Diesel Engine Lifespan

[roryon33]

Hi
Whats the general lifespan in engine hours on say a 200hp volvo or yanmar deisel engine if its serviced?

Yanmar, Volvo, Mercruiser - which would be the most reliable in the diesel market?
Thanks

 

[Whitelighter]

Properly serviced, a diesel engine will do many 000's of hours.
The most delicate components of a boats drive train are the gearbox's and , if you have a smaller boat, the outdrive leg. It is this part that needs the most servicing and looking after.

In terms of which brand is most reliable, you will find equal numbers of people who either love or loath each one. In truth there is little to tell between them. Volvo are by far the most popular for OE fit, with Yanmar then Cummings/Mercruiser.

Alot depends on where the manufacturer of the boat is based. US boats will er towards Mercruiser, Northern EU builders to Volvo. Larger boats (45ft plus) will more than likely have none of the above, opting for Catapillar, MANN etc etc etc

 

[nigelcarton]

My Lister SR2 is probably knocking on for about 40 years, however I don't think its ever created a 6 foot bow wave in its life either! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Kawasaki]

As Jezz says peeps will argue as to the best Make.
Sometimes Volvo come in for a bit of stick.
Tiss a make that is in a lot of boats therefore they get a lot of Publicity, good and bad.
I have a Volvo powered boat right now, been a bit of a nuisance but it is 23 years old!
Like the Jap stuff like Yanmar but it's a personal opinion not based on fact really.
A well maintained marine diesel irrespective of make wil run for a long time.
I think with most boats lack of use is the biggest problem.
Especially Motorboats.

 

[oldgit]

S*d the post.Bits within a couple of hours drive max.

Hi Rory.It all depends on how its been looked after by previous owners..Bet you there there is not one jot of difference between any of them.My only comment is sooner or later,you will need spares,so make sure you have a fairly local source of same.You can get stuff posted,but for my money,if I need some weedy but vital gasket or thribblenut to get me on the move,I want it NOW.
Older more basic stuff such as Ford Sabres or olde Perkins etc go on for years and years and years,its when the "morepowersyndrome" bites and the dreaded turbo gets bolted on that the grief begins and engine life starts to decline.As more and more power was beaten out of ancient engine blocks, service life twixt rebuilds shortened.My low power 40A engines of around 5 litres pump out a massive 130hp and have at present over 2500 on the clock,am hoping for several thousand more.
A quick look on the web site Boat diesel is a salutory lesson on reliabilty issues.
Something else to whinge about is ease of access to them motors,if checking the filters/belts/ requires the agility of a keen cave explorer,it aint gonna get done very frequently and oil leaks and stuff will go unnoticed for ages.Basic rule of thumb is the more drive belts on the front of the engine the less long it will last without constant expensive attention. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[duncan]

Yanmar quoted me 10,000 hours to major rebuild on my 4LHA

as others have said it's more likely to see other elements fail first!

 

[Dave_Snelson]

Its seldom that the engine unit itself fails. Its usually the ancillary equipment that goes into marinising it that fails first, that then causes the engine to fail.

 

[Greg2]

Worth thinking about availability of parts/expertise (as already mentioned). I am no great Volvo fan because they can be pricey but then they make good engines and they have dealers/stockists everywhere. Believe me, that can be very useful!!