Opinions about the Bukh motor please

[Wansworth]

Looking at a secondhand Cobra that has this make of motor

 

[davidmh]

I have had a Bukh DV 20 in my yacht for the past 25 years, It was installed new in 1985. Its been very reliable, easy to start, a bit noisy, a very simple engine, most DV 20 spares are available, the later DV24 has a beeter spares situation. The DV 20 and 24 are the same basic design, they are raw cooled, have huge water galleries. The onkly recurring things that need repacing are
the Exhaust elbow whicj corrodes and splits
The block water feed pipe pipe that need cleaning, abit fiddely but not difficult,
The thermostat housing which can block and corrode if not serviced.
The block sacrifiacl anode mountinh hole needs a clean out or it is diicult to fit the new anodes.
A quality engine designed for boats from the start, it is nor a converted indusrial engine.
It is quite heavy.
I is not going to to give you hot water, there are conversion kits but feeling are mixed on the performance..
The DV 24 is still in production as a version for lifeboats.

Hope this helps.

 

[Wansworth]

I have had a Bukh DV 20 in my yacht for the past 25 years, It was installed new in 1985. Its been very reliable, easy to start, a bit noisy, a very simple engine, most DV 20 spares are available, the later DV24 has a beeter spares situation. The DV 20 and 24 are the same basic design, they are raw cooled, have huge water galleries. The onkly recurring things that need repacing are
the Exhaust elbow whicj corrodes and splits
The block water feed pipe pipe that need cleaning, abit fiddely but not difficult,
The thermostat housing which can block and corrode if not serviced.
The block sacrifiacl anode mountinh hole needs a clean out or it is diicult to fit the new anodes.
A quality engine designed for boats from the start, it is nor a converted indusrial engine.
It is quite heavy.
I is not going to to give you hot water, there are conversion kits but feeling are mixed on the performance..
The DV 24 is still in production as a version for lifeboats.

Hope this helps.

Thankyou

 

[Boater Sam]

Parts can be eyewatering expensive.
It is a proper marine engine after all.
Due to the design, main bearings are unique and very expensive to replace.
I have had one situation where the engine was left with no oil or filter in over winter and upon being filled and started failed to pick up the oil. The crank was scored and the bearings ruined. If the engine has not been run for a long time, ensure that the oil pump primes before starting.

 

[LittleSister]

What model Bukh is it?

I have a DV36 and previously had a DV10, both of which start easily and run well despite about 45 years' use!

Good robust engines, generally simple to work on, heavy in weight. Most spares readily available, albeit pricey. (Consumables such as belts, filters and impellers etc. are all available cheaply once you know the relevant makes/model numbers so don't need to pay the Bukh premium prices for those.) Owner Handbook, Parts list/drawings and Workshop Manual readily available online. Most marine engineers will be very familiar with them.

Like any yacht engine, they tend to die from abuse or poor maintenance, rather than getting worn out, and it is the peripherals (alternators, water pumps, etc.), that tend to give most problems as they get old. They can of course die - often becoming uneconomic to repair if something major goes wrong (though some people on this forum have in the past completely rebuilt their Bukhs, so obviously had faith in them.

There is a useful and quite active Facebook 'Bukh Marine Diesel Owners Group', though inevitably most of the queries on there are from people having problems, so you wouldn't know from that that there are many thousands of Bukhs giving good service for many years.

The DV24 2 cylinder (and DV29 & DV32 variants) and DV36 3 cylinder (and DV48 variant) are still in production to this day (along with a lot of much higher power modern engines built by Bukh). (The DVs are mainly now sold mainly for lifeboats, as they meet various requirements of for that, including a hand start facility which most more modern engines lack, as they are too expensive and heavy for modern yacht builders).

I am guessing the Cobra will have the earlier DV10 (single cylinder) or DV20 (2 cylinder). (There was also a DV8, which I guess was an even earlier predecessor to the DV10.) These are significantly different engines to the DV24/DV36, but share quite a lot of parts. It's things like cylinder heads and so on that are harder to find with the older models.

One of the potential advantages of the Bukh DV series is that there are second-hand Bukh DVs being regularly retired from lifeboats due to age, but which have very low actual hours run, so even if a Bukh (at least a twin or triple) died completely, it could be replaced at a significantly lower cost than a brand new engine (which would likely also having different sized and positioned exhaust/water intake/controls, etc.). There is a least one UK firm selling these, but also suppliers from India who will ship them to Europe. I have read that the DV24 is more or less a straight drop in replacement for the DV20.

Contrary to Davidmh's comment, you can heat hot water from a Bukh DV. I do so very satisfactorily with my seawater cooled DV36, as have others with smaller Bukh DVs, and the advice on installing a calorifier for boat water heating on Vyv Cox's (of this parish) excellent site is actually illustrated in detail with a Bukh.
Calorifier installation.

As I said recently on another thread, I would rather have a new modern motor, but if I was going to have an old marine engine I'd rather have a Bukh than any other make.

 

[Wansworth]

T

What model Bukh is it?

I have a DV36 and previously had a DV10, both of which start easily and run well despite about 45 years' use!

Good robust engines, generally simple to work on, heavy in weight. Most spares readily available, albeit pricey. (Consumables such as belts, filters and impellers etc. are all available cheaply once you know the relevant makes/model numbers so don't need to pay the Bukh premium prices for those.) Owner Handbook, Parts list/drawings and Workshop Manual readily available online. Most marine engineers will be very familiar with them.

Like any yacht engine, they tend to die from abuse or poor maintenance, rather than getting worn out, and it is the peripherals (alternators, water pumps, etc.), that tend to give most problems as they get old. They can of course die - often becoming uneconomic to repair if something major goes wrong (though some people on this forum have in the past completely rebuilt their Bukhs, so obviously had faith in them.

There is a useful and quite active Facebook 'Bukh Marine Diesel Owners Group', though inevitably most of the queries on there are from people having problems, so you wouldn't know from that that there are many thousands of Bukhs giving good service for many years.

The DV24 2 cylinder (and DV29 & DV32 variants) and DV36 3 cylinder (and DV48 variant) are still in production to this day (along with a lot of much higher power modern engines built by Bukh). (The DVs are mainly now sold mainly for lifeboats, as they meet various requirements of for that, including a hand start facility which most more modern engines lack, as they are too expensive and heavy for modern yacht builders).

I am guessing the Cobra will have the earlier DV10 (single cylinder) or DV20 (2 cylinder). (There was also a DV8, which I guess was an even earlier predecessor to the DV10.) These are significantly different engines to the DV24/DV36, but share quite a lot of parts. It's things like cylinder heads and so on that are harder to find with the older models.

One of the potential advantages of the Bukh DV series is that there are second-hand Bukh DVs being regularly retired from lifeboats due to age, but which have very low actual hours run, so even if a Bukh (at least a twin or triple) died completely, it could be replaced at a significantly lower cost than a brand new engine (which would likely also having different sized and positioned exhaust/water intake/controls, etc.). There is a least one UK firm selling these, but also suppliers from India who will ship them to Europe. I have read that the DV24 is more or less a straight drop in replacement for the DV20.

Contrary to Davidmh's comment, you can heat hot water from a Bukh DV. I do so very satisfactorily with my seawater cooled DV36, as have others with smaller Bukh DVs, and the advice on installing a calorifier for boat water heating on Vyv Cox's (of this parish) excellent site is actually illustrated in detail with a Bukh.
Calorifier installation.

As I said recently on another thread, I would rather have a new modern motor, but if I was going to have an old marine engine I'd rather have a Bukh than any other make.

hanks