Kohler 7E3

[Chuck34]

I'm looking at a boat with a gas Kohler 7E3 gen set that runs at 3600 rpm's.
Will I be sorry with this genset? I don't put lots of hours on the unit and would rarely run more than a couple hours on a given day. I doubt I would run it more than 25 hours a season.

[Sailmonkey]

It's a decent gen set. The worst thing you can do for it is not run it.

If memory serves it's a honda engine?

[OldGreyB]

Chuck 43,

The Kohler 7E3 typically uses a Kawasaki twin V motor as the driver and they are reliable. Like most makes of marine generation sets the seal water cooling impeller can be problematic if it fails. The set will shutdown on overtemp , but you don’t want to go that route. If you buy the boat, one of the many first jobs would be to replace the sea water impeller, so you know the status. The OEM Seawater Pump Impeller Kit 359978 are cheap and the change out time is ½ hour if you have good access to the pump. Run dry impellers can be googled and procured too. Change the oil and filter , note the hours and run the set frequently and maintain as per Kolher Power Systems Manual TP-5985

As Sailmonkey states the worst thing is not to run it. Electrical equipment in the marine environment needs to be used to keep them functional and generators when running need to be electrically loaded. The motor benefits from being run too. They only sip the gas – so run it often, long and definitely under a good load, so once running, turn electrical equipment on so you hear it loadup and work.

Note: If the water impeller ever fails, make sure you find all the pieces, even if you have to take off the cooling water exchanger. My PO had not, and it took me a long time to work out why my generator sometime ran hot, sometime fine. I eventually found there were parts of an old impeller in the sea cooling line.http://www.cruisersforum.com/images/...s/banghead.gif

[a64pilot]

I removed the impeller pump on my generator and replaced it with a March airconditioner pump, the March pump will likely outlast the generator and if it fails it will neither spray saltwater all over the generator or send bits and pieces of impeller into the heat exchanger and exhaust elbow.