Are they really any good

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having got the old 3 litre nails running better than they ever have,I still hate them.
Are the 1.7 DTI merc diesels as good as people say or would it be a waste of money.they are suitable for /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif alpha 1 drives and rev about the same as the petrol 3 litres so gearing could stay the same what do you sages think

 

[BrendanS]

Have a look at Mercmans comments on this thread to get you started

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1087100/an/0/page/0#1087100

 

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my drives are ancient gen 1 alphas they are in good nick tho, ratio is 1.98/1. close to mercmans suggested 2.00/1 or should i just buy another boat

 

[BrendanS]

If you want the definitive answer, wait for mercman or spannerman to comment.

I've sent Mercman a PM (private message) asking him to take a look at this thread.

 

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Thanks

 

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By the way boat is a 1990 Fletcher 238,i believe a good sea boat for it,s size/era, quite heavily built,proper heads,
more of a limited headroom cabin than a cuddy, good nick for age,epoxied
is it worth a transplant

 

[mercman]

Thanks Brendan,

Fletcher 238 the drives @ 1.98:1 will not hold up. They are perfectly ok with what you running at the moment.
They will not handle the torque. The alpha has also gone thru many changes i am guessing yours are between 1987-1997 huge guess i only remember doing a lot of 3.7 4 cyl engines in those and 3.0litre diesels.

So bearing specs, loads, gear strengths have all been modified so be safe your drives just a bit too elderly to use.

Also you will have to change your engine beds as the 3 litre is front mounted and the 1.7 side mounted.

They are a good engine very pokey and economical to run a lot of the problems we have are install issues or bad maintainance.