Perkins 115

[iloveflapjacks]

Hi We atre thinking of buying a boat which has Twin 115HP Perkins engines and are looking for some help. The previous owner was an engineer and apparently had them in great condition. The boat is in good condition but the current owner has used it as a as a liveaboard for two years and apart from moving berths the engines haven'y really been run much.

My question is hypothetical i suppose, if you had a pair of engines in great condition and didn't use them much for a couple of years, would you expect them to still be in good working condition?
Any advice would be greatly received.
Thanks!

 

[Dino]

115hp Perkins are probably 6354’s in the non-turbo, normally aspirated guise. If they are the vertical version sitting upright then they are pretty bulletproof old engines. Many were turbocharged and installed lying at an angle to reduce height.
They are very common but fairly ancient. There are some issues with spare parts but I think that was mainly for the HT turbo models. If you’re just looking to cruise at 7-8knots and you don’t mind abit of maintenance, you’ll be grand.

 

[dava]

I wouldn't worry too much, my old boat had a pair of caterpillars which had never been started in 10 years, I replaced the obvious things, starters, batteries, wiring, filters and they never so much as murmured in 5 years, plus as Dino states the 6354 is pretty much bulletproof, the mod used them for what seems like 50 plus years

 

[Tamar]

I started a pair of Gardners 4 lws that had been idle for over 20 years. No problems, just changed the lube oil, turned them over on the crank handle for around 20 turns and they fired up first press of the button.
Perkins are good engines.

 

[iloveflapjacks]

Thanks for your help.