1900 running hours suggestds that overhaul time is due soon, maybe
very soon....

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 01:21:55 GMT, "Bob Schneider"
wrote:

In the process of purchasing a 34' sailboat with a Volvo 30HP engine. Have
heard "not good" things about the Volvo. This one has 1900 hours and looks
to be in good shape, but have not seatrialed yet. What specific problem
areas should I look out for and what problems in the future should I expect?

Regards,
Bob





"Leanne" wrote in message
...

"Ken Coit" wrote in message
. com...
Presuming you were looking to buy a used boat, which engine would you
rather
see in her:

Remanufactured Perkins 4-108
New BetaMarine 1505
New Yanmar 3JH3E

I would go with the Perkins, but if I had to buy new, I would like the
Yanmar.
I was on a boat for 5 years that had the Perkins. My own boat, I tossed a
Volvo
and replaced it with the 3GM Yanmar. Kubota is a good engine also.

Leanne
s/v Fundy

1900 running hours suggestds that overhaul time is due soon, maybe
very soon....

1900 hrs. on a diesel and it needs a reuild? You sure aren't talking about a
Perkins.

I have lived with the 4-108 for about ten years (twenty years ago) and
took the Yanmar's big brother, a 4JH, around the world in our Swan 57,
Swee****er. I'd pick the Yanmar in a second.

Among other things, a 3 cylinder has inherently less vibration than a
4. (In a three, the pistons are 120 degrees apart, while in a four,
they are 90 degrees apart, so that when one hits top dead center, its
mate is at bottom dead center.)

Jim Woodward
www.mvfintry.com


"Ken Coit" wrote in message .com...
Presuming you were looking to buy a used boat, which engine would you rather
see in her:

Remanufactured Perkins 4-108
New BetaMarine 1505
New Yanmar 3JH3E

These are all adequate to the job of pushing a 16000 # boat at hull speed,
so the question is one of your personal preference.

Thanks in advance,

Ken Coit
S/V Parfait
Raleigh, NC

Hmmm 4 cyl vs 3 cyl: better take a look at this...

http://autozine.kyul.net/technical_school/engine/smooth1.htm

Regards

Brian Whatcott altus OK


On 14 Jul 2003 14:04:33 -0700, (Jim Woodward)
wrote:

I have lived with the 4-108 for about ten years (twenty years ago) and
took the Yanmar's big brother, a 4JH, around the world in our Swan 57,
Swee****er. I'd pick the Yanmar in a second.

Among other things, a 3 cylinder has inherently less vibration than a
4. (In a three, the pistons are 120 degrees apart, while in a four,
they are 90 degrees apart, so that when one hits top dead center, its
mate is at bottom dead center.)

Jim Woodward
www.mvfintry.com


"Ken Coit" wrote in message .com...
Presuming you were looking to buy a used boat, which engine would you rather
see in her:

Remanufactured Perkins 4-108
New BetaMarine 1505
New Yanmar 3JH3E

These are all adequate to the job of pushing a 16000 # boat at hull speed,
so the question is one of your personal preference.

Thanks in advance,

Ken Coit
S/V Parfait
Raleigh, NC

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 11:42:06 -0400, Joe Wood wrote:

The only hit that I know of about the 4-108 is that the operator's
manual introduction for bleeding the fuel system starts out with "For
the operator who is unfortunate enough to run out of fuel," and ends up
with "If this doesn't work, call for professional help...You do have a
working radio and did remember to pack some flares, didn't you?"

It's a real dog to bleed.

Not being personally familiar with the other choices, all I can say is
I've had a 4-108 for the last 5 years and it's been bulletproof.

It's never taken me more then 15 minutes to bleed mine, and that was the
first time I did it. Now that I have it down to more of a "science" and
can do it in under 10 minutes. And now that I've installed an electric
pump on it, I can bleed it in around 5 minutes.

Steve

Brian Whatcott wrote in message . ..
1900 running hours suggestds that overhaul time is due soon, maybe
very soon....

Funny, my Perkins 4 cyl diesel has over 2500 hours on it and runs
perfectly. It was made back in 1965 (no, I don't use it much).

Right, I forgot - it's in my tractor. Seems an engine changes when
it's in a boat. Or perhaps it's the lack of maintenance.

Any well maintained diesel fed clean air & fuel, run under proper
load, should last pretty much forever. 2000 hours is nothing.

