tonyone01
New member
Recently purchased my new ( to me) boat and the engines need to be serviced. They are Cat 3216. Does anyone have any recommendations for an engineer in the Cardiff area ?
Thanks
Tony
Thanks
Tony
Cat Engine Service
- Thread starter tonyone01
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rafiki_
Well-known member
Tony, the UK concessionaires for Cat is Finnings, which I guess you know. They do not appoint 3rd parties to work for them. Having said that, it is really only the valve settings that have to be done by Finning. Any competent tech can do the majority of the work, so give Alan a call, I'm sure he can help. The valves need doing at 250 hours on the 3126. Same lumps in my Azi!
tonyone01
New member
Hi Paul thanks for the info on valve setting intervals. I will give Alan a call in the morning. I was hoping to place my business in the local area. Similar to what I did when in Tewkesbury
rafiki_
Well-known member
There will undoubtably be services local to Cardiff. For me, if you've found a good'un, they I am tempted to stay. Looking fwd to seeing your new boat when we come over to Penarth.
rafiki_
Well-known member
Tony, a quick thought. There are about 12 engine anodes in the 3126, so can be pricey. There is a supplier in the USA called www.boatzinc.com. These are substantially cheaper than UK sources. Not. Sure about shipping costs, as I had them sent to my US office, and brought them back from there. If you get stuck, one of my colleagues could bring them over. You will also need 25l SAE30 oil per engine (not multi grade). Default is Shell Rimula R3 +30. I am going to try for an alternative, but may go back to the Shell.
Finnings Tech Support are really helpful over the phone.
How many hours have your engines done?
Finnings Tech Support are really helpful over the phone.
How many hours have your engines done?
tonyone01
New member
Paul thanks for the info on oil and anodes. I'm looking to buy the oil in 3 x 20lts off the net @ around £60 +vat per 20lts. Can I take you up on the offer of the anodes from the US ?
Good call on Alan Stafford he is coming to price my service on Saturday. My engines have done 450 hours
Good call on Alan Stafford he is coming to price my service on Saturday. My engines have done 450 hours
rafiki_
Well-known member
Great, so engines are quite young. Worth trying to find out if the 250 hour valve check was done. Finnings might be able to tell you of you give them the engine numbers. Yep we can get the anodes back, assuming you place the order. I can ping you a delivery address in Michigan. There should be someone coming over in Feb if you can wait that long?
Please give Alan my regards.
Please give Alan my regards.
sunquest
Member
Just food for thought, I have 3116 Cats of which Finnings have supplied the oil and filters over the years. The filters are well priced but the SAE30 mineral oil supplied by them is Exol Taurus 30 which I have watched the price rise from £46 to £88 + vat for a 25ltr can. I rang Exol in Rotherham who through one of their distributors Thames Hose and Couplings sold me Exol marine123 which is a higher grade Taurus oil for £44.25 + vat. For a 25ltr can. They could have supplied Taurus oil cheaper, but after speaking with Exol tech support, I felt the higher grade oil was well worth it.
The raw water impellars for my Sherwood pumps cost in excess of £100 + vat from Finnings, ASAP supplies £56 + vat.
Anodes and plugs I purchase from Lathams in Canterbury Kent, can't give exact price but well worth a call.
Hope this is useful.
rafiki_
Well-known member
All helpful stuff Sunquest. I am tracking down the oil!
tonyone01
New member
As Rafiki says, good info Sunquest. I have however already ordered the oil, not exactly a good deal as I have had to order 3 x 20ltr drums :-(
Sunquest I guess we have the same boat ? Sunquest / Sealord / Admiral. Do you by any chance have a copy of the owners manual ?
Sunquest I guess we have the same boat ? Sunquest / Sealord / Admiral. Do you by any chance have a copy of the owners manual ?
sunquest
Member
No sorry. When I purchased the boat back in 2004 the only manuals were those of instrumentation, trim tabs steering etc. The only specific boat manual is for the electrics, not a wiring diagram but numbered cackles and what they are attached to.
rafiki_
Well-known member
Tony, I got the Exol oil locally from Studley, Clarke Oils. The Marine 123 was £44+vat for 25 litres. Do you still need the anodes?
tonyone01
New member
Hi Paul you managed to get a good deal on the oil and local too. I have had the engines serviced by SOS and pleased with the work that Alan has carried out. The engine anodes still have plenty of life left in them and I may run the season before changing. When I get around to it I'm going to buy some 99.99% zinc bar and get one of my engineers to make the replacements for me.
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rafiki_
Well-known member
Hi Tony. I did the oil change yesterday. Took me 8 hours! I will definitely use Clarke Oils again, as very pleased with their service. I am going to ask Alan to look at the anodes and impellers and a general service, ahead of this season.
We are planning on coming over to Penarth at Easter. There is a bit of a Portishead cruise organised. Perhaps we can swap tales then?
We are planning on coming over to Penarth at Easter. There is a bit of a Portishead cruise organised. Perhaps we can swap tales then?
tonyone01
New member
Hi Paul we are also planning cruise at Easter - to Portishead ! We are setting off about 07:00 from Penarth to arrive at Portishead around HW. I'm guessing the closest we will get to catching up is as we pass each other 
maybe we can swop berths for the weekend ? I will make sure there is plenty of electric in the meter.
maybe we can swop berths for the weekend ? I will make sure there is plenty of electric in the meter.
rafiki_
Well-known member
Ok, we will keep a lookout for you. We are on H3 at Portishead. Not sure if we are heading your way on the Friday or Saturday. This will depend on the tides and weather.Hi Paul we are also planning cruise at Easter - to Portishead ! We are setting off about 07:00 from Penarth to arrive at Portishead around HW. I'm guessing the closest we will get to catching up is as we pass each other
rafiki_
Well-known member
Hi Paul we are also planning cruise at Easter - to Portishead ! We are setting off about 07:00 from Penarth to arrive at Portishead around HW. I'm guessing the closest we will get to catching up is as we pass each other
Quick update. Alan came down yesterday to change the impellers, but we found the port engine water pump was leaking. That is off now and being repaired, so it looks like we will be moored up at Portishead for Easter. Shame, as we were really looking forward to the trip. However I did not want to do this with a known fault. So we might see you here.
tonyone01
New member
Sorry to hear about your spot of bad luck with the leaking pump. Hopefully you will be up and running soon. We are planning to come across to Portishead first thing Friday morning but are battling with time to get our boat ready. We have an hydraulic oil leak on the steering which means that I have no steering from the fly. If it's a simple job to find the leak, repair and top up the fluid we will see you Over the weekend. Fingers crossed !
Allan
Well-known member
I will be over this evening in readiness for the PCC trip to Gloucester. I may see you.
We saw Fortuna and Athena on our trip to Bristol last week, I'm not sure if they are on here.
Allan
We saw Fortuna and Athena on our trip to Bristol last week, I'm not sure if they are on here.
Allan
tonyone01
New member
We will keep a lookout for you, honestly
Inappropriately our boat is called Lazy Days. If you see us in the bay, Barrage or BC give us call or pop over and say hello our fun box is always half full !