Time to Repower

[TOM]

We are now 3 months and 1200 nautical miles into our circumnavigation and the reality of a repower is now becoming more evident.Our Brittish Leyland fisherboy is blowing more and more blue smoke by the day iam now adding 1 litre of oil per 30 hrs of operation .It has got to the point where iam now embarresed at the amount of burnt oil coming out the back! Funney thing is the motor still starts first time and runs fine with no apparent loss of power who knows it might go foever,but I feel it would be irresponsible to continue on with a sick motor especially as I have my family onboard.
I have had the mechanic around today ,he says it will be a fairly straight forward install as the sort off engine bed I have is easily modified ,I also have a vee drive so shaft allingment is not an issue.

My concern is the price of the Yanmar 54hp 4JH4AE {my preferred motor}is $18500 AUD. The Volvo D2-55 ,55hp is slightly cheaper but not much.The mechanic who is going to do the install has just become a dealer for Vetus they are doing a deal on the Vetus 52hp for $14000 ,this is a significant saving in fact the saving would pay for the install! .My research so far seems to indicate the Vetus is a good motor ,they have certainly been around for a long time but as always it would be nice to hear from anyone on the forum who has first hand experience with them or who has heard any good or more importently bad reports.

Your replies as always are eagerly anticipated as I have to bite the bullet and act soon.

www.byamee.com

[boden36]

Maybe Volvo might be OK now, but years ago we had nothing but trouble to the extent that we took it out after 1000 hours and replaced it with a yanmar, which has been excellent. Regards, Richard.

[Boracay]

Hi Tom, sounds like you've had quite a trip so far.

There are a huge number of happy Yanmar owners out there. It is a long proven reliable marine engine of reasonable weight.

I went with the John Deere 4045, but it's a big heavy engine. I really only went with it because I could put it in myself.

Now I'm coming up for filters they're available but have to come from Melbourne. I tell myself they are available world wide and any John Deere dealer can get spare parts (True so far...). Do check on spare parts and dealer availability for any engine that you might buy.

Try and get a heavy duty gearbox as well. It might cost a boat buck or so extra but when you wrap a mooring rope round your prop (don't ask) or run your engine for 24 hours straight you may bless every cent. It's tempting to cut corners but gearboxes seem to fail in cruisers at about the same rate as engines.

But ultimately the big reason for going Yanmar has to be that when you come to sell the boat (and they all get sold eventually) a well known model and brand should make a sale easier.

Any new engine/gearbox is going to perform well. How it's going to be after 3000 (or more hours) is the real question.

[GordMay]

What Boracay & boden36 said ...
and
Check around your local area (and the entire country) to see what what’s prevalent. You don’t want to be odd man out, without good reason.

[donradcliffe]

The operating costs on the Volvo will quickly overcome any discount on the original price, as their spare parts pricing borders on piracy. I would look at Izuzu or Kubota based engines as well, as they are common worldwide. I ended up with a Beta (Kubota), and am happy with it.

[keyspc]

Do. not. buy. A. Vetus.
during the nightmare of trying to fit a exhaust mainifold for my 20hp m-310 vetus i ran into a LOT of pepole that are also having a nightmare with these.
Local mechanics in Key West replaced a 4 cyl with a volvo because it was cheaper than replaceing head and rebuliding.
long story short- i orderd a rear oil seal that came three months After waiting for two months then cancelling the order!
Oh the manifold? qouted 2700 us!

[svquest2]

Does this help?

Yanmar Diesel Engines - diesel engine motor.com

Or this?

http://www.dieselenginetrader.com/

Or this

http://boatdiesel.com/Forums/ForumIn...166&SearchKey=

Good Luck

Joe S

[roverhi]

Why not rebuild the existing engine?? Sounds like it would be way easier and cheaper. If you aren't losing power, the smoking and loss of oil is probably coming from something other than the piston rings. Could be something as simple as valve guides.

Aloha
Peter O.

[TOM]

Thanks for the replies, I guess the sensible thing to do would be to spend the extra money and get a Yanmar.Chris you are right when our trip is finished and it comes time to sell the boat it will be a far more valuble asset with a 1600hr Yanmar in it then a Vetus.When i asked the guy in the berth beside us what a good motor was his reply "A good motor is one you can get spare parts for anywhere and quickly".good point.
It has surprised me the negativity {not just on this forum but in general}towards Volvo ,as perhaps the largest supplier of marine propulsion in the world i find this surprising.
Chris ,just out of curiosity you said you bought the Jonh Derre because you could install it yourself what was it that made it easier to install?

[Boracay]

What really swung me to the John Deere was that the technical rep. answered all my questions in a friendly and helpful way.

My first choice would have been Yanmar, but they would only supply engines to be installed by their own installers and there were none available in Sydney at that time (Height of the boom).

I did have a slight hicup in the process, my rep. was off at a conference or something so I rang the company in Brissie, the receptionist put me through to a senior manager and he sorted it all out quick smart. There might even have been some bruised body parts involved. Very impressive.

But it's knowing that no matter what goes wrong there is going to be someone who will sort out the problem. It's a nice feeling.

I'd have to go with the suggestion that if money is an issue then an overhaul may be the way to go. The engine has to come out and go somewhere. Why not arrange for it to go to a reconditioning place. Ask if they can take the engine apart and give you a report. If it's past repair then they may agree to keep the engine for parts for no further cost. It's going to be hard to sell an old, obscure engine in poor condition.

If your injectors and injector pump are OK then the cost may not be that bad. Modifying your boat for a new engine is not going to be cheap and new systems may be needed. Four grand for an install of a new engine sounds a bit on the low side. The rule of thumb is that the installation price is about the same as the engine price.

I would have to suggest having the starter rebuilt as well if you go that way, as well as getting a new lift pump. Do check your engine mounts when the engine is out. It would also be a good time to totally clean under the engine, and to give the area a few coats of suitable paint.

[TOM]

The motor is a Brittish Leyland London Taxi motor 31 years old,spare parts are almost non existent .there is a co in the U.K. that does some parts but they are very exspensive ,hense the reason i have not gone down the rebuild path.

[TOM]

Maybe this is the answear to my repower problem ! ,certainly be cheap and I could do it myself . Had a chat to the guy who owns the boat[38 foot center cockpit] he reckons its great ,says the it handles much better then an inboard and is much quiter.

But how bloody ugly is it !!!

[Ex-Calif]

When that boat gets into seas, he will be surprised how often the prop is out of the water, in the air and making no power...

[bbyrd]

Get a Beta - I found the Beta (a marinized Kubota) to be an easy install. Kubotas are the biggest selling diesel engines in the world of less than 100 hp.
Parts everywhere around the world. Kubota tractors are everywhere.
Much cheaper than a Yanmar. By half I'd bet.
They run like a sewing machine and come in a wide selection of sizes.
I just put one in my Dufour last year - got away from the Volvo nightmare.