Mercedes OM615 - 15 years idle

[nodiesop]

Hi Cruisers,
I am currently looking at a boat which I would perhaps get at a very attractive price. It is a Reinke Hydra, first contact with water was 1994. Then, in 2003 it had been basically put into a shed and been sitting there since then.

As far as I can oversee it, the hull and what is fitted to it is top. No rust at all. Alas, the interior is something of it's own class. There has to be invested work and money to get that to a stadium where I can say 'yes, I want to spend more than 20 minutes down there - except to sleep. '

Now to my question. There are two Mercedes OM615 on board. At least they should be OM615. On the side it says DB180. Not sure where they are from exactly, but they have been used when built into the boat already. And now, they have been standing around 15 years. And I am wondering if they can be woken up and/or what has to be done?
- Complete overhaul?
- add fresh motor oil, Diesel, Water and just press start?
- anything in between?
- Let someone inspect it? Or not necessary?

I have no clue. And as you can imagine, I'd try to minimize the risk of having to either do a complete overhaul or even replace. From what I heard, they are very robust and nearly indestructable. Sure, new engines would consume less perhaps. But those OM615 have been built in millions and I assume replacement parts are easy to get and they are easy to fix. This is why I think it would be best to just keep them.

Any thoughts?

Thank you for your feedbacks!

Regards,
nodiesop

PS: should have posted in engine thread...sorry. saw that after posting

[a64pilot]

The plastic bag over the intake is a good sign to me, it tells me that it’s likely they were put up properly and not just walked away from.
Check the oil level, and replace the raw water impeller before you start them.
I would want to pull the injectors and put oil into the cylinders and leaving the injectors out, spin the motor over until I got oil pressure, then replace the injectors and start it up. That gets oil all over everything before it gets a load on it.
Of course leave raw water valve closed until you ready to start. In fact I think I would make sure there was liquid soap in the raw water pump and not open the seacock until the engine was running.
Check to see if exhaust has been disconnected and bagged too, if so then I’d feel real sure that everything is going to be fine.
Maybe have the injectors tested since they are out.

I moved the post for you.

[Lepke]

I've started many mothballed diesels. Some over 20 years idle. I normally start on the existing oil and coolant. The impeller I remove and closely inspect. If it's not brittle and appears in good shape I grease the inside of the housing with water proof grease and either put the impeller back in or a new one. The grease helps water suction of the 1st start.

If you can lever over the engine, it's a good idea to go 1 revolution in the right direction. Also with an electric pump, flush the fuel lines with new fuel, bleed the injector pump. On small diesels you can use a vacuum brake bleeder on the return line to draw fresh fuel into the injector pump. If it's cold, heat the engine because over time the rings will contract, you'll have lower compression until the engine warms the 1st time and the heat helps reach the combustion temp of diesel.

Check any linkage for proper movement. I rarely remove the injectors, but have ready a way to shut off air if the engine wants to race. I've done dozens of mothballed engine starts and thousands of normal diesel starts and never had a run away. My father had 1 in 40 years as a marine engineer. So it's not very common.
I never had a long idle diesel fail to return to normal compression after a few running hours at most.
If possible, don't use ether or use it sparingly. Too much causes too much pressure and can break rings. Don't run the engine on ether, fix the fuel problem.
I change the oil and all the fuel and oil filters after the 1st warmup.

[nodiesop]

Wow....

thank you all very much! That helps me in my decision process - on the positive side, I must say. In that case I can invest some money somewhere else on the boat.
...presumably where my partner would like to have an investment.

So I'll replace the batteries, grease impeller, turn engine 2-3 times and try to start. ah - and remove the plastic bag of course. I'm not a complete noob on that but maybe I'll do it together with a professional from a workshop around.
Just need to have a look if the blocks where the engine is sitting on are also still ok.

..I had been thinking to replace both engines, but the old ones have some advantages.
- rather simple
- proven technology
- you can find someone to fix and spares presumably round the world
- they are already built in, saves money

If I really decide to buy the boat, I'll keep you posted and post a video once they are running.

Thanks again - very helpful!

[Garrett5o]

Originally Posted by nodiesop

Hi Cruisers,
I am currently looking at a boat which I would perhaps get at a very attractive price. It is a Reinke Hydra, first contact with water was 1994. Then, in 2003 it had been basically put into a shed and been sitting there since then.

As far as I can oversee it, the hull and what is fitted to it is top. No rust at all. Alas, the interior is something of it's own class. There has to be invested work and money to get that to a stadium where I can say 'yes, I want to spend more than 20 minutes down there - except to sleep. '

Now to my question. There are two Mercedes OM615 on board. At least they should be OM615. On the side it says DB180. Not sure where they are from exactly, but they have been used when built into the boat already. And now, they have been standing around 15 years. And I am wondering if they can be woken up and/or what has to be done?
- Complete overhaul?
- add fresh motor oil, Diesel, Water and just press start?
- anything in between?
- Let someone inspect it? Or not necessary?

