buying first boat - smoking exhaust

hypno56

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I'm part way through the process of buying my first boat - a Moody 31 with a Volvo 2003.

She ticks all the boxes but as I expected there is work to be done.

The engine smokes both idling and under load which points to worn piston rings I guess.

Does anyone know what is involved in rectifying this and how much it might cost? Is it worth doing? What are my options?
The boat is lying at Chichester. I am not a competent mechanic so if you know of someone or company who can do this please let me know.

Graham
 

Fergus

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2003s often smoke. You can spend a lot of money and still find the problem not cured. I have decided to live with it!
 

pappaecho

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Might not be rings. Could be injectors need a change. So..... maybe worth getting a compression test to sort out whether it is rings/valves, or whether it is injectors.
On the other hand if you see a large black cloud of smoke, with a yellow streak in front of it, it is the Portsmouth to Ryde passenger cat, and which seems to work on the basis that it only burns 50% of the diesel which the injectors, er inject!
 

Landale

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[ QUOTE ]
2003s often smoke. You can spend a lot of money and still find the problem not cured. I have decided to live with it!

[/ QUOTE ]

Likewise - mine is definately un - burnt fuel rather than oil and clears after a long run at higher revs.

Guess the injectors are a bit clagged up - 1500rpm gives me 4 knots on GoldenEye so the engine really is not getting much use normally which might explain it.
 
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Skyva_2

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If there is any hint of white smoke / steam check the exhaust elbow - they block with sea water deposits.

Also has the gear box been modified for the spline problem?
These guys will be helpful:

http://www.moodyowners.net/
 

capt_courageous

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Hi Graham
There have been lots of posts about doubtful engines. To recon. a volvo will cost an arm and a leg. The cost of their parts is legendary. £700 for an exhaust manifold for example. The bill will approach the cost of a new engine. If you really want the boat use the engine condition to get the price down. It is very much a buyers market now. How old is the engine and is it raw water cooled?
 

hypno56

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Thanks for all replies. I have to say that if circumstances were different and I were not so new to boat buying I maybe would not have got so far so quickly.

The boat having said that is in very good condition according to the surveyor and the price is good compared to other 31's on the market - Not enough to re-engine though.

To answer capt_courageous the engine is original - 19 years old - hours I don't know and raw water cooled.
 

alec

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Might be worth getting a separate engine survey if you are really keen on the boat.

I found this out the hard way when I bought a boat once. It cost me dearly - and the engine didn't smoke.

Might be worth asking around,
 

Stemar

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The 2003 has a reputation for smoking, even in good nick, but going on smoking for a long time. If it starts from cold properly, it's probably good for as long as you can put up with the embarrassment of laying a smoke screen.

Mine is far too big for my boat, so I rarely use more than 1/2 throttle. The smoke gradually gets worse until I find myself upwind of someone who's upset me. I then give her 5-10 minutes at full chat looking like a WW2 destroyer trying to hide a convoy. The smoke gradually gets less and everything's fine. After that I have practically no smoke at normal revs once it's warmed up. The same could well happen with that one.

I'd certainly look for a good reduction on the average price, though, cos if you can afford to re-engine within your budget, and it turns out you don't need to, you've got yourself a bargain.
 

capt_courageous

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Hi Graham
An engine of that age and raw water cooled has very probably got problems with long term overheating. Just because water is coming out the exhaust does not mean it is cooling the engine well enough. As Snowgoose says if you really want the boat get a seperate engine survey. I don't know where you sail but in Pompey, Chi etc a decent engine is a must. If you have an engine failure in the main channel it is a heart stopping experience.
 
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Hi blue smoke means you are burning a bit of oil,if its just a small amount live with it,if its a lot,ie smoke screen walk away from it,how long has the boat been for sale?perhaps she needs a good run out at sea to clear the engine,about 3 hours at 3/4 throttle will do, it wont hurt it and it should show any lurking problems,its been said before that its a buyers market and its your first boat so try not to let you heart rule you head.
 

Stemar

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My oil level never moves far enough for me to think about topping up between changes. The smoke is due to the injectors fouling because the engine doesn't work hard enough.

IMHO, if it starts OK from cold and runs smoothly, I wouldn't worry about a bit of smoke except as a bargaining point. You can have the injectors refurbished - be careful about taking them out, they sit in a copper sleeve that you really don't want to disturb 'cos it's a head off job if you do.

The injectors aren't too dear, but unless you know the pumps are knackered (there are 3 of 'em), don't touch'em. They're expensive and a sod to refit, especially if you don't know which order to put'em in. They're shimmed to fractions of a mm. I marked mine with a felt pen and the first thing the w@nkers at Lucas did was clean them in a stripper bath. Then they put them back together wrong. It took me a week to get the sodding thing working!
 
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