Considering Repower of My Ford Lehman 120

[Geoff H.]

I'm considering repower of my Ford Lehman 6 cyl 120 diesel. My mechanic advises John Deere 4 cyl. or an Isuzu, and says finding a rebuild or excellent used not impossible. Any opinions? Anyone out there done this? Anyone with a lead on where to hunt?
Much appreciated.

[Chief Engineer]

What is your Lehman doing, not doing?

[Geoff H.]

Had my mechanic on board this morning; we pulled the shaft back and removed the tranny (going to have it serviced), but we were hunting for an oil leak that has recently gotten worse -- turns out to be the rear seal, which my mechanic tells me will require lifting motor up, removing oilpan, and dropping bottom of engine out to get at it. I should add he hates Ford Lehman's. He wants me to consider repowering with either a John Deere or a Isuzu, because they're world serviceable, parts are available, modern standards, will match up with existing tranny, etc.
I would ideally search for a used one, or remanufactured, as dealer for John Deere wants 16K for a new one, and I can't go there. So of course this makes all of this a little more difficult.

Engine runs great, but it's 29 years old and # of hrs. is a mystery.

[David M]

What is your engine budget?

[SariTimur]

I had a Ford Lehman 4 cylinder 80 HP and thought it was great although it was getting harder to get parts. I repowered with a Perkins M92. Not as fuel efficient as the old Ford but brand new accounts for something. By the way I would check out your mechanics credentials. Everyone I know that has Lehmans likes them. Oh and by the way mine had 23,000 hours on it when I replaced it. Yes there is not an extra zero in there it had a lot of miles and a lot of hours at the mooring charging batteries and fridge etc the worst thing to use a big diesel for.

[Chief Engineer]

If you have a bad rear main and all the other systems are OK. Fix the engine.

There is a plethora of Ford (British) diesel Engine Parts out there.

Not t0 impugn the integrity of your mechanic.....but if it is being done in a "yard" they want to sell you an engine......I have seen this time and time again.

Once again, you have to balance the cost of engine, installation, rebuilding/rredisgning engine bed, exhaust and fuel filter issues.

It ain't like changing your......shoes

[Geoff H.]

This is where things stand: I called American Diesel this morning early, talked with Bob Smith (son Brian is on vacation, so the real deal answered the phone - Bob used to head up Ford Lehman), and when I described how the leak is presenting he said it's definitely NOT the main seal, that the leak is from the neoprene seal where the two rails meet at the pan (a main seal leak would end up where it would get tossed everywhere, whereas if it's the seal where the two rails meet at the back of the pan, it would flow as one downward mass, which is exactly what mine does) so it's not the main seal.
We'll have to drop the pan, and he had some great pointers on how to do this without utter chaos, (buy a couple feet of threaded rod and some nuts, cut the rod into four pieces, screw them into four existing holes, and pry/nudge the pan down to where the nuts will hold the pan. They will then serve as a great guide for getting the pan back up into place afterwards.
While I have all of this going, am taking my Velvet Drive down to Wilmington this afternoon to have it serviced, and I ordered a new Damper from Amer Diesel as well.
And while I was on the phone with Bob, he mentioned that he's coming to San Diego in March. to teach a day course on the Lehman for a Trawler owners group at Passagemaker University, whatever that is, and asked me if I wanted to bring my boat down while he's there so he can look over the motor. WOW. So ofcourse I'm going to. He went on the tell me how he went to the old CY boat yard in Taiwan where my boat was built, and some of the stories from back then, about the guys in the yard who built these boats but had never been on an ocean in their lives. He's going to bring some pics from back then that he still has. SWEET!!
And by the way, I love my mechanic. He's a Norwegian who's worked on Lehman's for years, and he's just persnickity, and a little worried about me going out into the world with a 30 year old engine that wasn't particularly well maintained before I got it. (The boat sat mostly idle in Mazatlan for 5 yrs before I stumbled onto it 9 yrs ago, and I've had to rebuild pretty much everything -- but then that's exactly why I love it so much I guess.)

[Chief Engineer]

Very Cool.