Perkins 4.108 marine

[mathilda]

Am considering buying a sailing boat with a non running Perkins 4.108
Understand she died at sea and has not run since. Hard to get any history as last owner was found dead on board,some say may have been contributed by engine fumes. Have followed posts on the 4.108 looking for a similar problem.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Mathilda.

[capttman]

Welcome aboard

Perkins is relatively easy to rebuild and also there are several for sale in this site. Any solid hull can easily get repowered!

[zeehag]

welcome to cf....i vbought my boat with a dad 4-107 and replaced it with a 4-108. isnt that difficult.

[sww914]

Most diesel problems are fuel problems. Either a lack of it, air in the fuel system, dirty filters, or dirty old fuel.
Nigel Caulder wrote a great book on diesels aimed at novices.
4.108's are great engines.

[btrayfors]

The 4-108 is a well-know, great, easy-to-repair engine. I've lived with mine for 24 years and the one on my son's boat is equally wonderful.

Unlike gasoline engines, diesels don't put out much carbon monoxide, so I doubt the PO was done in by engine fumes....unless something was WAY out of whack.

Good luck with the purchase.

Bill

[Jonty]

I agree with all, easy to repair, Tip. We fitted an electric fuel pump (tank lower than engine) when we started having fuel starvation problems and it never missed a beat after that. Not enough power for this tub so now have a Yanmar...

John

[zeehag]

i added an electric assist pump for making bleeding easier....works great once the air leaks are dispo'd

[gjordan]

I must disagree with the previous post about diesels not putting out enough CO to kill someone. I almost killed a crew member on a delivery when an exhaust leak developed while I was on watch. When she didnt come on deck at her watch time, I went below and found a stinky, smokey cabin, and woke up a groggy crew member that staggered out to the cockpit, spent several hours very sick and had headaches for days afterwards. Neither of us went below decks for more than a minute on the last day of the trip. Make sure your exhaust system is in safe working order, or you can injure or kill yourself. About the Perkins, they are great engines. Even if your motor is toast, it is still cheaper to repower with an identical model engine than to do all the changes for some other brand. Just my 2 cents worth._____Grant.

[mathilda]

Thanks to all it has been a great learning curve. Decided not to purchase boat.
All comments appreciated.