TD Power Marine, Chinese Marine Diesel Engine

[Parmenter]

Originally Posted by Davey1000

That boat is long gone and the "new" one has got the unbeatable Perkins 4.108

Maximum Horsepower: 51 @ 4000 RPM
TAD Perkins 4.108 Diesel Engines, Perkins 4.108 Diesel, Perkins 4.108 Marine Diesel, Perkins 4.108 Engines

[ACUARIO]

Originally Posted by pagu

For sure I'll pass on that impeller info and post some photos of pump when I'm back in range of good Internet again.

I'd like to know more about European dealers too. Any knowledge of who and how contact? I'd be very curious to try get to the bottom of the 'kinked hose' installation. If the 'bent hose' is standard across all engines, I can't believe I'm the only person to have had an issue with? Doesn't make any sense…..

Pagu, I was wrong in my last message, in my TDME 385 THE BREATHER HOSE WAS ALSO KINKED!!!. It had the same wrong installation. I explained you, in the last message, that the egine leaked oil by seal of crankshaft; but after I´ve changed the hose by other not kinked (hose to 90º) THE ENGINE STOP LEAKING!! NOTHING!.

PAGU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TELL ME YOUR BAD EXPERIENCE, SURELY YOUR ADVICE AVOID MY ENGINE GO WRONG.!!!!

[manitu]

Marine Power Solutions - Marine diesel Engines

European distributor, but they use their own brand name: M-Power.

.manitu

[Efam6]

Hey Pagu, thanks for continuing the info on these engines. I sure you were hesitant to post initially with what was being said in the other posts. This is what we really needed, someone who actually has experience with this engine. Maybe the kinks will get worked out by actual users?

[ti325v]

Hello Pagu and Life of Reily:
I know I am off topic, but I would like to comment as a boat owner in the developing world.
I happen to be on the forum today looking for a source for Yanmar parts no longer made, and I am checking for a Chinese supplier....With trepidation.
Pagu, your points about buying again are well made and Reilly has a real understanding of how things work in china, Pagu...I know it is frustrating when nobody understands the environment you are working in, so you have my sympathy.
I source a lot of stuff from china, and some has been garbage....and some has been better then the best stuff I have been able to source from the states. (My pumps are from a Chinese supplier and have been far more durable and quiet and then any of the name brand stuff I got from the states at 1/2 the cost and they even include a spare diaphragm in the box and add a spare switch for $2)
If I cannot find rebuild parts for my beautiful old Yanmar (1980`s 30,000 + hour, turbo six still running like a top) from China, I am also considering one of these Chinese engines, the local talent knows how to work on them, labor is cheap..I can buy two NEW and have a sitting spare for the cost of a single good rebuilt engine from e-bay, with no guarantee either.
You pays your money and you take your chances. In this environment it is a gamble worth taking, especially with posts like yours providing valuable feedback on viable products, as they are indeed viable in our market.
One thing, DO NOT buy a chinese scuba compressor !
Pumps from these folks are amazing...somebody in the states should market them...XIAMEN YOUME IMPORT & EXPORT CO.,LTD
Good luck, keep us posted on how it comes out.

[Dulcesuenos]

We bad purchased a cheaper 4x4 chinese tractor with loader for our tree farm. It cost roughly 1/3 the cost of a new John Deere. Under 40 hours the head gasket failed and every seal on the hydraulic system was leaking. We had a 21 year old smaller yanmar tractor with 1000 hours that was running better and in better shape than that chinese tractor when it was new. We dumped the chinese POS and bought a new JD 3005 w loader, 4 years old now and never an issue.
Thank you for this thread, it just reconfirms what ive already learned.

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by ti325v

Hello Pagu and Life of Reily:
I know I am off topic, but I would like to comment as a boat owner in the developing world.
I happen to be on the forum today looking for a source for Yanmar parts no longer made, and I am checking for a Chinese supplier....With trepidation.
Pagu, your points about buying again are well made and Reilly has a real understanding of how things work in china, Pagu...I know it is frustrating when nobody understands the environment you are working in, so you have my sympathy.
I source a lot of stuff from china, and some has been garbage....and some has been better then the best stuff I have been able to source from the states. (My pumps are from a Chinese supplier and have been far more durable and quiet and then any of the name brand stuff I got from the states at 1/2 the cost and they even include a spare diaphragm in the box and add a spare switch for $2)
If I cannot find rebuild parts for my beautiful old Yanmar (1980`s 30,000 + hour, turbo six still running like a top) from China, I am also considering one of these Chinese engines, the local talent knows how to work on them, labor is cheap..I can buy two NEW and have a sitting spare for the cost of a single good rebuilt engine from e-bay, with no guarantee either.
You pays your money and you take your chances. In this environment it is a gamble worth taking, especially with posts like yours providing valuable feedback on viable products, as they are indeed viable in our market.
One thing, DO NOT buy a chinese scuba compressor !
Pumps from these folks are amazing...somebody in the states should market them...XIAMEN YOUME IMPORT & EXPORT CO.,LTD
Good luck, keep us posted on how it comes out.

