Buying a spare engine

[Oohla]

My Sabre has 1987 Westerbeke W46 diesel with perhaps 4,000 hours. It’s OK. It has new elbow, rebuilt injectors, and good maintenance for past 5 years. Have spare alternator, elbow, starter motor, water pump">raw water pump, and assorted hoses, gaskets, and trivial parts. Not afraid to buy mission critical spares prior to upcoming extended cruising exercise.

On Ebay is un-rebuilt same engine with reported 4700 hours for $1200. Might go for less. 40 miles away.

Thought experiment: Buy un-rebuilt engine as spare for parts either for intermediate problems such as heat exchanger or catastrophic events such as block crack, broken crank or connecting rod, etc. or go with what I have and not to have this dinosaur in my storage unit/garage.

Storage is an issue. I have better things to do than rebuilding a presently unneeded engine.

Question is: buy used engine for used non-critical parts (e.g. heat exchanger) and parts needed for possible eventual catastrophic failure or not buy old engine and replace parts as needed with new parts?

I suppose the more likely than not needed block could serve as a
Mooring, eventually, but let’s not go there.

[Jammer]

How do you see the engine on ebay:
1) as a used engine that you would install as-is in your boat
2) as a rebuildable core


I personally would not install a 33 year old engine of uncertain provenance on a boat I intended to keep and sail. Perhaps you feel differently. The question on this line of reasoning is whether you are willing to invest your own labor or someone el$e's on an engine that may not be any better than the one you're taking out.



If you are thinking of it as a rebuildable core then there are three questions:

a) why would you rebuild a 33 year old core rather than repowering?
b) do you think you would rebuild a spare engine before your existing one fails?
c) if not then what do you think the chances are that your existing engine will fail in a way that does not leave you with a rebuildable core?


It's your money but IMO a failure of a 33 year old engine means one of two things. Either time to scrap the boat and move on, or time for a $20,000 repower with something new.

[Pandor]

I see his question and it isn’t whether he installs this beast as-is or rebuilds. The question is whether to buy and park it in your garage or storage shed for spare parts.

The answer should be no, unless you have a lot of spare money and space. An old engine is not a good source of spares for another old engine. The same parts tend to go bad on both.

[jamhass]

It all depends on:
a) The condition of the high-value parts (pumps, HXs, injectors) included in the used engine, and
b) the probability that you might need these parts, and
c) the expense and difficulty of obtaining these parts on the economy.

Also: Do you suspect that the existing engine might need a rebuild in the near future.

All these issues are highly personal and circumstantial, so no universal answer is possible.

I once purchased a used engine for my MGA , planning to rebuild it and install. After 7 years I had no need other than freeing space in my garage, so sold it at a loss. Considered doing same for the boat engine, but caught sanity in time.

[barnakiel]

It is nice to have a second to use for parts, but you need a nice and not humid storage for it.


b.

[Oohla]

Your thoughtful comments are appreciated and confirm my own.

[bobnlesley]

As someone who did just that, I can report that for us it proved a brilliant decision, though I paid a lot less than $1200; you need the right engine at the right price. We bought a 3GM30F Yanmar in Trinidad (we saw it running) and once ashore we stripped-off everything it which we easily could, loaded it into the boat and subsequently used either permanently or temporarily: The control panel, seawater pump, starter, alternator, injectors, fuel lift pump, rigid fuel lines and exhaust elbow, with the starter, alternator heat exchanger and seawater pump also being lent to other boats too; perhaps the best $500 we ever spent on boat-bits?

[Pete7]

Given the work on the existing engine, is there any reason why it won't run for another 3000 hours which could be a couple of decades. If at that point you have to buy another engine, well there is no shortage of second hand diesel engines to choose from and it doesn't need to be the same make either.

Hell, we might all be using Di-lithium Crystals by then. If I had $1200 spare, I think I would buy a feathering prop. That is worth an extra 3/4 knot for every mile you sail, so big smile factor.

