On 19-Apr-2006, "Keith" wrote:

American Diesel

Well.....I guess I will jump in. The advice of clean oil and clean air is
dead on. As to the original poster's questions about engine life I would
make the following observation. I have been watching Yacht World boat ads
for years. I have NEVER seen a trawler (Private - not commercial) for sale
with a Ford Lehman in it with 10,000+ hours. If you do a search with the
following parameters of 32-50', diesel, and trawler you will get about 2,000
hits. Start digging through them and see if you find a 10,000+hr engine.
I've got $20 that says no. I feel that since the trawlers I look at tend to
be 30+ years old I would like to find one in the 2,000 to 3,000 hr range.
That equates to 70-100 hrs a year. I would only buy a 5,000+hr boat if
everything else was perfect and the price allowed me to replace an engine
and still be able to sell the boat w/o the loss of $15,000. I get cranky
when I lose money.

Just one mans opinion. Good luck...dave