Bruce in Alaska wrote in news:bruceg-
:


Nothing wrong with a 4-108. I have one that had 40,000 hours on it when
it was rebuilt, top and bottom. It now has another 9,000 hours on it and
is just hitting it's stride. Complete Rebuild Kit for a 4-108 goes for
about $800US. Try getting a rebuild kit for anywhere near that, for any
other engine, in the same power range. This is one engine that has
staying power for years and years.

Bruce in alaska

I agree with Bruce. I bought one off a sailor out of NC for $1200,
complete (engine, transmission, all the wiring and panel), for Lionheart
with only a few hundred hours on it. General Diesel started it in their
shop, shrugged their shoulders and asked why we bothered to bring it to
them for checkout. It replaced a 4-108 that had a hard life of neglect
from its former owner in Lionheart. The old engine was so loose in the
rings that you had to stop every few hours to drain the diesel oil out of
the crankcase, but it would start instantly without a preheat in FL or SC
every time. It ran 60 PSI oil pressure at operating temp even like this.
Its rear crank seal was gone so dumped the excess crankcase into the
bilge...(c; The "new" 4-108 never had its preheater ever hooked up in the
SE USA. It cranks the first try with no preheat at 40F OAT quite fast.
Lionheart has a spare overhauled 4-108 and transmission, now. The rebuild
of the old engine was very reasonable, as diesel overhauls go. They're
very "cheap to keep".

Larry W4CSC

In article ,
rhys wrote:

Anyone past a certain age seems to consider the Perkins 4-108 God's
own diesel in terms of reliability and owner-maintainability, but they
are getting fairly elderly now, as are the boats in which they burble
and shake.

R.

Nothing wrong with a 4-108. I have one that had 40,000 hours on it when
it was rebuilt, top and bottom. It now has another 9,000 hours on it and
is just hitting it's stride. Complete Rebuild Kit for a 4-108 goes for
about $800US. Try getting a rebuild kit for anywhere near that, for any
other engine, in the same power range. This is one engine that has
staying power for years and years.

Bruce in alaska
--
add a 2 before @

On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 00:13:37 -0400, "Marc Beroz"
wrote:

I am looking at 2 Pearson sailboats. One has a Universal model 12 engine &
the other has a Westerbeke 12. Does either engine have a better reputation
than the other?
Marc

I believe they might be the same as I think Westerbeke bought
Universal in the late '80s...so the Universal might be the older
engine.

Westerbeke is generally considered middle of the road, quality-wise.
Everyone likes Volvos until they have to buy a spare part, and Yanmars
are currently the default setting, although that may be because so few
people do their own diesel maintenance.

Anyone past a certain age seems to consider the Perkins 4-108 God's
own diesel in terms of reliability and owner-maintainability, but they
are getting fairly elderly now, as are the boats in which they burble
and shake.

R.