Pete

[Fore and Aft]

Oohla another option is to keep an eye out on Facebook and Craigslist for new old Westerbeke engine parts. I have done this for my Yanmar and have a reasonable collection of new parts costing very little. My best deal has been a brand new Yanmar 2GMF injector pump for a $100 AU.
Cheers

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Oohla

I suppose the more likely than not, an unneeded block could serve as a Mooring, eventually, but let’s not go there...

If you wanna pay $1,200 for a mooring...!

Hahaha. Good one. Couldn't resist going there...

LittleWing77 (Sorry, the Old Year's Night Mischief has bitten me) Happy New Year Oolala!

[LittleWing77]

Okay, now for a serious reply:

I saw this Volvo Penta ad on Kijiji (like Canadian craigslist) yesterday.

Volvo Penta MD 2002 18hp
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/kit...urs/1542983056

I sent to to my diesel mechanic and his response, copied below, showed me there are always things I hadn't considered when stumbling upon a potential "spare engine".

Love me those Volvo Penta's!
But why isn't that person selling the gearbox with it? Unless they are getting another Volvo, the gear box might not fit. And low hours, especially on old diesel engines from the 80's might not be good. I love my Volvo, but, the 2000 series engine, which that is, doesn't have glow plugs to preheat the engine. They're a bitch to start in cold weather, and if your batteries aren't fully charged, good luck starting it. Lol

So upon consideration, I'd go with Pete7's advice. +1

LittleWing77

[Celestialsailor]

I had a W-46 in my Hallberg Rassy that had been a refit. It was actually a Mitsubishi 4DQ5, a very popular forklift engine. Parts a readily available through Mitsubishi dealers. DO NOT TELL THEM IT IS A WESTERBEKE! Mitsubishi and Westerbeke have a contract stating not to sell to Westerbeke owners. This is why a head gasket kit is $1200 through Westerbeke and $180 through Mitsubishi. I rebuilt mine completely for under $2500 including some outside labor. The only parts I would keep is anything to do with marinizing by Westerbeke...heat exchanger, exhaust elbow ect. Other good spares might be a few injectors and the main injector pump. The rest of the engine could be sold on ebay or craigslist.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by bobnlesley

As someone who did just that, I can report that for us it proved a brilliant decision, though I paid a lot less than $1200; you need the right engine at the right price. We bought a 3GM30F Yanmar in Trinidad (we saw it running) and once ashore we stripped-off everything it which we easily could, loaded it into the boat and subsequently used either permanently or temporarily: The control panel, seawater pump, starter, alternator, injectors, fuel lift pump, rigid fuel lines and exhaust elbow, with the starter, alternator heat exchanger and seawater pump also being lent to other boats too; perhaps the best $500 we ever spent on boat-bits?

This is the most interesting post of the lot so far, doesn't everyone think so? Especially since the engine is a Yanmar 3GM30F.

What is going on with that model? And I thought this was suppposed to be the new bright and shiny Yanmar with all the bells and whisles, yet all I seem to see on this Forum lately are posts about various problems with them.

What gives...?
LittleWing77

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

This is the most interesting post of the lot so far, doesn't everyone think so? Especially since the engine is a Yanmar 3GM30F.

What is going on with that model? And I thought this was suppposed to be the new bright and shiny Yanmar with all the bells and whisles, yet all I seem to see on this Forum lately are posts about various problems with them.

What gives...?
LittleWing77

It is either, every company has it's white elephant or there was a crap load of them made and percentages work out that way.

[sandy stone]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Love me those Volvo Penta's!
But why isn't that person selling the gearbox with it? Unless they are getting another Volvo, the gear box might not fit. And low hours, especially on old diesel engines from the 80's might not be good. I love my Volvo, but, the 2000 series engine, which that is, doesn't have glow plugs to preheat the engine. They're a bitch to start in cold weather, and if your batteries aren't fully charged, good luck starting it. Lol

Not really germane to the OP, but just to correct a little misconception -
The reason the 2000 series Volvos (I have one) don't have glow plugs is that they are designed with a cold start system - before starting, advance the throttle "more than half way", pull out the stop handle, then push it back in. This sets the injector pumps to deliver extra fuel. My engine starts instantly in cold weather using this procedure.

Now back to the original discussion...