Engine hours

[punjabi]

What would you guys consider high engine hours on a Universal Diesel M3-20? I'm looking at a 28' '90 Catalina that has 2,000 hours on it. That seems like an awful lot to me.

How would you price that in? Is there a rule of thumb on how to discount greater than average hours?

Thanks for any help!

[teshannon]

I would not consider 2,000 hours on a diesel to be greater than average. I'm no mechanic but I would not be concerned about engine hours until you get to 4 or 5,ooo hours. Even then, if the engine was properly maintained it could easily have a lot of life left in it. The converse is also true, if not properly maintained a low hour engine could be near end of life. What you need to do is have a good engine survey done.

[punjabi]

Thanks!

Do you think its worth it to have a separate engine survey done on an 18 year old boat that I'm offering $22k on? I guess part of that answer depends on what a rebuild would cost. Also, the "regular" surveyor will start the engine and look for anything obvious during the sea trial, no?

[BarryL]

Hello,

IMHO, engines hours, without maintenance records, is not work anything. You can engines worn out at 500 hours, you can have engines running like new with 5000 hours.

That 1990 boat is now 18 years old. That is really only a little more than 100 hours a year. If the boat was used a lot, that could be a few long trips each year. Certainly not unreasonable. I bought my boat (1986 O'day 35) in November 2006. The engine had 3600 hours on it, AND records since day one detailing oil changes, transmission fluid changes, water pump impeller changes, zinc changes, etc. The engine runs great and drives the boat at hull speed. (of course, the second day I owned the boat it refused to start when it was 35 degrees out and I needed to get the boat home. But it was just a bad wire to the glow plugs)

Barry

[lharmon]

punjabi;

The number of hours may or may not be problematic. If the hours are from loaded use while cruising and the motor was maintained well then the engine is probably fine. But if the hours came from lots of charging batteries or running a refrigerator compressor then the engine may be a bit tired. Diesels love work. They do not like to be run without a load.

Marine Diesel Engines by Calder is an excellent resource. When I purchased my last boat, I paid to have an engine inspection. Check references because I was not entirely happy with the surveyor's work. He missed a number of abnormalities with the engine. But it has been economical and dependable.

Best of luck on your search.

LH

[RickLaPaz]

Just gettin' broken in. But ask for service records.

BTW, our '84 Perkins 6 cylinder is real close to 6,000 hrs and runs perfect. As of last week at least--(knock on Delo)..........

[punjabi]

Originally Posted by lharmon

punjabi;

The number of hours may or may not be problematic. If the hours are from loaded use while cruising and the motor was maintained well then the engine is probably fine. But if the hours came from lots of charging batteries or running a refrigerator compressor then the engine may be a bit tired. Diesels love work. They do not like to be run without a load.

Marine Diesel Engines by Calder is an excellent resource. When I purchased my last boat, I paid to have an engine inspection. Check references because I was not entirely happy with the surveyor's work. He missed a number of abnormalities with the engine. But it has been economical and dependable.

Best of luck on your search.

LH

I guess one positive is that this boat is really bare bones in that it has nothing that would draw much power...no refrig, no autopilot, etc, so I doubt that there was much "generator" running going on. Probably mostly under load.

On an aside, I'm basing my offer (in part) on an insurance value estimate from Boat US that came back at $22,800. From that, I'm deducting the cost to have the bottom painted. Thoughts?

[Plumper]

I think the going number for engines on sailboats is about 100 hours per year. Less than that indicates a boat that either isn't used much or sails a lot. More than that indicates a high use boat or one that motors a lot. My '79 has 3000 hours and I put almost 300 of them on this summer. It starts first time every time and runs like a top. The previous owner was a diesel mechanic.
A '90 with 2000 hours seems pretty much in the brackets for normal use. Does the engine space look clean and well kept? Does it start from absolutely cold without much effort? (Good compression) Does it idly cleanly? (Good injectors) Does it burn cleanly when pushing the boat at hull speed?(If it smokes there is something amiss) Does it sound smooth and run smooth? (alignment and balance) If the answers to all these questions are yes then I would not be too concerned about the engine on a $22k boat unless I intended to do a lot of motoring. If that is the case then an engine survey might be needed. It would have to be a really good boat to go to the trouble of re-engining it. That will cost half the price of the boat. (here anyway)

Gaz

[blakew1]

My 1990 Com-Pac 27 had 500 hrs on it when I sold it. My 1989 Tartan 31 has around 500 hrs. I try to keep motoring to a minimum.

[teshannon]

Even with the low hours I would still recommend an engine survey. Just like the boat survey it's money well spent.