I don't paint all the Chinese companies with a broad brush, we do a lot of business there and have to source some components in China, just like everywhere else there are good players and not so good players. The manufacturing boom there over the last 30 years has been insane, but it has not been regulated in any way, so it has been a bit out of control, the government wanted expansion at any price and that's what happened, just note the pollution there, it's changed quite a bit since I first started visiting many years ago.
Most Chinese companies have come to the company I work for since they cannot get the quality of equipment there that we produce, which is in a niche manufacturing market. But the infrastructure has come a long way and some manufacturing concerns there have recognized the value of the export market over and above cheap castings and consumer trinkets, they are also seeing rising demands for better quality from their internal markets. As is usual with any government they struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of development in their economy and especially in the manufacturing segment, as the market matures and they come under more competition, as they already are, they will need to move toward better and more consistent quality product. They are already loosing markets to cheaper labor countries so the low end goods are already moving away.
This will work out to produce better goods with more consistent quality in that part of the world. In that respect you should be seeing slowly improving quality control and improvement in the goods you buy, it's an immature producer economy at this point so it's up to the consumer to find the better companies to deal with, just as in any market the better ones will prosper and the weaker ones will fade away.
So don't dismiss all Chinese made goods as junk, some is better some not.
Fortunately in these days of internet communication and posting boards like these, the spread of information is fast and readily available, it's a huge help to anyone considering buying equipment from new, less well known suppliers such as this one. It opens up many possibilities to those who do not have the kind of local support and choice as some in more developed parts of the world.
I certainly hope to see more threads of this type, informative, straightforward and technically astute, it's a huge help.
I'd like to see what your experience is down the road with the engines you've purchased.

[antonio iacona]

Hallo mr. Pagu
How are the td 385 working?
They are still going or have other problems?
Please answer and thanks for your courtesy.
Antonio
email: antoiacona@libero.it

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

We bad purchased a cheaper 4x4 chinese tractor with loader for our tree farm. It cost roughly 1/3 the cost of a new John Deere. Under 40 hours the head gasket failed and every seal on the hydraulic system was leaking. We had a 21 year old smaller yanmar tractor with 1000 hours that was running better and in better shape than that chinese tractor when it was new. We dumped the chinese POS and bought a new JD 3005 w loader, 4 years old now and never an issue.
Thank you for this thread, it just reconfirms what ive already learned.

Our local IH dealer started importing Belarus tractors when the Soviet Union was still lurching forward. Like the Chinese tractor you bought, these all leaked like sieves from every seal or gasket that could leak. I was told this was because the Soviet factories didn't re-tool often enough, so you might get one tractor with some parts machined to within tolerance, but not all parts. The OP's post underscores the perils of buying third world manufactured goods that do not compete head to head with first world products. This says nothing about the Chinese ability to build great stuff, just different standards of what is acceptable based on the market they serve. A POS in the US is a Cadillac somewhere else. The question is, what is cheap worth to you? Usually, it ends up being too expensive.

[antonio iacona]

Hi mr. Pagu
As you are the owner of TDME 385, you are the people that can say if these engine, apart for the oil breather kinks, work well or not. No matter if they are chinese or not, wath is important is: Are these engines still running? For how many hours? Do they give other problems? Can you repair the broken engine?
Please answer and thanks for your courtesy.
Antonio
email: antoiacona@libero.it

[pagu]

An update on this post and the seized engine.

I had mechanic open and take a look. Two dry bearings and lucky for me minimal damage. I contacted the factory with this news and they immediately sent the replacement parts - at no cost. Took a while for me to get a hold of them, as is the nature of all things here in the Solomon Islands, but once in hand, the installation was easy and the yard that did the job said engine was easy to work on.

I managed to find a length of proper strong-walled hose and replaced the soft kinked hose – source of original problem. That done, have had no further problems with oil pressure.

I've put 100 hours on the engine over four weeks and both this engine and the other I bought are running well.

Despite my initial rant opening this post - over all I would have to say that follow up from factory has been good and despite the initial set back with one engine, I’m satisfied with the purchase.

