Hunter, a new to us old timer, a Broom Ocean 37

[Sticky Fingers]

Might be worth looking at the exhaust components too.

 

[Alicatt]

The way in was in the centre at the front of the engines. I could lower myself in so I was standing in the bottom of the keel with my head in the saloon then drop down to a crouch and wriggle my head and shoulders aft so I ended up lying in the keel. I am 6’5” and having done it on a hot day to clean up oil under the engines I got stuck and genuinely thought that only the Fire Brigade and an angle grinder would get me out!

I got out by staying calm and ignoring the pain as I manoeuvred my carcass back to a more sensible location and never tried it again!

On a serious note, whilst it is doable size and flexibility are key factors so if in doubt don’t do it!
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Well I had a few excursions down into the bilge under the engines today to retrieve bits and mop up the spilled coolant from the raw water, tight but doable, I have to watch the hammer loop on my work trousers does not get caught on the drain tap on the port heat exchanger. I can get from the forward bulkhead to the aft one ... must be the diet the wife put me on

 

[Greg2]

Well I had a few excursions down into the bilge under the engines today to retrieve bits and mop up the spilled coolant from the raw water, tight but doable, I have to watch the hammer loop on my work trousers does not get caught on the drain tap on the port heat exchanger. I can get from the forward bulkhead to the aft one ... must be the diet the wife put me on

I too have been on diet but if we still had the Ocean I would be looking for someone smaller to send down there!
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[Sticky Fingers]

I too have been on diet but if we still had the Ocean I would be looking for someone smaller to send down there!
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This is a task for the lady of the house. Or a teenage offspring if you have access to such a thing, doesn’t have to be your own of course.

 

[Greg2]

On the smokiness of the engines I think they just are and if you open up be prepared for a veritable cloud behind you for a short time - it tends to clear but if it doesn’t then there is something not quite right.

 

[Alicatt]

This is a task for the lady of the house. Or a teenage offspring if you have access to such a thing, doesn’t have to be your own of course.

I'm 5'8" and it is a bit of a squeeze, my youngest is 6'4" he would not fit at all her ladyship is a bit stiff in the joints to let me risk her going down there. In my younger days I did a bit of potholing and caving and was a member of the Scottish Cave Rescue Org. So I'm quite used to be in tight squeezes.

On the smokiness of the engines I think they just are and if you open up be prepared for a veritable cloud behind you for a short time - it tends to clear but if it doesn’t then there is something not quite right.

Oh, we think it may be the valve stem seals that are leaking oil into the engine, so don't think it is going to get any better.
Last sail we did, I did open her up a bit and she laid a huge smokescreen behind us, then she cleared up and ran smokeless but then I had to back off as the wake was going to over top the banks of the canal and there was more than a meter between the canal and the tow path
the speed limit is 12km/h or a wake of no more than 30cm

 

[Alicatt]

We took the boat out for a run on Sunday and opened her up one engine at a time, cleared the smoke but boy she creates some wash before she gets on the plane, the engines reached 1800rpm when just using one engine and about 16km/h temps and pressures remained steady.


Saturday the kids gave us a new "ring" for our 10th wedding anniversary...

 

[Alicatt]

Coming back from Hasselt at the start of the month I pushed the throttles a bit further than I had done before, still not full throttle, about 1 1/2" to go before on the stop, took her up to 1900rpm on the upper helm and 2000rpm reading on the lower helm with a speed of 31.67km/h (17.1knots) reading on the GPS which is the fastest we have done on the boat.
Once over 12knots the bow drops and she feels a bit more lively and very steady, could only hold it for a short period as the starboard engine was starting to get hot, plus a barge was turning into the canal in front of us. We were in the highspeed section of the Dessel Kanaal where the speed boats play
This makes me think that either Hunter is over propped or that the engines are not 145hp and could be the 185hp ones fitted. Tomorrow I am going to check the diameter of the propshaft as the 185hp version of the boat had thicker than the 1 1/2" shafts the 145hp engines had. I've tried checking the serial numbers but could find no match on the Perkins site for the engines. Also going to flush the cooling on the starboard engine and see if I can find why it was over heating.

https://imgur.com/LPh2RcZ

Edit this is the speed/fuel graph I was given for the 145hp engines:

 

[Parabordi]

Coming back from Hasselt at the start of the month I pushed the throttles a bit further than I had done before, still not full throttle, about 1 1/2" to go before on the stop, took her up to 1900rpm on the upper helm and 2000rpm reading on the lower helm with a speed of 31.67km/h (17.1knots) reading on the GPS which is the fastest we have done on the boat.
Once over 12knots the bow drops and she feels a bit more lively and very steady, could only hold it for a short period as the starboard engine was starting to get hot, plus a barge was turning into the canal in front of us. We were in the highspeed section of the Dessel Kanaal where the speed boats play
This makes me think that either Hunter is over propped or that the engines are not 145hp and could be the 185hp ones fitted. Tomorrow I am going to check the diameter of the propshaft as the 185hp version of the boat had thicker than the 1 1/2" shafts the 145hp engines had. I've tried checking the serial numbers but could find no match on the Perkins site for the engines. Also going to flush the cooling on the starboard engine and see if I can find why it was over heating.

https://imgur.com/LPh2RcZ

Edit this is the speed/fuel graph I was given for the 145hp engines:

They can't be 145s. I had 145s in a crown and only ever got 14knots at higher revs than that.

