repowering with a chinese diesel

[viking69]

hi all,
I was just wondering if anyone has repowered with one of these chinese diesels or know anyone who has. I sent them an email with a few questions and basically these are a knock of off the nissan motors. Any opinions welcomed eitherway.

MDT Power Marine Engines

[Tropic Cat]

I've looked at them too as the engines are a bargin, but what happens when something breaks? A compelling reason for going with a major brand is finding engine parts when you need them no matter where you are. There's no dealer network on the chinese stuff yet and no parts availability.

I think it's too early to consider a chinese knock off.

[never monday]

Personally I find it hard to support a country or system that doesn't recognize patents or property rights.

[cat man do]

These guy's are just around the corner from MDT and use low hour "Genuine Nissan" diesel's and are fairly economical.

Welcome to Diecon Engineering

I had a look for my boat, but figured they spun too fast.

I wanted much more torque and much slower spinning.

Diecon do the marine gear on the Cummin's B3.3's that I ended up with.

Dave

[Latitude9.5]

Originally Posted by never monday

Personally I find it hard to support a country or system that doesn't recognize patents or property rights.

Agreed, I would never want to go with a chinese knock off for something as important as my primary engine. I know for the most part the chinese gensets, outboards (Sail) anything but reliable in the long haul.

[Alan Wheeler]

The question to always ask. Has it been made cheap to be cheap.
Chinese can make some very good equipment. Don't get fooled. But sadly, a lot of Chinese equipment is being made very cheaply to be cheap. Personly, I am not compleatly sure if this is the Chinese themselves at fault, or foriegners that are making a quick buck by getting cheap crap made and then importing and selling it as if it is the best stuff on the planet. But that argument aside, it is certain that many good reputible brands are being copied. Copied very well to I might add. But under the paint is usually very inferior metals. Instead of the best materials to do the job, the copies are the wors't. Cheap muckmetal alloys instead of good quality Aluminiums, poor corrosion coatings like cadnium etc, and very poor qualtiy paints with high lead content and often no primers under them. Once you get inside the engine, you then find poor quality bearings and seals and very poor quality gear cuttings.
If it were me and I wanted an engine I had to rely on, I would stear clear of the cheap Chinese copies. If it were a cheap motor for a cheap job, then sure, you can't beat them.

[Celestialsailor]

In my past 30 years, I had first been a Machinist, then a Tool Maker and an Engineer. I have seen all our tooling go offshore to China in the name of a few bucks for a few people(in America). First it was our tooling, then our electronics. this has been the main cause on and off for unemployment here.
Today, you can hardly find a product in a hardware store not made in China. Now, many of our boat parts are made in China. In 1994, a friend of mine bought BBB chain made in China because it was cheaper. After hauling it up after using it 6 months, he was shocked to see a link broken at the weld, with the chain staying hooked together due only to the tension on it.
I know I sound like a hard nose but I don't think I'm alone when I say that I stay away from items made in China. And yes, as pointed out, they have no respect for our patents let alone their own human rights issues.
It is getting more difficult over time to find quality item for your home or your boat. With a boat, often times our lives depend on the dependability of things we buy.
A Nisan copy made in China??? I don't think so. I'd rather buy a used Yanmar and pay for a rebuild.

[viking69]

I am wondering how long it will be before the brand names are made there if they are not already doing that now?????? My biggest issue with these types of motors is the lack of warrenty. if they were any good you would think they would offer a decent warrenty. I stupidly bought a chinese genset which did about 5 hours then shit itself. the warrenty was not worth the paper it was written on. i now have a honda generator and could not be happier with it.

[Steve Pope]

I'm sure that many of the engines made in China are from patterns etc. supplied from the original manufacturer, ie Daedong is Kubota made in I think Korea. Ebro is the Spanish name for a 64 hp Fordson super major that has interchangeable parts with the Ford. I'm sure MTD would answer all your Questions re Warranty spares etc. I have a Diecon 22hp based on a 2nd hand Kubota that is a good marine conversion but the unit was second hand direct from Diecon. I can't imagine that MTD quality would be any different except that their engines are new.
Steve.

[Steve Pope]

I'm sure that many of the engines made in China are from patterns etc. supplied from the original manufacturer, ie Daedong is Kubota made in I think Korea. Ebro is the Spanish name for a 64 hp Fordson super major that has interchangeable parts with the Ford. I'm sure MTD would answer all your Questions re Warranty spares etc. I have a Diecon 22hp based on a 2nd hand Kubota that is a good marine conversion but the unit was second hand direct from Diecon. I can't imagine that MTD quality would be any different except that their engines are new.
Steve.

[Alan Wheeler]

I am wondering how long it will be before the brand names are made there if they are not already doing that now

Oh yes that has been happening for many years now. I have been retired from the sound industry for nearly 5 yrs now and most of my major manufacturers had product being made in China for them way back then. But it is possible to have equipment made to a high standard as well as the cheap crap.
But also, US products have been sent offshore for manufacture long before China was aon the scene. I used to buy a famouse Microphone that was supposedly US made. I found that the sound and reliability changed on some of the shipments. I then discovered they were also made in Mexico. the mexican quality wasn't quite there. India, Taiwan and many other countries have all had their turn at manufacturing for the bigger players. And you know who is to blame?? Us the consumer. We go for the best deal don't we. So in the end when there are a million and one green thingamyjigs all trying to be sold to us, the ones that get sold the most of are the cheap ones. So the manufacturer has to find away to make his green thingamyjig cheaper or he goes out of business. Because in the end, there are only a small handful of ones like many of us that want the quality green thingamyjig instead of the cheap one. And that handful won't keep him in business.
Where China seems to have changed much of the face of the world industry is the copy mentality. They have a major manufacturer that builds a plant and brings the equipment and the materials and the plans and then say's, build me these wonderful world reputational engines or whatever. Then a few years down the track, we see the cheap knock off's. I wonder if the issue is a copy and thus a patent/copywrite infringment, or that the original model has been made obsolete and the plant disposed of and so some back yard chinese company grabs it all and starts making them. It was a very common thing to see in electronic circuitry design. A few years later you would see that same design come up in a some cheaper TV. The present day designs had moved way further on, but the original still works and makes the picture and is cheap.

[seafox]

I think it is the same chinese factory making the genuine product for it's client and then on the sidelines manufacturing the same thing in a different colour and calling it Chinagold or some other name instead of Honda.
The copyright laws can easily be overcome with some backhanders to the officials.

[Jay Knight]

Sadly if one was to magically eliminate every thing Chinese from WAL-MART the manager would be standing in the middle of a nearly empty store, probally in his undies! We can all see it happening, and can't do a durn thing about it! Watch out for the cliff, it's coming!

[ssullivan]

I had a chinese diesel genset. Cost 1/3 what the normal genset would cost and lasted just about 200 hours before throwing/bending a rod. Since there are no parts available, the genset was junk.

I looked at the metal, and just as wheels said, it was VERY inferior stuff with voids and different quality material mixed throughout.

The cost of installing your engine is too great to risk having to do it twice (once with a Chinese engine, then again with a real one).

Run.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha All,
My advice is to learn Chinese and teach it to your children and grandchildren. As has been noted they are selling everything to us after we gave them the technology. They will be buying all the oil soon and have no problems polluting as much as possible. They are buying our ports and harbors and our resorts. Won't be long and they'll be the economic super power we used to be.
As far as a Chinese diesel engine? Run the opposite direction as fast as possible. As Sean stated, about 200 hours of dependable reliable time.
Regards,
JohnL