used marine engines

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lib435

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hi all, I'm looking to replace my centaurs old engine. I have found a company called marine enterprises ltd near Dorchester selling used engines. If anyone has any experience good or bad with this company I would appreciate any advice before I depart with my hard earned. Not looking for a war and piece report just whether a good company to deal with or not.
Kind regards and thanks in advance.
Graham.
 
Years ago I used to send old Petters & Lister diesels to a firm called Thurston Engineering fom Ongar in Essex
They would take a near knackered engine & return it fully reconnditioned.
I had at least a dozen or more done & every one was perfect
Why not ask for a quote to have the existing one looked at.
Obviously if internal corrosion is too bad it may not be possible, but they would check first & their work is extremely good
 
Don't have direct experience of them, but they seem active in the business. You need to be very wary of secondhand engines irrespective of where you buy them as generally people do not get rid of "good" engines. Also, unless you are buying a direct replacement for your existing engine you will need to consider whether the new engine is actually suitable for your boat and how much of the existing ancillaries can be re-used. More modern engines are very different from older ones like the Volvo fitted to many Centaurs and you will almost certainly have to make significant modifications to the engine beds and replace the propeller to suit your new engine plus you will undoubtedly find other parts that are worn or not compatible.
 
Daydream believer said:
Years ago I used to send old Petters & Lister diesels to a firm called Thurston Engineering fom Ongar in Essex
They would take a near knackered engine & return it fully reconnditioned.
I had at least a dozen or more done & every one was perfect
Why not ask for a quote to have the existing one looked at.
Obviously if internal corrosion is too bad it may not be possible, but they would check first & their work is extremely good
Click to expand...

Looks like their still going strong http://www.thurstonengineering.co.uk/index.php
 
I think I would also go for rebuild over a used one. use a good company and should be as good as new.
Thurstons are very good, also another company near to them www.gosnays.co.uk/
I have used both and the quality of work is very high, your actually talking to either exworkshop or the actual technision.
Not the the cheapest but they both do all machine work themselves, years of exsperiance to draw on and probably cheeper than the local marine dealer/engineer who probably subs work out of that type anyway.
(No connection to eather company just chucking choice into the pot)
 
I have a friend who bought an engine from Marine Enterprises..... nothing but praise for them. Very helpful.
Not too good on the internet, but they are busy with greasy hands rebuilding engines!!!!
 
paddywackcocker said:
I think I would also go for rebuild over a used one. use a good company and should be as good as new.
Thurstons are very good, also another company near to them www.gosnays.co.uk/
I have used both and the quality of work is very high, your actually talking to either exworkshop or the actual technision.
Not the the cheapest but they both do all machine work themselves, years of exsperiance to draw on and probably cheeper than the local marine dealer/engineer who probably subs work out of that type anyway.
(No connection to eather company just chucking choice into the pot)
Click to expand...

Problem with engines like the Volvo that the OP probably has is that parts are unbelievably expensive and availability is poor, so no matter how good the firm doing the work is at the machining and assembly the end result will be high cost and you still have a 50 year old obsolete engine for which spares are expensive and difficult to find - and will become worse over the years.

If the engine cannot be fixed cheaply and you want to keep the boat, then bite the bullet and fit a modern engine which will not only be much more refined, but will have a life of 30 or 40 more years. If the boat does not justify this expense then time to move on. This dilemma means that Centaurs (and many similar old boats) with old engines sell for pocket money in today's market.
 
Tranona said:
Problem with engines like the Volvo that the OP probably has is that parts are unbelievably expensive and availability is poor, so no matter how good the firm doing the work is at the machining and assembly the end result will be high cost and you still have a 50 year old obsolete engine for which spares are expensive and difficult to find - and will become worse over the years.

If the engine cannot be fixed cheaply and you want to keep the boat, then bite the bullet and fit a modern engine which will not only be much more refined, but will have a life of 30 or 40 more years. If the boat does not justify this expense then time to move on. This dilemma means that Centaurs (and many similar old boats) with old engines sell for pocket money in today's market.
Click to expand...