Peter Wiley

"Peter Wiley" wrote in message
om...
Brian Whatcott wrote in message
. ..
1900 running hours suggestds that overhaul time is due soon, maybe
very soon....

Funny, my Perkins 4 cyl diesel has over 2500 hours on it and runs
perfectly. It was made back in 1965 (no, I don't use it much).

Right, I forgot - it's in my tractor. Seems an engine changes when
it's in a boat. Or perhaps it's the lack of maintenance.

Any well maintained diesel fed clean air & fuel, run under proper
load, should last pretty much forever. 2000 hours is nothing.

Peter Wiley

My 1987 Perkins 4.108 is still going strong at 5,250 hours. It's had new
crankshaft oil seals at both ends at 3,500 hours, 100 hour oil changes all
its life. It's starting to rattle a little, but still gives good power
shoving 10 tons along at 6kts with 2,500 rpm. It runs in a cramped, hot
little engine room with poor ventilation, and above 3,000 rpm (rated at
4,000 max, 3,500 for commercial use) rattles rather louder. Tappets are OK,
so I think the little ends are beginning to die.

So they don't run for ever, but 5,000 hours plus in an ill ventilated
cupboard isn't too bad.
--
Jim B, Yacht RAPAZ,
Summers in the Med, winters in UK
jim[dot]baerselman[at]ntlworld[dot]com

I installed a new Yanmar 3JH3E two years ago and just got back from a 5000
mile, one year trip to the Bahamas and back to Salem MA. We motored almost
all the way, down the ICW and back, early 1000 hours. Boat is an 1968 Apache
37 at 15000#. Prop is 17 X 12 three blade sailor.

The engine was great. Other than things I did to try and mess it up (flooded
four times due to faulty exhaust, fuel in the crankase due to incorrect fuel
line tightening) it performed flawlessly and tolerated my abuse. Quiet and
smooth enough, great mileage, nothing broke. Parts available everywhere.

Check the web page for details on the trip.

Dave Erickson
Apache 37 "Second Sojourn"
www.djerickson.com

To send email, remove the xx from my email address.






"Ken Coit" wrote in message
. com...
Presuming you were looking to buy a used boat, which engine would you
rather
see in her:

Remanufactured Perkins 4-108
New BetaMarine 1505
New Yanmar 3JH3E

These are all adequate to the job of pushing a 16000 # boat at hull speed,
so the question is one of your personal preference.

Thanks in advance,

Ken Coit
S/V Parfait
Raleigh, NC

Brian Whatcott wrote in message . ..
1900 running hours suggestds that overhaul time is due soon, maybe
very soon....

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

1900 hours time for a overhaul? I am not a mechanic, but I thought one
of the reasons one would go with a diesel is for its reliability. If I
had a piece of equipment that operated 8 hrs a day, 1900 hours would
be about 237 days of
operation . Most of the machinery ( diesel powered ) at my work
operates 24 hrs a day. The equipment does get a service ( oil and
filter change) every 250 hrs of operation. What a huge liability if
they had to overhaul every 1900 hours.

On 16 Jul 2003 08:48:08 -0700, (brad) wrote:

Brian Whatcott wrote in message . ..
1900 running hours suggestds that overhaul time is due soon, maybe
very soon....

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

1900 hours time for a overhaul? I am not a mechanic, but I thought one
of the reasons one would go with a diesel is for its reliability. If I
had a piece of equipment that operated 8 hrs a day, 1900 hours would
be about 237 days of
operation . Most of the machinery ( diesel powered ) at my work
operates 24 hrs a day. The equipment does get a service ( oil and
filter change) every 250 hrs of operation. What a huge liability if
they had to overhaul every 1900 hours.


It's pleasing to hear about long-life engines.
Used to be, recips used on light aircraft had a mandated overhaul time
- for most of them it was 2000 hours. Now its "on condition" like
jets....

Comparing auto engine lives:

You would like to make 150 thousand miles plus before tearing an auto
down (certainly we are making those numbers on a pair of econoboxes
we own.) If you averaged 40 mph long term - that would be 3750
hours.
But at the margins: the old carb fed auto engines sometimes gave up
after 100,000 miles (~2500 hours) of start/stop.

Around here, those same engines, fed LNG and with a little prep like
hard seats and valves and special rings etc., can go many seasons in
24/7 irrigation pump duty - more than 10,000 hours - and those aren't
diesels.

I personally wouldn't expect a 20 year old gas engine in a boat to
have done very many hours or to be up to much good, - but I could be
wrong.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK