Oil Seal Replacement

[Toutvabien]

I need get the main bearing shaft oil seal on my Perkins 4108 replaced. Had a quote of £1670 + VAT. The basis of this quote is 4 men for two days, ( 8 days in total) to lift the engine and then replace the seal and then replace the lump. This strikes me as an excessive amount of labour to do such a job, but I am not sure about what a reasonable time should be, any suggestions?

Also any suggestions for an engineer in the Ramsgate area who might be able to quote for the job?

Many Thanks.

 

[sailorman]

is this the seal to the aft end of the crackshaft. inside the "bell-housing"

 

[Birdseye]

No way of commenting. Your boat could be anything from a M/S with the engine built in before decks etc and therefore requiring some serious work on the surrounding woodwork to an open workboat where the engine is simply lifted up. Best thing is to get another quote. If you cant get one because of marina rules, then you can be reasonably sure that the job is expensive.

The seal will be a few pounds and the repace job (assuming nothing else nasty is found) is unlikely to be a big one. So the main part of your bill will be for the in and out.

No chance of the job being done in situ? I have known rebores done that way.

 

[ean_p]

Just had this done and it really depends on the age of the engine and the type of seal. If its a rope seal then as some 4-108s had the rear seal in the end of the block in which case the sump had to come off, others (and i don't know which ) had the seal in a bolt on assembly bolted to the back face of the block. In the latter it can easily be replaced by sliding the shaft, gearbox backwards and removing bellhousing and flywheel etc, to reveal block rear face and the seal assembly. In the former you need to split shaft and gearbox or some similar and lift engine high enough to drop off sump which will reveal a bridge piece that carries the lower half of the seal, this is removed and the top half worked out and replaced with new etc etc...... as to a good engineer......I'd look for a good lorry mechanic as they see working in tight spots as the norm and have good charge rates........mine with 4 injectors service ex'd and a new lift pump plus full sevice £253.00 inc parts...... for £1600 I'd want a reconned engine plus....

 

[Toutvabien]

As far as we can tell the job does involve dropping the sump and removing the housing. The lorry mechanic idea is a good one, thanks for the suggestion. The boat is a sailboat and the ehgine can be accessed on three sides and the cockpit floor lifts to allow access from above and to lift the lump.

 

[graham]

It seems hard to imagine how 4 men could work on such a small engine? If theres no dismantling of the boat required I would have thought that 2 guys should get it out repaired and back in in a day and a half.

I am not a diesel mechanic so cant comment on the repair itself but 4 men seems ludicrous to me .Any firm worth its salt would have access to a small truck with a hyab or something for lifting it out/in,allways presuming you can get alongside a quay wall unless the boat is ashore.

Best of luck with the job I would say best get another quote before commiting yourself.

 

[billskip]

who says the seal has gone? there is a small hole in the bottom of the bell housing and the oil will drip from this hole if seal is letting by..but this hole is very low down and any oil from anywere on the engine can end up in this area..confirm it is the seal b4 you do anything imho

 

[pappaecho]

A couple of weeks ago, a bloke in Dartford was offering a completely rebuilt 4108 engine for £1000, on Boats and Outboards.. if you are going to spend that amount of money, I would buy his engine, and replace the original which could also be rebuilt and then sell on...
I have a 4108, and there were 250,000 built, many ending up in such things a fork lift trucks, Massey Ferguson tractors, and London Taxi cabs.PM me if you want to look at the 4108 technical manuals which are online