Life of a Diesel?

[zstine]

A DIY rebuild is like $5k.. Tula did a rebuild, no special tools, on their YouTube channel and discussed price.


Engine life in hours is dependent on how it was run and maintained, but if running well now (no smoke, smooth, good power, etc) 3800 hours wouldn't scare me off.



I've also repaired my VDO LCD simply by removing, cleaning and reattaching the LCD ribbon cable... a common failure that is fixed for free in 30min.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by alitaptap

Volvo engines have a good track record for long-term reliability .

Is that why they at commonly referred to as "Green Death"?

[roverhi]

Because sail boat engines are not regularly run and often for too short time periods they often suffer failure at much lower hours than a regularly used engine in a power boat.

Unless a log was religiously kept you've got no idea of the real hours of the engine. Would definitely take the cost of rebuilding the engine into account when figuring out how much to offer for the boat.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Is that why they at commonly referred to as "Green Death"?

Most of the Volvo complaints I hear aren't about the durability of them, but more that when something breaks or you need a part, it can be challenging and expensive to track the part down and you might have to wait quite a while for it to show up.

[DEAN2140]

You might ask the seller what kind of usage the boat had. Was it used primarily as a day sailor where most of the engine use would be getting in and out of his slip? Or did he do some extended cruising? Is there any way to track down if the oil was changed regularly? As for the prior owner, that is a black hole.

[RiverRat37]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Because sail boat engines are not regularly run and often for too short time periods they often suffer failure at much lower hours than a regularly used engine in a power boat.

I agree. Internal combustion engines like to be run and don't like just wasting away doing nothing. The more they run they better they do. A test was done on some Chicago diesel taxicabs. These cabs were left running as they were turned over from one shift driver to the next. In other words they ran practically 100% of the time! When torn down after 1M miles they were in surprisingly great shape. And oil changes were very limited. It's mostly the cool down and warm up that messes with the oil, creating water and acids (so says the SAE). (Generally oil does NOT 'break down', it gets polluted. If one had the proper filters one could theoretically make it clean again.) But take grandma's very old garaged Chevy with 10,000 miles that only went to church on Sundays (2 miles away) and you have an engine that is highly suspect. But the salesman who drives long miles on the Interstates every day and his 100,00 miles (or even 200,000) will likely deliver a better buy.
Diesels especially like to run under load -- long idling time is very tough on them.
Point being it's good to know how the engine was used -- not simply how many hours on it. And was it cared well for by previous owners (as others have pointed out here).

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Most of the Volvo complaints I hear aren't about the durability of them, but more that when something breaks or you need a part, it can be challenging and expensive to track the part down and you might have to wait quite a while for it to show up.

Most for sure but I personally know of some that very nearly caused business failure due to unreliability and availability of parts.

Gave up on them and swapped them out for some ancient, rebuilt naturally aspirated cats and all was good from then on.

[Chris Cringle]

Hour meters are notoriously unreliable. Anybody can install a new one and say, "Look, zero hours!" Get a compression test and a "blood" test of the oil. Then discuss the results with a knowledgeable diesel mechanic

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Roniszoro

I am considering the purchase of a sloop where the engine hour meter does not function. The seller says the engine, a Volvo, has 3800 hours, but when he got the boat the meter was not working. So he is basing the hours based on what he was told by the former owners. How does one go forward or does one just pass? It is expensive for me, at about $150K, and rebuilding a Volvo would be both very expensive and time consuming.

Thank you for your thoughts.

How many years old is the engine? Parts availability becomes limiting with older engines. 20 years would be older.


You can pay for an engine survey and the surveyor will find obvious problems. But there is no guarantee that the engine will last even if the 3800 hour claim is true and you get a clean bill of health from an engine surveyor.


And then again if during a sea trial the engine starts easily when cold, does not smoke excessively, and operates smoothly at idle and full power, then it will probably be fine

[Dockhand]

Contact Lauderdale Speedometer & Compass at 800-951-5123, talk to them and see what they say, if they think it can be repaired.
Mine quit working I sent it into them, the hours kept tallying up on the hour meter but I just couldn’t see them. Once they fixed it all the hours were there. I think it cost me around $150 to have fixed.

[NCWDave]

possibly helpful;https://www.passagemaker.com/technic...y%20smell%20it.

[nortonscove]

We ran two different diesels as generators on our last tug. One was 50hp the newer one was 55hp. I think the older one was at over 40k and the newer one was at 26k when we sold the boat. They were required to be inspected every three years and never had any issues. A well kept engine can last an awfully long time.

[Martkimwat]

Originally Posted by nortonscove

We ran two different diesels as generators on our last tug. One was 50hp the newer one was 55hp. I think the older one was at over 40k and the newer one was at 26k when we sold the boat. They were required to be inspected every three years and never had any issues. A well kept engine can last an awfully long time.

I don't think you can compare diesel gensets to a sailboat engine, the genset is normally working hard and is normally run for at least an hour, whereas the sailboat diesel if motor sailing particularly and even just motoring, is not working hard (ideally 80% of rated power). the worst situation is where a diesel is started 5~10 minutes before reaching the dock, just to be used to manoeuvre into the berth. 25years back I bought a two year old Audi A4 Avant 1.9TDi, it had 140,000miles on the ODO. before I purchased it, I spoke to my local Audi dealer who said it must have been a commercial travellers car, would always be doing long trips and would be serviced regularly. because of the high mileage, it was at a bargain price. At all subsequent services, the workshops all said it must have been clocked the wrong way because is was as smooth as silk and ran like a dream. Sadly wrote it off four years later broadsiding into a massive oak tree. (it's build quality back then saved my life and I only ended up with five broken ribs)

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Roniszoro

I am considering the purchase of a sloop where the engine hour meter does not function. The seller says the engine, a Volvo, has 3800 hours, but when he got the boat the meter was not working. So he is basing the hours based on what he was told by the former owners. How does one go forward or does one just pass? It is expensive for me, at about $150K, and rebuilding a Volvo would be both very expensive and time consuming.



Thank you for your thoughts.

I would question how well a boat was maintained if the owner was so cheap and lazy that they couldn't fix or install an hour meter and in this case it has been 2 owners. You can install an hour meter for less than $30!

But far as buying the boat with the mystery engine hours, if everything else about the deal is good to you all you need is an engine survey. And later .......................... install an hour meter!

[ilenart]

I had a similar issue when I bought my latest yacht, engine hour meter broken with a Volvo Penta engine. I engaged a knowledgable mechanic, who identified that the exhaust manifold needed replacing, but otherwise the engine was fine. So this became part of the discount on the survey. I was happy to take this approach as I preferred organising repairs / replacements for issues myself. Really depends on if replacing or major repairs of the engine is a dealbreaker or not. For me it was not, but every deal is different.

Ilenart