General thoughts on marinized Isuzu C240?

[sneuman]

I have experience with Volvos, mainly. Know nothing of these engines.

[Alan Wheeler]

Hi Scott, I only know the commercial vehicle Isuzu engines and they are a great engine. Very reliable. Is this an engine someone has marinised, or is it factory marinised. I have not had any experiance with factory marinised if infact there is such a one.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Hi Scott, I only know the commercial vehicle Isuzu engines and they are a great engine. Very reliable. Is this an engine someone has marinised, or is it factory marinised. I have not had any experiance with factory marinised if infact there is such a one.

Not sure, as I have only had very preliminary email discussion with the owner. Just trying to figure out if it's worth my while to travel to see the boat. Sounds like it's worth further investigation.

Thanks Alan!

[Alan Wheeler]

Parts are cheap'ish and should be available world wide. If it runs sweet and and the exhaust is clean, you should have a good reliable engine. Some models can have a very noisey injector pump which makes them sound like someone is thumping the head with a bag of Hammers. But that is no issue to it's reliability.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Parts are cheap'ish and should be available world wide. If it runs sweet and and the exhaust is clean, you should have a good reliable engine. Some models can have a very noisey injector pump which makes them sound like someone is thumping the head with a bag of Hammers. But that is no issue to it's reliability.

Alan, you are one of the reasons I love this forum. What did we all do before the Internet?

[Alan Wheeler]

Hey now, what's this "bound for chesapeake bay" thing. Are you returning to the US ???

[sneuman]

yep, took a new job in D.C.

[Alan Wheeler]

Wow, a big congratulations.
I hope there is good sailing there in DC.

[cooper]

just bought a Isuzu to go into my new boat......there are many out there and dito about parts etc that Alan mentioned. Dedicated marine engines may ?! be better but if you stack them up against availability and servicability in remote parts of the world ......or even locally. A standard light truck engine rebuilder can do the job at a fraction of the cost. in my case l hope not for a very long time.

[Ram]

I have had a Isuzu in my Trawler since new (1990) and have never once had to do anything but change the oil/filter. It runs perfect now with thousands of hours on it.
These engines are really great and take a lot of abuse and starts the moment i turn the key as it has since new!
Ram

[ssullivan]

Ryder System (Ryder Trucks) bets a lot of money on their fleets. They have chosen to rely heavily on the Izuzu NPR and the engine it comes with. Having been privy to their service records for countless Isuzu NPR/NQR trucks, I can say that the engines in the Isuzu NPR (the 4HK1-TC) is one of the most reliable built. Many of those trucks have ridiculous mileage on them, and the only thing they needed to do was change tires, brakes and oil, etc...

As another testament to the Isuzu engine, we had a small Isuzu P'up (micro pickup truck) when I was a kid. It got great mileage, and I beat the crap out of it. It never once broke down and started on the worst of cold New England winters.

Lastly, if my Perkins ever goes - I plan to repower with an Isuzu as well.

Oh yeah, and the NPR truck is the most common box truck in the world. They have service and parts everywhere, as probably would your engine.

[Alan Wheeler]

The first Truck I owned was an 11 tonne Isuzu. Was very reliable, although being older, it was lacking in Hp for size of load. It was 150Hp. The next truck was a big Mitsi shogun 380Hp turbo twin axle twin steer with 10m Gull wing/deck. Oooweee that was nice.

[jsoceanlord]

I have a ISUZU Pisces 27 H.P. and need a re build kit fo the manual lift pump. The data plate is missing off the pump; it apparently helps specify which re build kit to order. Any thoughts on where to order this kit ? thanks

[captain58sailin]

I have a 6 cylinder Izusu in my commercial fishing boat that was a marine conversion of a truck engine and they added a turbo that was M.E.R. out of Seattle, it was done in 1986 or '87, and the engine runs terrific, I use about a gallon of oil through the whole salmon season, and @ 1750 r.p.m. she burns about 2 gallon an hour, @ 1500 about 1 gallon an hour, I believe the h.p. is around 112. You just touch the key and she fires right up after sitting all winter. I am looking to repower my sailboat with an Izusu as well. I think they are great engines.
jsoceanlord, there is a company in Seattle that specializes in even the old Izusu parts, I have emailed with David Rowland, at seattle@klassenengine.com regarding a repower plant. I have not done business with them, but they do advertise that they can get old Izusu parts, perhaps they may have an answer for you.
Regards,
Brad

[clarity36]

Crew
Up till a couple of years ago there was a firm here in Brisbane, Queensland, Orstralia, that did nothing else but marinise Isuzu diesels. i had a look at their operation in the very late 90's and they had hundreds in various stages. if I think of the firm, I'll let you know. Bill, Clarity36