wrote in message
oups.com...

Dream on. The only way to realize 10,000 - 20,000 or even many more
hours from a marine diesel would be to run it almost continuously. The
average intermittent use pleasure boater will be very lucky to get
5,000 hours from a diesel, and even then it will need to be one of the
slower turning models.
You even find some old trawlers with hours up in the 6-7K range, but
10,000 or more is almost unheard of. Cripes, it would take the average
pleasure boater 50-100 years to do 10,000 hours and by that time the
darn thing would simply rust apart. :-)


Chuck,

I realize your post is related to the boating time required to acquire over
10,000 engine hours but, in terms of engine longevity, you might be
interested in the following email response I received from Bob Smith at
American Diesel Corp. American Diesel sells replacement engines and
components and owns the inventory and intellectual property of the former
Leyman Ford.

I had posed a question regarding service life of the Leyman Ford, 120 hp
diesel in Mrs. E's Grand Banks because the engine meter showed 6800 hours.
His response was as follows:

===================================
Dear Richard,

You can expect between 20,000 - 25,000 hours before wear might require
a rebuild. At 6,800 hours it is just starting to run at it's best.
Maintain the bolt on items is the important thing. We have various upgrades
and
improvements for the 120, but you will probably find them already
installed.

What is the boat and owners name? Maybe I know the boat.

We can supply you the latest (current production) Ford engine with all
new marine equipment for about $12,000. Fits in same bolt holes. But
you will not need it.

Check out the transmission. Have oil sample done on the transmission
oil. It is probably a Borg Warner 1013-000-003 CR2 unit.

Best regards,
Bob Smith

================================================== ==========

Although I think he may be a little optimistic, Bob Smith enjoys a excellent
reputation for his knowledge and honesty. I mentioned this to the surveyor
who inspected my wife's boat and is also a Grand Banks owner and he agreed
with what Bob had said.

In my opinion the newer turbocharged diesels that are tweaking lots of
horsepower at high RPM out of small packages have a much shorter service
life. In this case however, the normally aspirated Leyman Ford is physically
almost the same size of the Volvo engines in my Navigator that produce over
three times the hp.

One final note. I have a friend who just completed his first east coast
trip from MA to Florida in his '72 Hat. with normally aspirated DD 671's.
Both engines have well over 10,000 hours as the boat has been regularly used
for fishing. They both run fine, although the port engine has some minor
scouring on one cylinder wall. The diesel mechanic that inspected it told
him not to worry about it, he still had a few thousand hours left before a
rebuild would be required.

Eisboch