The parts are only expensive to the end consumer. My Volvo MD2020 is built on a Perkins block. Re boring that plus cranckshaft pistons etc ( as an example) are just as cheap to a company like Thurstons as any other. In fact possibly cheaper to them than smaller firms with less turnover.
the water pump, for instance, is a standard johnson ( I think that is the make) so reconditioning a Volvo is probably less than some of the other makes
 
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to reply, it is very much appreciated. I fully understand that a replacement engine will require additional works and other parts. The current engine is the original MD1B with "a few issues". I have not completely ruled out a new engine however money is tight at the moment and I was looking to try and save money by buying a used engine which will leave more for all the ancillaries, mounts, bearers etc.
Kind regards,
Graham.
 
Daydream believer said:
The parts are only expensive to the end consumer. My Volvo MD2020 is built on a Perkins block. Re boring that plus cranckshaft pistons etc ( as an example) are just as cheap to a company like Thurstons as any other. In fact possibly cheaper to them than smaller firms with less turnover.
the water pump, for instance, is a standard johnson ( I think that is the make) so reconditioning a Volvo is probably less than some of the other makes
Click to expand...

Your 2020 is an entirely different animal from the old Volvo made engines I was referring to. However, even though your engine was current until 9 years ago, although consumables are relatively cheap and easily available, you will discover if you need to do major work, that not only are the Volvo marinising parts such as the heat exchanger, but also the base Perkins engine parts are hideously expensive to the point that if you need basic repairs such as a rebore or crank regrind it is uneconomic even using Perkins parts. These engines are not designed to be rebuilt, but as they typically last a minimum of 8000 hours in normal use this represents over 50 years of typical yottie use.
 
Alpha22 said:
I have a friend who bought an engine from Marine Enterprises..... nothing but praise for them. Very helpful.
Not too good on the internet, but they are busy with greasy hands rebuilding engines!!!!
Click to expand...

I have personally used them (last year) and also have nothing but praise for them. They also bought my old engine from me (MD2B). They arranged delivery of my new (to me) engine and at a later date they also arranged collection of the old Volvo once I had confirmed it was out of the boat and packed onto the pallet. That saved a lot of hassle!
 
The previous posts have covered the options well.
Just one other consideration .... when I replaced my old MD1 with a Beta the performance was great and the boat really benefitted from a much lighter engine with a smaller prop. However the new engine made a much higher pitch noise which grated when compared to the old MD1 which had such a great "thump thump thump" sound.
Just one more consideration - if your MD2 has a dynastart then whatever you do make sure you get an option with an alternator.
 
Daydream believer said:
that is the point, Why not see if you can buy your own "used" engine so you do not have to alter bearers etc ie get it reconned
Click to expand...

But the whole point is that getting "good" engines of a 50 year old design is getting difficult for the very reason that they are uneconomic to rebuild and few would get rid of one that is working. You might be able to get one that is better than the one you have, but you are still stuck with an obsolete engine with a potentially limited life.

Still it might be enough to make the boat salable so that somebody else has to deal with the problem.
 
Tranona said:
, but you are still stuck with an obsolete engine with a potentially limited life.
Click to expand...

But are they obsolete?
True modern engines are lighter for the same power output & electrics are more complicated . But on a lot of boats that extra technology can be a problem & not really wanted. If one had his old engine reconned & If it starts, runs smoothly, charges the batteries & drives the boat at its designed speed many owners would be happy. Having an engine one can work on may, to many people, be the preferred option.
 
Daydream believer said:
But are they obsolete?
True modern engines are lighter for the same power output & electrics are more complicated . But on a lot of boats that extra technology can be a problem & not really wanted. If one had his old engine reconned & If it starts, runs smoothly, charges the batteries & drives the boat at its designed speed many owners would be happy. Having an engine one can work on may, to many people, be the preferred option.
Click to expand...

Obsolete in the sense that you can no longer guarantee that they will keep running because of lack of spares. They are seawater cooled, low revving, heavy and have poor electrics. Consumers and manufacturers abandoned such designs (with the exception of Bukh) more than 30 years ago as not appropriate for modern day use - never mind the high cost of building unique engines for a very limited market. Of course they will do the basic job for the boats they were fitted to, just as a seagull outboard will power your dinghy. But the big word is IF - you can actually keep them running.

Most of the engines commonly used in marine applications for small boats are, like the Kubotas used by Beta and Nanni, low technology engines, properly marinised using fresh water cooling and used in thousands of industrial applications all over the world. Lighter, quieter, smoother, good electric output and long lasting in the cosseted environment of a modern yacht - provided of course they are used and maintained properly.
 
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