What engines?

[Guest]

Whilst reading the brokerage adds about various boats to buy, the most popular choice of engines appears
to be the ubiquitous volvo range, although they do't always get good response from owners regarding
reliability or moreover customer service it seems. What of the others, yanmar,mercruiser,sabre cats etc.
Any opinions ?

cneighbour

 

[Guest]

We have yet to see what will be of Yanmar as they have not been on the market long enough in pleasure boats for them I think to start to give trouble, the rest however are all well known to many of us, Ill leave volvo alone for a minute.

Mercruiser, well these IMHO are for pleasure use only, hi revving and not particularly bomb proof, parts not too cheap either, not many after market parts available, seen many bravo legs blown to bits especially when bolted to big yanmars!,
Perkins, well good old British stuff been going for years, plenty out there, parts cheap and available through many outlets and you dont have to go to the marine store either.
Sabre, same again good old brit stuff, based on Fords mainly although a change in block supplier now the Dover one has gone, Bowman coolers and jabsco pumps etc, cheap filters and many more.
Caterpillar, well if you spoke to me 3 years ago I had a rouge one, which is not common in the 3208 V8, but ts one was a bugger, spent more time in pieces, so I sold it.
Parts are as cheap as Volvo, whichever way you look at it, heard about some of the newer ones going into selfdistruct mode as well, some aftermarket stuff available I have a contact in the carribean who imports stuff for me at about well, lets say they are a bit cheaper.
Cummins, they have not hit the market as good as volvo but do play a large commercial part. No gripes with them but the early 250 which you can find in the Princess 35 and 385/388 were a bad apple, the heat exchangers wre far too small, hence massive overheating problems, parts available non genuine, fairly easy to work on but some have jap injection systems and are not cheap to repair.
Last but not least, VP well there are many on this forum who have these so lets hear if theres anything good to say about them before I put pen to paper, they make me a good living!.

Paul js.

 

[Guest]

Hi Paul thanks for that input. I've got good old Perkins HT6354's on my current Broom 37 Crown which
(after one year & 160hrs) appear fairly solid. I've got 1600 hrs on total but have heard stories of some with
lots more hours and little trouble.They were discontinued (1982) so my next boat will have different engines
hence the question. Will watch this space for more

cneighbour

 

[Guest]

Paul forgot to ask are you a freelance engineer? I'm based on Thames

cneighbour

 

[Bob_G]

I have Caterpillars in my Phantom and very impressed I am so far!. I bought the boat second hand and have heard mainly Cat/Volvo comments as most Fairiines have Volvos. Cat parts are a bit cheaper, the engines tend to be heavier for any given hp with lower hp per litre, and seem to be a bit more robust. Given that Caterpilars dominate is the US and have a good reputation suggests they are good for us too.

 

[DavidJ]

I'm sure all engines have their fair share of horror stories and good stories. What I found during my extensive search for a Sealine 37 is that the Volvos were selling well and the Mercrusers were not. I one case a particular good condition S37 with Mercs had been advertised for 2 years. So perceived sell on value becomes the issue not the real performance/reliability of the engine. I bought a Volvoed S37
David

 

[paulineb]

We have Cummins 903 Turbos 400 hp and have had no probs so far. They can run at maximum revs all day and night cos they're de-stressed but very heavy for the output of the engine. Parts easy to come by and not over priced and Cummins provide a good service. Only swap for MTUs.

Pxx

 

[Guest]

Hi Pauline these must be in Tommy in Brighton what is Tommy ?
By the way can't make this Weds at PHYC will try to make next Weds.
I take it thats the club night what time does it start ?
Regards CGN

cneighbour

 

[paulineb]

Tommy is a Riva SuperAmerica. The PHYC club is open Friday night and all over the weekend and Wednesday nights. We only go Wednesdays. See you next week.

Pxx

 

[ArthurWood]

Re: Cats

Hi Paul,

CAT has had a lot of problems with their 3126s over the past couple of years, but seems, oddly, to be mostly in new Sea Rays. A friend of ours also has bigger CATs in his new 48ft Sea Ray and has had lots of probs, too. Cummins and Detroit get hi marks over here. MTUs seem to be fav in Princess 60s.
Volvos not popular.