Sea Panther Engines

[seaesta]

I gather these are based on Ford Cortina engines. I am thinking of buying a boat with one fitted. Any tips, thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.
Martin

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[silverseal]

I have a 32 year old engine which starts first time every time, without glow plugs. It is based on the Ford 113 engine, dieselised, marinised. I have manuals for both engine and for the CAV lift and injection pumps, if you need photocopies. Earlier Sea Panthers has a 12 volt starter, and later ones have a 24 volt starting system, which puts 24 volts through the 12 volt starter motor, which gives it such a shock it starts first time! The manual says dont crank the engine for more than 15 seconds-- never needed to! The engineering bodge means that on the 24 volt system you need 2 batteries, and a relay system, which starts the engine with them in series, and on start, then returns the connection to parallel for charging from the alternator. Again I have the wiring diagram so if the relay system is dodgy we can make something up to do the business.
Two years ago, a friend dumped his working Sea Panther, because it was "old". His Volvo Penta replacement, seized a few weeks ago, and on strip down a piece of rag was found in the sump. As it was a new engine and had never been touched, Volvo have been less than interested. Moral of story " Dont fix what aint broke"

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[wooslehunter]

I have one & it's the older type with the 24v starter system as above.

I've not had any real problems & if you do need a new starter it's about £30 from Lucas for an exchange unit.

My engine is painted blue and that's an indication of the older type. There are apparently some models around with a 12v starter system but you can't modify an older one to 12v easily - I investigated this one.

I don't have any relays though. I have two alternators: one for the 24v starter bank & one for the 12v domestic bank. I'm considering swapping the domestic over to 24v and then using a 24-12 dc-dc converter for the domestics. That way I can couple the battery banks if I get a flat starter & an disconnect the second alternator.

Spares are cheap with injectors around £60.

Motor is reliable & never needs cranking for more than 1 or seconds to start.

Stevenson Marine down in Devon are the guys to ask and have been very helpful.

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[silverseal]

I am surprised that you need 2 alternators - one 24 v and another 12 volt to charge your batteries. Mine has a single relay unit, which as above start as 24 and charges 12v. The engine had a change of the 17ACR lucas alternator to a 55amp Bosch, which virtually does no work on the engine batteries, as they are fully charged having only to crank the engine for a second before it starts....The Service battery gets a lot of welly

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[jeffro]

I have a sea panther in my 30foot Kingfisher it has prooved very reliable and as you say starts straight away but spares are becoming hard to find i went to the only suplier for a replacement gearbox and after waiting 6 months for a return call rung them and wass told that i would be better off with a modern replacement engine i now have a yanmar to replace it with most of these old fords are 30 years old and are getting a bit long in the tooth must go now off to France

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