2GM20 Engine replacement / Antifoul removal service in Kent?

[Spyro]

Doesn't matter what you do you never seem happy or confident with that engine and you seem to have spent more time working on it than sailing on it. It sounds fine to me and seems to be running ok. Ask your engineer what he thinks. You are the one who will decide whether to replace it or not. Also be aware that if you spend £6k on a new one your boat will never be worth £6K more. It might be more sellable in future and that can't be a bad thing. Your engineer asking £1000 doesn't seem too bad. 20hrs at £50 an hour?

 

[Dan Tribe]

my marine engineer who iv used many times has quoted me £1000 to remove the yanmar and install the beta, or i can come to an arrangement and pay with the yanmar. seems steep to me, also the pump alone was £600 under a year ago, PolyFlex engine mounts a year ago £650, Drive plate a few months ago £200, Elbow 2 years ago £150, Fuel filter housing on engine £80.

It was the cost of spares which guided my decision to go for a new Beta. I had already spent about £200 on parts for a head overhaul which was unsucessful. The engineer said it was "probably " the cylinder head had rusted and gone porous. What I thought was carbon that I had removed was likely rust. A new head would have been over £1000 and "might" cure it but no guarantees. Even if it did the rest of the engine would still be old.
The yard engineer was a freelance and had given me lots of free advice. When he asked what I was going to do with the old lump, I said just get rid. He scuttled off with it in his wheelbarrow. I should have sold it but by that time was sick of the sight of it.
The Beta 20 is a great little engine and Beta gave great service and had loads of patience with my dopey questions.
Edit
I should add that I did most of the work myself, on a swinging mooring, scrounging advice from experts. Lots of skills learnt or re-learnt from motorbike days. Yard costs were about £50 to tow to the crane and hoist old engine out and new one in. It took about 2weeks from decision to up and running, so the season was saved.
£1000 installation cost sounds a good price and you will probably get a warranty which I didn't as a self installation.

 

[chewi]

I just ordered a Beta 20 (last week).
I was offerd 25% off list price on the base engine and accessories.
my base engine was£ 4417 inc vat and delivery. I added some options.

 

[peteK]

The engine sounds ok to me,cant be much wrong with it if your "marine engineer"is willing to take it in payment for fitting a new engine.

 

[duncan99210]

Try this for a bit of lateral thinking.
Whilst I agree it’d be good to improve sailing skills so you can bring the boat home, that’s not always possible. So, how about making sure that you‘ve got a dinghy and outboard available on board: if the engine dies, then launch the dinghy with outboard, tie it off to the quarter and use that to motor the last bit home. That’d save a stack of dosh and angst. I’ve done this in anger when the injection pump died as we came into an anchorage in Corfu on a 40 foot boat using a 3hp outboard: took about 10 minutes to rig and the motor had no problems in moving the boat into the right place and stopping it as we dropped the anchor.

 

[Channel Sailor]

i just listened my my engine today, 2GM20. A 1994 model. On an almost identical yacht to the OP’s. I think it sounds about the same without the engine covers, low revs and soon after starting. Hard to tell because video recording sound could muffle or accentuate the typical clanking noise. 10 years ago I owned a previous 1995 yacht with the same engine and that made quite a racket as well. I had to put extra sound proofing on that yacht. Close up without the engine covers that clanking noise (when cold) does hurt your ears. At 100 hours a year x 25 years, mine is just about run in nicely. Being twin cylinder only, they do wobble about a bit, but I prefer to find the sweet spots to the engine revs. i think the sweet spots are above 2900rpm, just above tickover and then somewhere mid range. The engine runs fine at any other speed anyway but I do notice it can throb at certain speeds. I replaced the engine mounts on it a couple a years ago which improved matters a lot, because the vibes appeared to be over stressing the Volvo shaft seal and it was only smooth when going WOT. I have a gut feeling that this engine is at its best when operating up in the 2900 to 3400 range, when it appears to be solid in its mounts.

The yacht currently has a a rather weedy bottom so there is a little puff of smoke when I troll for a while then rev the engine quickly to maximum. I reckon this is nothing unusual and will reduce or disappear with a scrub and fresh antifouling. I am aware that even with a spotless bottom my yacht reaches what is probably hull speed but the engine is 200-300 RPM below its designed max revs (3600 is the max I think). I assume the prop does not exactly match the boat/engine. I am OK with this because I understand this means the yacht has slighly more power at lower speeds to punch into a choppy sea and for stop/start manoeuvring.

Many years ago I moved my previous yacht when it had a very heavily fouled bottom, the engine smoked a lot and max speed through the water was much reduced. Cleaned the bottom and all was then OK.

This engine starts on the button no problem, just like it always has done. In the winter it needs some throttle to start it, which is normal. I always warm it up and cool it down as per the manual. I try to run it WOT for a short while on each day I use it. It had a new manifold maybe 7 years ago (before my time) and I think the cylinder head has been removed at some time or another.

 

[vas]

I agree with Channel Sailor, my 2GMF is mated to a 8kW 2pole generator which has to run at 3krpm. today I was playing with a custom slow start stop thing using linear actuators and arduinos. BTW, it originally had the governor stuck at 3k and you'd start from cold and kill it from hot which I didn't like. There are rev ranges where it rattles more, around idle is bad, around 1300rpm it's smoother, at 2900 it's as good as it gets. 1600-2500 is carp, and I haven't run it over 3100 as I may damage the generator.