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Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Anyone out there got these engines in their boat or know anything about them? Any particular problems to look out for?
jfm
Well-Known Member
Deleted User, I dont know first hand but a good friend and v experienced boater had them 2003-2007ish in a s/seeker camargue 50 in Monaco. I emailed him and he just replied -
The 660 Cats I had were very reliable .I think the only issue is they make a bit more noise than the Volvos .I had the sump oil analysed and they found some copper from the heat exchanger which I had replaced .Other than that very good and plenty of spare parts everywhere
Ref the noise comment, he means noisier than say my D12s but as you know noise can be a function of how much space the builder has for massive silencers, rather than a fault of the engine. The Camargue had much less space for silencers than my Sq58, obviously
mjf
Well-Known Member
I always think the sound of these at manouvering revs are not unlike the 'old' 125 trains pulling out of Paddington.
PowerYachtBlog
Well-Known Member
Hello I took care, helmed a couple of boats with Cats 3196 660hp Ferretti 53, Azimut 55, Azimut 52, and Ilver 49 Palma.
All have been problem free, they are all silent to the boats above in the aft deck, but all have underwater exhausts so that helps. I think the most silent of the group was the Azimut 55.
We changed the heat exhangers also on the Ferretti about the 400 hour mark. This 53 from 1998 touched 33 knots in empty mode (1/2 fuel tank full water) and clean hull, but say in September it still did 31.5 knots. What I always like about them is they are pretty economic in the lower range for there size hp. I think to remember at 1800 rpm they drink 80 lph per hour engine.
All have been problem free, they are all silent to the boats above in the aft deck, but all have underwater exhausts so that helps. I think the most silent of the group was the Azimut 55.
We changed the heat exhangers also on the Ferretti about the 400 hour mark. This 53 from 1998 touched 33 knots in empty mode (1/2 fuel tank full water) and clean hull, but say in September it still did 31.5 knots. What I always like about them is they are pretty economic in the lower range for there size hp. I think to remember at 1800 rpm they drink 80 lph per hour engine.
aquapower
Well-Known Member
The 660 Cats I had were very reliable .I think the only issue is they make a bit more noise than the Volvos .I had the sump oil analysed and they found some copper from the heat exchanger which I had replaced .Other than that very good and plenty of spare parts everywhere
I seem to remember there was a recall on these I would guess 8-9 years ago to replace heat exchangers or intercoolers due to manufacturing from the wrong metals which showed up on the oil analysis as having high content of copper. As I remember there were quite a few and were also doing new ones on boats already in build.
Other than that they are a very reliable engine thayt you rarely touch other than servicing.
The service parts are cheap compared to others, except for impellors which are about £300
I seem to remember there was a recall on these I would guess 8-9 years ago to replace heat exchangers or intercoolers due to manufacturing from the wrong metals which showed up on the oil analysis as having high content of copper. As I remember there were quite a few and were also doing new ones on boats already in build.
Other than that they are a very reliable engine thayt you rarely touch other than servicing.
The service parts are cheap compared to others, except for impellors which are about £300
volvopaul
Well-Known Member
They were swiss sulzer engines, my old dad used to drive such things.
[2068]
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On the Intercity 125 I thought they were Paxman Valenta engines, later replaced by MTU 16V4000.
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Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Thanks to all for replies. My own research indicates that these are fundamentally sound engines although there were indeed heat exchanger probs on earlier production. This seems to be an endemic weak area with Cat as heat exchangers are an issue on other Cat engines
ChrisKaye
Well-Known Member
Hi Deleted User. Have a look at boatdiesel.com they have a section for CAT3196's. Its only a tenner to join up for but if you just want 2b just a temp member drop me a pm and I will give you my log in details etc.. so you can ask some questions on there.
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Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Chris, I have lurked boatdiesel for a few years. Yes I should join
CMJ
Well-Known Member
Yep, great site www.boatdiesel.com
I seem to remember (having read on Boatdiesel) that there was a lawsuit against CAT with ref to one of their engine models and the heat exchangers - can't remember which model though but a browse through that site will detail I'm sure. My own experiences with Cat (C12's) could not have been better - great motors
