Courtney Thomas wrote:

Jonathan W. wrote:

Thomas Wentworth wrote:

A friend has offered me his old Pearson sailboat. It is in good
shape. But, it needs a new engine. It has the original Atomic 4 gas.

What diesel engine would be the best replacement? How much do the
diesels cost? How much work is it the replace an old Atomic 4 in a
1968 year sailboat? When replacing the engine, does the shaft, fuel
tank etc also get replaced?

Any other info???


Thanks,,, Tom

People who have actually done the replacements generally report
expenses of 10-15 thousand dollars. Non of the engines on the market
just "drop in" as they would like you to believe.

On the other hand, a rebuilt as good as new Atomic 4 engine, which has
served the boat well already for some 30 odd years, can usually be had
for just under 5K, and they are usually quieter than diesels to begin
with.

Look at www.moyermarine.com, or the list servers at SailNet.com or
Sailjazz.com (there was a very active A-4 owners group, but where it
settled *exactly* I haven't yet focused on).

Simply running some solvents through the cooling system and installing
an electronic ignition, both of which can be done for less than
$150.00 can make the engine run like new.

Check it out before you burn a lot of money unnecessarily.

Jonathan

What solvents are best for this and how should this procedure be carried
out ?

Is better cooling the sole consequence ?

Thank you,
Courtney

There is a product called, I believe, "MarSolve" which is made
specifically for this purpose (cleaning out blocks/water jackets). I
have also read of people using vinegar, oxalic acid or muriatic acid. On
an engine older than the A-4 I had pretty good luck with a product
called "Drainz" a high concentration of sulfuric acid.

When I have done this I have done it with the boat out of the water.
I've connected a hose to the output of the manifold and run it outside
the boat. A second hose is attached so that I can clamp a funnel into
it, at a height slightly above the engine. I've filled the engine with
the acid mixture, let it sit a while (20-30 min) then flushed a lot of
water through it.

I went from an engine that would not cool enough to run more than about
5 minutes, to being able to run as long as I cared to have it running.

YMMV

Hope this helps,

Jonathan

--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr