On Jan 31, 10:04?am, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:


At what point does it become more economical to replace a diesel versus
a rebuild?- Hide quoted text -


That's probably a matter of individual judgment.

When my old engine hydrolocked, it "could have" been quickly and
dirtily fixed by turning it on its side down in the bilge and slapping
in a new rod, rings, and piston. That wouldn't have addressed any
likely damage to the crank. It probably would have cost $2500-$3000 to
do, as I don't work on anything internal when it comes to engines. I
also needed a manifold, and that runs another couple of thousand or
so.

The next step up from the minimal approach would have been to rebuild
the lower end of the engine, but this would really require removing
the engine from the boat to do a proper job. Getting the engine in and
out of my boat is a bit involved, and would involve another
fewthousand or so whether the engine going back in was the original
and now rebuilt engine or a brand new one. A reasonable overhaul would
likely have cost close to $10,000, including the cost of removal and
reinstallation.

My new engine cost me just over $10,000 (got a bit of a deal on it)-
plus labor to remove the old engine and reinstall the new one. Yes, it
was definitely more money- but everything was brand new. Every pump,
manifold, injector, alternator, etc at "zero" hours.

For my purposes, when the cost of rebuilding an existing engine is
about 2/3 or so the cost of replacing it with a brand new one I would
elect to go with the new one every time. Others will feel differently,
and are entitled to do so.