They must be the 185s

 

[Greg2]

Our Ocean 37 had the 145hp engines and 17 knots was only ever seen at WOT.

I am aware that there is a 185hp variant of the engines but not heard of any fitted to an Ocean. You might find that the remaining throttle movement doesn't actually achieve a lot.

 

[Wavey]

Most Ocean 37s were fitted with the 145hp Perkins. A few, like the one I crewed on years ago, had the more powerful 175hp variant. The 185hp Perkins wasn’t available until after production of the Ocean 37 ceased.

 

[Alicatt]

Most Ocean 37s were fitted with the 145hp Perkins. A few, like the one I crewed on years ago, had the more powerful 175hp variant. The 185hp Perkins wasn’t available until after production of the Ocean 37 ceased.

That's what I thought too, I tried looking up the serial numbers of the engines but found no corresponding entry in the list of 6.354 engines
The engines are:
SerNo.Port engine B354U4576HTL
SerNo. Stb engine S354UX445HTL

Port turbo is off to the turbo specialist in Herk-de-Stad it has been leaking oil out the exhaust exit, dismounted it and checked the oil return to the engine and it is clear they quoted €400+vat to renew the seals and rebalance it, they have the parts in stock. The turbo is a Holset 3LD4 where the one on the stb. engine is a 3LD1 2.24

Our Ocean 37 had the 145hp engines and 17 knots was only ever seen at WOT.

I am aware that there is a 185hp variant of the engines but not heard of any fitted to an Ocean. You might find that the remaining throttle movement doesn't actually achieve a lot.

We were against the flow on the canal, but it was only around 1km/h so nothing really, we had to stop for a couple of barges coming south on the Dessel and the high speed section of the canal was just after the bridges where we met the barges.

There was a little bit to go on the opening of the throttle not a lot though, My wife is not a fan of speed and I was given an admonishment not to go any faster and when I looked round I could see steam coming from the starboard exhaust and by that time there was a barge coming round the junction ahead so I slowed off.
Under normal running on the canal the temp of the stb. engine does not get too hot, hovers around the 75 - 80 mark, port engine runs a little hotter, 80 - 85 but it does not over heat under load like the stb. engine.

Next task tomorrow is have a deeper look at the cooling of the stb. engine, the raw water pump had sucked the rubber elbow flat coming from the gearbox oil cooler to the raw water pump, I have replaced the elbow with a silicone one that is holding up but I want to have another look at the coolers while we await the return of the turbo.

Kind of frightened to touch the stb. engine heat exchanger as it looks to be held together with spit and silicone

 

[Wavey]

That's what I thought too, I tried looking up the serial numbers of the engines but found no corresponding entry in the list of 6.354 engines
The engines are:
SerNo.Port engine B354U4576HTL
SerNo. Stb engine S354UX445HTL

Port turbo is off to the turbo specialist in Herk-de-Stad it has been leaking oil out the exhaust exit, dismounted it and checked the oil return to the engine and it is clear they quoted €400+vat to renew the seals and rebalance it, they have the parts in stock. The turbo is a Holset 3LD4 where the one on the stb. engine is a 3LD1 2.24

Can’t help with the serial numbers but the first boat I owned (not a Broom/Ocean) had a pair of 6.354s with odd turbos. After a bit of digging I discovered one of the engines was ten years older than the other . I got the info from Lancing Marine but I don’t know if they still deal with Perkins.

 

[Alicatt]

The starboard engine is newer than the port engine by a few years from the date codes, so I wonder if it has been replaced as the date code puts it into the 1980s and the boat was supposed to have been built in 1978.
The turbos are: Stb. is a Holset 3LD1 and the port one is another manufacturer and a 3LD4 ??? the label on the port one is a bit difficult to read

 

[Alicatt]

Took the port turbo off to get it serviced, just got it back and refitted it.


The large diameter oil feed was suppling too much oil to the turbo, it had been fine before I changed the oil and filter, new oil and filter let more oil through, the oil and filter had not been changed since June 2020 as I found the date written on the back of the filter. The Turbo service Belgium people said that the oil delivery was too much for that small turbo and to reduce the diameter of the fittings to the turbo.
Got a new oil feed pipe made up of the recommended dimensions and fitted the turbo back on the engine this afternoon, followed the service manual about running it in, 2minutes at idle check oil pressures and oil flow, then rev the engine up to 1200rpm with no load and check again for leaks etc. and oil pressure, run for 10 minutes at 1200rpm and observe.

€590 for new seals, bearings and rings, plus clean and re-balance the spinny parts, €44 for a new oil delivery hose custom made today.
Part of the run up after fitting:

https://imgur.com/C8WmuwP

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