An older diesel engine with low hours is simply a lightly used diesel engine
and is almost without question in exceptional mechanical condition.

Old wives tales die hard.

Butch
wrote in message
oups.com...

jps wrote:
In article ,
says...

"jps" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:20:52 -0700 in rec.boats, jps penned the
following thoughts:


IMHO...

4-cycle, Natural, steel, Piston sleeves

Thanks Gene. Which brand?

I don't think Cats have sleeves, Cummins are aluminum, Perkins?

I know Hino's have sleeves.

Any faves?

jps

At least some of the Volvo's have sleeves. Mine does, but are turbo'd
six
cylinders.

But, a naturally aspirated small diesel is likely to last a long, long
time.
Replaceable sleeves may not be all that important. At 6000+ hours the
original Ford Lehman in my wife's Grand Banks is just broken in
according to
Bob Smith of American Diesel Corp.

RCE

I keep hearing that boat hours are different than normal applications--
that'd have diesels running constantly for those long-hour lives.

And, that low hour diesels should be gazed upon with suspicion (not that
any engine shouldn't be suspect) since infrequent use is not kindly to
diesel engine parts.

Is this baloney or is there some basis in fact?

jps

Those engines that run constantly usually get exceptional maintenance.
I'm thinking of some of the diesels that run power plants on the north
slope, where operating manuals call for a minor overhaul "every 20,000
hours."

Run as fast as you can from any used diesel that isn't currently
sitting in a boat. There had to be some reason that somebody would go
to the expense of removing the engine and replacing it with something
else, and you might not find out what the reason was until after you
have gone to the expense of paying to have the engine installed in your
boat.

One of the common rules of thumb (will always come in handy when
you're trying to finger something out) is that a 2 to 1 ratio of CID to
HP is desirable. My original Perkins was 354 CID and developed 165 HP,
so that was a good combo. When that engine bit the dust at right around
4000 hours, it was a failed exhaust manifold rather than internal wear
and tear that did it in. My new engine is also 354 CID, develops only
135 HP, and has a FWC exhaust manifold so I don't expect it to let me
down again when I get to that 4000 hour figure.

You boat on Puget Sound. Where the heck you think you need to go at a
blistering speed?
Almost nobody but the greenest of peas seriously attempts to do two-day
weekends in the San Juans from Seattle or points south. Take my trawler
challenge: Get out a paper chart (remember those?) and draw a 32 nm arc
around your home port. That's a Saturday morning cruise in a boat that
gets 3-4 nmpg. Bet you'll count 20-40 potential ports of call, state
parks,cozy anchorages, waterfront bars, and marinas in that space. You
could boat every other weekend for a year and never visit the same
place twice. :-)

Speed is going to cost you, whether gas or diesel. It's that monster
speed, not the choice of fuel, that will make boating less than
optimally affordably for most people.