crankcase.

Yes all round. But many owners rarely give their engines a good fanging to blow the cobwebs (carbon, sulphates, varnish , moisture) away.
Constantly charging the batteries at 1200 revs with no load kills engines.
And very few boats have alternators so powerful as to be considered a load. Very few!!
You can tell 'em but you can't change 'em.
For whatever reason, people seem reluctant to drop the mooring and go for a good run.
God knows?

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by terabika

So it is not the idling which hurts a motor; it is the idling only of a diesel motor. As long as people work their motor on occasion all is good. I would think the bigger sin is to not let them run warm long enough to evaporate the condensed water inside the crankcase.

Ar, yes. Idling a gasoline engine for long periods isn't harmful in the way that diesels are effected.
The volatility of petrol, as a fuel, ensures proper combustion (very few by-products) even not loaded. Witness how hard it is to light a diesel soaked rag on a cool morning.
However, if you run a gas engine too lowly stressed, going to local school etc....then many exhaust systems will corrode to death in no time because the moisture in a cold exhaust never turns to gas, stays as diluted sulphuric acid in muffler etc and bingo.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by brianlara 3

Is it wasn't a BCC it was 24 foot derivative of one named SERRAFYN.
Let me guess.... you aren't going to tell the forum exactly what the boat was right.
Nor are you going to give us details about Taleisin .....or are you Stu.
If you do tell us will you include the part where a removable outboard was on Taleisins manifest.....plleeeease ?

BCCs come with engines, either inboard or outboard.

Ya wanna find out more about L&LP, figure it out here:

Lin & Larry Pardey: Newsletters & Cruising Tips | Sailing Newsletters & Cruising Tips

[Kiwi.]

Originally Posted by Oceanbrew

So my question is, as I imagine owning another sailboat, "What to think of rebuilt motors in a boat?"

Take no notice of the "rebuilt" claim; get the blow-by and oil tested.

A very good Caterpillar mechanic (I had twin 3208s) once told me that he wished marine diesels were installed with "cycle meters" to count how often they had been brought up to temperature and cooled down, as well as hour meters. He believed that 90% of the wear occurred as the motor first heated up.

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

BCCs come with engines, either inboard or outboard.

Ya wanna find out more about L&LP, figure it out here:

Lin & Larry Pardey: Newsletters & Cruising Tips | Sailing Newsletters & Cruising Tips

Been following these folk for decades, avid fan.

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by Oceanbrew

I've had to sell my Ericson 27 (See the link to see some sailing of it: https://www.youtube.com/user/billybobhack). Yet, I keep my eye on sailboatlistings.com, yacthworld.com, and CL. I bought my Ericson because it had a new motor with only 186 hours on it. People told me I could make more money than I paid for the boat just selling the motor. I didn't of course.

So my question is, as I imagine owning another sailboat, "What to think of rebuilt motors in a boat?"

Unless you can attest to the provenance of both the engine builder and the BOM of replaced or reconditioned parts and the ongoing maintenance then a rebuilt engine cannot be trusted. It also must come with a detailed engine log with no gaps.

I worked in the top echelon of motorsport and have built 120+ engines and 250+ transaxles. I kept a log of every rebuild including build configuration, component measurements, as delivered and as maintained configuration. This is provenance.

When we purchased our boat, a Liberty 458 with an original Perkins 4-236 with 3800 hrs, I reviewed the previous owners maintenance logs. I also conducted my own inspection and outsourced an engine and transmission oil analysis. Which I subsequently reviewed.

Based on the above and my interview of the owner I had sufficient provenance.

The owner was a retired aircraft mechanic. I could gauge the quality of his work from the condition of the vessel. The clincher was the existence of a preoiler. An electric powered pump that builds oil pressure before starting.

The engine has clean oil, has its oil changed every 50 hours, which I then analyse and continues to run like a swiss clock. I also maintain a detailed engine and oil analysis log.

Anything less is just hearsay IMHO.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[brianlara 3]

ANYTHING less IS ....nothing more than what Leftbrain said IMO.