Perkins 6354 cruising speeds? Fitting turbos to naturally asp. eng?

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KathrynDavies

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We are looking to change our boat. We have a Princess 32 with Volvo 130hp turbo diesels with duo props. The boat has been up to 26 knots, though it actually feels more safe at 22ish knots, and other than the occasional burst at sea tend to cruise at 9-12 knots as the people we cruise with have less powerful engines. We spend most of our time on the river with occasional sea crossings, but have the power there if we need it. We are looking at a Birchwood 33 GT with 115hp perkins 6354's which we are told has a max of 9-10 knots, although the engineer who has serviced the boat reckons we would get more than this. We have viewed the boat and started the engine in situ and there was a huge amount of smoke on start up, which although improved slightly remained very smoky (but then we didn't move the boat and realise that once under way the smoke could disappear after a while). The boat hasn't been out a lot lately, so we wondered whether this would be relevant. We want to change our boat as we would like more accomodation inside particularly an aft cabin. We have a few alterations and there is some work to do on the boat but otherwise we like it and could possibly get it at the right price. The questions I have are:
Any suggestions out there for smoky engines or what to look for on a sea trial.
Would it be an option to fit turbos as we have been told that the 145hp Perkins 6354 is the same engine as the 115 but with turbos fitted.

It is not the fact that we are that bothered about fast speeds, more that we have a reasonable cruising speed without the engines having to be at full output.

Any advice? I wont understand any technical replies but my husband will !!!!!!

Cheers

Kathryn Davies
 
Can't see any reason why one should not turbo the naturally aspirated engine. Probably have to change or recalibrate the injection pump.

Have a friend who has a Birchwood 33 (Classic). He turbo'd the Ford 120hp engines which are now rated at 150hp. He started with 10/12 kts and ended at 20kts.

As for smoke. I had a Moonraker with 145hp perkins which ran quite cleanly, but had spent it's life on the coast. If your Birchwood has spent most of it's life on rivers I suspect it will smoke. May get away with injector overhaul and injection pump overhaul but seek more technical advice. These engines can consume huge amounts of oil at higher speeds.
 
If it is a 1980 boat with twin 115 perkins, cream/brown 35ft loa check the stern 2 ft from the end for cracks/gelcoat work.
I know of a Birchwood that is perhaps better suited for inland use and not sea use.
The stern nearly fell off ( a Birhwood 'PLUG' that got fitted out as a seaboat)
I last saw the boat in Ipswich area 2002/2003.
If you find any cracks let me know previous names of craft and I will bore you with the full story.

In answer to your question I know of a boat where the owner bolted on a couple of Turbos and I confirm he made a lot more wash but the boat sank the following season (collision) /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
Just a few thoughts for reliability, not perhaps the best idea to retro fit turbos

1 injection pump would need recalibrating / replacing to take advantage of the extra air, to get the higher power

2 often a different type of piston and under piston oil cooling is used

3 different size of oil cooler needed to remove heat from oil caused by item 2

4 bigger heat exchangers needed

5 different size of sea water pump required, because of 1-4

6 will an older engine take this new strain imposed by the extra power

7 Will the gear box & drive train need up rating

8 a new set of props to take advantage of the extra power delivered.

best regards
 
Thank you for the replies so far - very helpful - my husband will be keen to read them tonight. He had thought it may be a problem if other components needed to be changed in order to cope and that is a valid point whether the old engine will cope with a sudden increase in load - they are 1978 engines. If it is props that are the problem that might be a solution. The boat isn't brown and cream, (but thanks for the warning), it is a creamy colour and is in Wales and would imagine it has been used mainly at sea. I think we will have to have a sea trial and see how it performs. What a good idea these forums are!

Kathryn
 
The normally aspirated Perkins 6.354 cannot be converted to turbo-charged because the internal components are not the same as the T6.354 version and are not strong enough to take the extra heat/power.

If the engines are very smoky it might be due to anything from faulty injectors to worn out pistons and bores. It might be just the bores are glazed and need honing - do-able but not exactly a trivial job. White Smoke - injectors, Blue Smoke, more likely the bores.

6.354s in respectable condition will probably smoke at start up but it should clear very quickly. The turbo-charged versions will most likely smoke until they are up to temperature and running with a fair load, mainly due to the intercooler over cooling the air while the turbo-chargers aren't doing anything at low revs.

If you're not worried about the extra speed then get the existing engines overhauled and work them hard. If you want more power then you'll need to look at changing the engines.
 
I fitted a turbo to a Perkins 6354 and it’s been in there 4 years, best thing I ever did to the old girl. Even though it’s in acco tip truck it pulls really well. So it can be done and cheap as well if you do it your self. Make sure you run a exhaust manifold temp gauge and keep it below 550, I use about 7 psi boost but can turn dial and get it to 12 but exhaust manifold gets hot really quick up hills. After 2 years I turned the fuel pump up a bit and that made it better again. Downside is You must always keep an eye on the exhaust temp
 
KathrynDavies said:
We are looking to change our boat. We have a Princess 32 with Volvo 130hp turbo diesels with duo props. The boat has been up to 26 knots, though it actually feels more safe at 22ish knots, and other than the occasional burst at sea tend to cruise at 9-12 knots as the people we cruise with have less powerful engines. We spend most of our time on the river with occasional sea crossings, but have the power there if we need it. We are looking at a Birchwood 33 GT with 115hp perkins 6354's which we are told has a max of 9-10 knots, although the engineer who has serviced the boat reckons we would get more than this. We have viewed the boat and started the engine in situ and there was a huge amount of smoke on start up, which although improved slightly remained very smoky (but then we didn't move the boat and realise that once under way the smoke could disappear after a while). The boat hasn't been out a lot lately, so we wondered whether this would be relevant. We want to change our boat as we would like more accomodation inside particularly an aft cabin. We have a few alterations and there is some work to do on the boat but otherwise we like it and could possibly get it at the right price. The questions I have are:
Any suggestions out there for smoky engines or what to look for on a sea trial.
Would it be an option to fit turbos as we have been told that the 145hp Perkins 6354 is the same engine as the 115 but with turbos fitted.

It is not the fact that we are that bothered about fast speeds, more that we have a reasonable cruising speed without the engines having to be at full output.

Any advice? I wont understand any technical replies but my husband will !!!!!!

Cheers

Kathryn Davies
Click to expand...
By any chance is your boat Ivory Son?

Fitting turbos to an old 6354 is suicide as it’s camshaft profile, exhaust valve material isn’t suitable for the extra boost , you wouldn’t gain enough to get it on the plane , the Birchwood hull isn’t that suitable for fast speeds as it will chine ride making it unstable if you put enough power into it.

Plus parts for the old 6354 are becoming very difficult to get hold of, some Broom owners with Perkins are having there boats re engined at great cost .
I’d look for something else if you require the accommodation and speed .
 
volvopaul said:
By any chance is your boat Ivory Son?

Fitting turbos to an old 6354 is suicide as it’s camshaft profile, exhaust valve material isn’t suitable for the extra boost , you wouldn’t gain enough to get it on the plane , the Birchwood hull isn’t that suitable for fast speeds as it will chine ride making it unstable if you put enough power into it.

Plus parts for the old 6354 are becoming very difficult to get hold of, some Broom owners with Perkins are having there boats re engined at great cost .
I’d look for something else if you require the accommodation and speed .
Click to expand...

Hi vp are you doing NWR
 
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