On Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:57:28 +0000, Larry wrote:

Bruce in Bangkok wrote in
:

On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:35:45 -0700 (PDT), jayhearts
wrote:

Greetings,

We've moved up from a Tartan 30 with an Atomic Four to a Gulfstar
41 CC Aux Ketch with long range cruising plans and a Perkins 4.108
deisel engine. In the Atomic Four world there is a vibrant
aftermarket of parts and knowledge. Does anyone know if there is a
similar source of information, parts and advice for our new old
engine? We Homeport in the lower Hudson Valley, New York. Thanks for
any advice, also welcome connection to other Gulfstar and or Ketch
owners.

Thanks,
J

The Perkins 4-108 was common as dirt in its day and there should be no
lack of parts even today. Some years ago I had occasion to overhaul a
4-107, the model that preceded the 4-108 and while it took a couple of
days looking I found a stock of parts for that old engine. You should
have no problem.

Just as a warning. Perkins warns against using either or other
"starting fluids" in these engines. I disregarded their warning which
the result that a pre-combustion chamber was blown out of the head
and into the cylinder damaging both the head and a piston and liner.
Thus the overhaul I mentioned above.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)


We got a 4-108, complete with even the wires and panel and a good
transmission for $1500 in NC. The guy swapped it out for a Yanmar
because his marina had a Yanmar dealer in it. The 4-108 ran perfectly,
but we had to swap the transmission to the old one that's made to
freewheel so we could use our shaft alternator to charge the batteries
under sail. 25 amps is worth the effort. Unless it's below freezing, I
cannot imagine having to preheat or use starting fluids on a Perky 4-
108. Something is wrong with one that won't start in summer at the
first touch. It might have low compression from bad valves or worn
rings or something wrong with the injection system. We've never
preheated or sprayed fluid into even the old one that had tens of
thousands of hours on it because the boat's previous owner thought it
was a trawler with a tall antenna mast instead of a ketch.

I thought I had the parts, service and overhaul manuals for it,
somewhere on one of these drives, but my search for this thread only
found the 4-154, Ford Lehman and Velvet drive manuals if anyone wants
them in Zipped up PDF format. I can't find the 4-108 manuals anywhere
here. Cap'n Geoffrey has them on his laptop as I put them there and may
have erased them at home....which would be unusual.


Is the 4-104 for a FORD Lehman or a PEUGOT-Lehman?

I have two PEUGOT - Lehmans in a power boat which was sold to me as
ford-Lehmans (and I believed). In reality it probably doesn't make
much difference as parts are about equally difficult or easy to find
for either, but I would like the parts manual if available.

Regarding Transmissions, While the one I sold had what was apparently
a US Navy Paragon hydraulic transmission and never gave problems, some
of the installations do use some pretty small manual boxes. I strongly
recommend adding a transmission cooler if possible, especially to the
Hurst boxes as it will certainly extend the life of the box.

Starting Fluid - well a sore subject to me especially as I used it
because I was lazy. When doing any work that requires opening the high
pressure side of the CAV fuel injection system it is a real bitch to
get it bled. One technique I had previously used on other engines was
to simply run them on starting fluid until it self-bled. Bad move in
the Perkins.

When bleeding the CAV systems the best technique (I now recommend) is
to bleed the two screws on the fuel pump body and then open the
injection lines at the injectors and open the throttle wide open. spin
the engine with the starter until you see fuel squirting out all four
injection lines. Close the throttle, tighten the injection lines and
it should start. But even if it is a bit hard to start you won't blow
a pre-combustion chamber down into the cylinder with all the expensive
noises that result :-(


Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)