Vetus M2.06- Rebuild or Replace?

[jcd203]

I bought a 1972 Contest 31 in Hawaii. The boat is in fair condition. The engine is the biggest issue. The original Volvo has been replaced with a Vetus M2.06, not sure of age but probably 25 years at least. The previous owner only owned the boat for a few months. When he bought it, the cylinder head was off and no real explanation as to why. He bought a gasket, reassembled it, fluids, filters, etc. When I bought it, motor cranks, no start. I spent my first full day on the boat the other day and spent 8 hrs doing all the preliminary stuff to try to get it to start. Bled fuel, cleaned injectors, adjusted valve clearances, starter fluid, etc. No dice. Then, I notice what a river of oil coming at me from the back of the engine, looks about 2-3 quarts (capacity is 5). I am guessing that the rear seal has failed. At this point, I'm not going to do anything else on it until I can get a mechanic out to take a look and I'll probably as him for a couple of quotes ranging from a full rebuild to just replace rear main seal then try to get it running and so an. Anyway, I just wanted to check and see who might have experience with these engines and provide some input as to whether or not its even worth trying to rebuild. I'm handy and would do it myself in the boat at the slip. I'm getting quotes for repowers as well and I'll share those options once they start coming in. Right now I'm just trying to stay positive. We did not overpay for the boat, only $9000. We do have the budget to rebuild, I just wish I could feel confident that it would be worth it and at the end of all that work, we would have a working engine. I know the quotes for repowers will be high (and that actual expenses will be higher) but the possibility of getting it back on the water quickly (with a warrantied engine) is attractive. Anyways, I'l appreciate any input. Thanks very much.

-Cole

[skipperpete]

Hi Cole, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your purchase. Regarding the oil leak, the first suspect should be the dipstick tube, on your engine the tube goes to the very bottom of the oil pan and if the crankcase pressure is really bad it will empty the sump via the dipstick tube if the blowby is too great for the crankcase breather to release. Sometimes it’s kinda sneaky and the dipstick just eases out of the tube and the oil runs down the outside of it, in a bad case a substantial jet will be seen. It usually means stuck piston rings; a headgasket blown across to the pushrod gallery or ( unlikely in your case) a hole in a piston or a broken liner. There was a post on the forum recently about a new engine emptying its lube oil into the bilge via the permanently mounted oil change pump because of a kinked crankcase breather hose.
Your leak could also be from a corroded oil filter canister or a failed oil p sender. You need to do a bit of exploring to actually locate the source of the oil leak, big leaks are easy to find, it’s the tiny persistent or intermittent ones that are difficult.