I certainly don’t claim to be expert in marine engines and this is only the second new one I’ve owned. The previous, a known name engine cost me $12,000 for 24HP donk and that was without a gear box! I owned it for 4 years and put 400 hours on (was in a sail boat) and despite that huge price tag the engine had some issues too, with a seized starter motor and faulty thermostat. My point being, in my experience 12K didn’t buy me absolute peace of mind and statistically that makes the TDMEs pretty good value!

Time will tell! I’ll continue to post any updates as I put more hours on the engines and any other info or experience with.

Aye aye, Pagu
Gatokae Island, Solomon Islands

[pagu]

Originally Posted by manitu

Marine Power Solutions - Marine diesel Engines

European distributor, but they use their own brand name: M-Power.

.manitu

I emailed an importer in the UK and another in the Netherlands, but didn't receive a reply. That could be for many reasons of course, starting with they simply didn't receive my email, or perhaps didn't want to get involved in considering they didn't supply the engine and may source theirs from a completely different manufacturer.

I did get in contact with a former vender in the UK (they had stopped selling because of issues with the importer not the engine) and they were very helpful. I pointed this post out to them and suggest they might want to add their valuable experience. In general they spoke highly of the engines. I'll contact them again and ask permission to copy their reply here in this post.

[Mike Davidson]

Hi Every one. Reference TD engines with the crankcase breather issue. Yes we have been installing TD engines into small work boats and to date can report good reliability and performance. Yes the crankcase breather pipe was and issue for us with our first installation. Fortunately we noticed the engine pumping out oil well before it had dropped much from the sump. Located the problem with the kinked pipe work. We just simply remote mounted the breather on a bulkhead 450mm away. No problems since.
WE also change the fuel filter mountings to ease vibration and to make servicing a lot easier. Apart from that they perform OK.
Mike Davidson AM Engineering Pty Ltd Australia

[pagu]

Originally Posted by Mike Davidson

Hi Every one. Reference TD engines with the crankcase breather issue. Yes we have been installing TD engines into small work boats and to date can report good reliability and performance. Yes the crankcase breather pipe was and issue for us with our first installation. Fortunately we noticed the engine pumping out oil well before it had dropped much from the sump. Located the problem with the kinked pipe work. We just simply remote mounted the breather on a bulkhead 450mm away. No problems since.
WE also change the fuel filter mountings to ease vibration and to make servicing a lot easier. Apart from that they perform OK.
Mike Davidson AM Engineering Pty Ltd Australia

Hi Mike.

Thanks for sharing your experience and great to hear from another user with real experience with these engines.

I feel vindicated some to learn I’m not the only one in the world to have had this issue with the crankcase breather. Sure the solution is very easy, as long as one is aware of the threat. I was just visiting Australia and bought a length of correct strong walled hose for just a few $. Have you let the manufacturer know about your experience with the breather? The business I bought my engines from - the Jiangyan Xinyang Machine Building Co - when I told them replied (quote) ‘Sorry for this problem, i sold many many this kind engines, and never meet this probem,’ (end quote) obviously from the experience reflected in this forum alone this fault (kinked hose in breather) is not unique.

I’d be curious to learn more about how you’ve remounted the fuel filter? Good idea because it is pretty hard to get to, eh. Do you have any pics you can share?

I’m wondering too if you have any experience with gearbox operating temperature? On one of my engines (same engine as I had problem with described in this post) after I had the bearings changed and the engine up and running again; in the first 100 hours of op the gearbox; the name tag came unglued and dropped off ( I didn’t pay that much attention) but then I noticed the paint on the gearbox changed tone and I started to wonder about the gearbox lube and temperature. I fitted a temperature sensor to the gearbox and after 2 hours of operation (the longest continuous run I’ve done since fitting the thermometer ) the gearbox is 97 degrees C. I guess makes sense that mechanical device without cooling particularly here in the tropics in a closed engine room gets hot. I’ve been told that it’s not uncommon for a mechanical gearbox to operate at double the engine temp (which seems to peak at 63 degrees C). Aside the faded paint, I have no reason to be concerned for the gearbox, it doesn’t make any noise or grit in oil etc. However gearbox on my other engine paint is same as day one. So why the difference……. I suspect that the gearbox with the faded paint has gotten very hot at sometime, but why? My second boat and engine is out of the water at the moment but when I float it again I’ll be curious to monitor the temp of that gearbox and compare.

Curious if you have any thoughts or experience with this?

Cheers, Wade

[antonio iacona]

Hi mr.Pagu
As TD Power have different gearbox, can you tell us wath brand is the gearbox that become hot?
Have you cecked the oil level ? If it is to high or to low can became to hot.
Thanks.
Antonio Iacona