I have no clue. And as you can imagine, I'd try to minimize the risk of having to either do a complete overhaul or even replace. From what I heard, they are very robust and nearly indestructable. Sure, new engines would consume less perhaps. But those OM615 have been built in millions and I assume replacement parts are easy to get and they are easy to fix. This is why I think it would be best to just keep them.

Any thoughts?

Thank you for your feedbacks!

Regards,
nodiesop

PS: should have posted in engine thread...sorry. saw that after posting

Moin from Germany !
I want to inform you, that your photo shows Mercedes OM 636 ( 37 to 43 HP ) diesel-engines with Bowman-heatexchangers.
You already got a lot of worthful informations for a new start of these engines, but first of all, withdraw glow-plugs, fill in a pint of anti-corrosion oil through this hole at every cylinder and turn these engines with a wrench at the large bolt in the middle of the crankshaft by hand, only ! If this is possible, give a message here and I will tell you more athe next steps - it will be NOT neccessary to look for other engines . . !
Kind regards
Garrett

[moseriw]

change oil turn them by hand a few times - if they stuck - rebuild if not - go on for the next 15 years.
Do NOT change these engines to new ones.

[daw_two]

I started messing with old diesels about 11 years ago. I have brought numerous old Mercedes (and other makes) back to life.

The first thing I would do is change the oil....you don't have to use brand new oil, oil from a recent car/truck oil change will work. You just don't want to start the engines with 15 year old oil.

Second, check the air intakes; make sure nothing has built a nest in there. The covered air intake is a good sign.

I would drain the coolent. No need to replace it just yet. Diesel engines can run from 30 seconds up to a few minutes without overheating. I've driven OM617 (the 5 cylinder Mercedes engine) for 5 miles without water before. Not recommended, but tolerated.

Next, remove the injectors and squirt WD40, or oil in the cylinders. Let it sit. You want to be able to turn the engine over by hand. If you cannot, the rings might be stuck to the cylinder wall. You want to free these up, before you start the engine. If the engine turns easily with the injectors removed....

Attach a gallon jug of fresh diesel to the injection pump.

Hook up a hot battery (newish, fully charged).

Turn the engine over using the starter with the injectors out. This will push out any excess oil, WD40, or whatever lubricate you put in there. It should also get oil (oil from your recent car/truck oil change) pumping (assuming the oil pump is good) through the various oil galleys.

Adjust the valves. The Peach Parts Forum has a Diesel thread on adjusting the valves on OM615 engines.

Then replace the injectors and start it up.

If you have any specific questions about Mercedes diesels, shoot me a PM or an email.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Garrett5o

Moin from Germany !
I want to inform you, that your photo shows Mercedes OM 636 ( 37 to 43 HP ) diesel-engines with Bowman-heatexchangers.
You already got a lot of worthful informations for a new start of these engines, but first of all, withdraw glow-plugs, fill in a pint of anti-corrosion oil through this hole at every cylinder and turn these engines with a wrench at the large bolt in the middle of the crankshaft by hand, only ! If this is possible, give a message here and I will tell you more athe next steps - it will be NOT neccessary to look for other engines . . !
Kind regards
Garrett

Me, I think I would PM this guy, he seems real familiar with this particular engine

[Tricolor]

Originally Posted by nodiesop

.............On the side it says DB180. Not sure where they are from exactly.............

From Mercedes 180D car, be aware that the crankshaft only has 3 bearings.

PS, I am not 100% sure but it's possible that the OM636 is still produced in Spain.

[Pete7]

The 363 is well thought of this side of the pond.

OM636 Diesel Engine Spares

[nodiesop]

Dear all,

all that sounds very promising and let's me be more confident. Especially, since I had been calculating €2000 for motor overhaul. In that case I think other than some simple spares (maybe impeller and such things) and the fluids there should not be immense investments.

@Garrett: This is indeed very helpful and once I am going to start the engines again, I'll surely ping you. Since you said 'moin' I guess that the boat is rather near you. It is located in Fehmarn.

Now I'll place an option on the boat and will then be there again somewhere in August. If everything fine, I'll be again a boat owner around mid of August. And that will then be the point in time, when the work starts.

Sorry to all bother you with stupid questions... but one more: Do I need to completely empty the tanks and flush them?

thanks
nodiesop

[joel383]

Originally Posted by nodiesop

Dear all,

all that sounds very promising...

....Do I need to completely empty the tanks and flush them?

thanks
nodiesop

Depends on how cheap you are, and how bad the tank is. You could start it on fresh fuel and then swap over to the old if you are just going to be running it. Just make sure you have a cheap filter handy.

I have a pre-filter housing that cost 20$US and filters are 3$US. It would be worth it to me. Or filter it and use it in the stove.

Coolant I would NOT drain until it has run a bit. All kinds of crud is going to break loose the first time you run it.

Same with oil. Change after you run a bit..