Cummins 903 VTA Diesels

[skearnes]

I just bought a 48" Pacemaker SF and it has the Cummins 903 VTA turbo diesels. A mechanic informed me that they are too old and there are no parts available for them. Is this true? If so, what is a good suggestion to replace them with? I am a firefighter and chartering her will be my post smoke eating career so i'm definately on somewhat of a budget.

[Lepke]

If your engines need rebuilding, these guys offer overhaul kits and rebuilt parts for your engine:

Cummins Engine Parts | V6 | 378 | V8 | 504 | 555 | 903

Also Ebay usually has people selling new and used parts. And there are many others.

My rebuilt mains are 68 years old and will outlive me.

I've always found it much cheaper to rebuild an engine than replace. Even cheaper if you can do the work. Often mechanics have their favorite brand and everything else is crap - in their mind. Many 'comfortable' yacht owners think everything has to be brand new. Don't get caught up in that thinking.
Cummings builds good engines. Properly rebuilt should last as long as new and can be rebuilt over and over for many years. What hurts turbo engines is the higher exhaust gas temperatures that eat away at the rings, sleeves and valves. Keep the rpms down and you can double the life between overhauls. And maintain clean oil.

[skearnes]

Thanks Lepke. I am in Iraq and when I went to the boat yard, the boat yard guy was trying to tell me that those engines are worthless because I will never find parts for them. He had a set of rebuilt engines to sell me for 50k...oh yeah, and another 50k just to install them. I knew then that something was wrong with this picture. Thanks for the link.....the site is great.