Help! What brand engine should I buy?

[john232]

I have decided to trash my Santana 30s Volvo MD7A engine because it was submerged and all the electrical components are toast and I have heard that if I try to rebuild this brand engine I will have a real hard time finding parts and if I do find any parts they will be very expensive to purchase. I was thinking of getting a Beta Marine 13.5 H.P. 2 cyl diesel. I like the idea of being able to aquire maintainence parts for this engine at a Kubota tractor store, since these engines are basically Kubota engines that have been modified for marine use. I think the Beta marine engines are priced higher than there competition. Yanmar e-mailed me and informed me that I can''t by a Yanmar because I live in Texas. I am looking for advise on what would be the least expensive way to power a 8,000 pound sailboat that has salt water dammage. Thanks for any replies.

[Jeff_H]

I am a big fan of the small Yanmar Diesels. They are quiet, reliable, easy to service, have good parts availability at reasonable prices (but not the cheapest prices). I am curious about what you mean by, "Yanmar e-mailed me and informed me that I can''t buy a Yanmar because I live in Texas". Did you contact Yanmar directly or contact a dealer? Dealers sometimes have limited territories that they can service but according to the Yanmar USA site your area is serviced by:

LABORDE PRODUCTS, INC.
74257 Highway 25
Covington, Louisiana 70435-5679
Telephone: 985.892.0107
Facsimile: 985.892.7656
Email: doehrlein@labordeproducts.com
Website: www.labordeproducts.com

Yanmar also has some national distributers that can service anywhere in the US.

Jeff

[sailingfool]

I''d say go with the Yanmar, they own the marine small diesel business for good reason. Be willing to pay a premium for Yanmar if you need to, you''ll get it back when you sell the boat.

You might reaet this post wherever Sanatana owners hang out, as you may be able to find some owners who have completed similar replacements and learn from their experiences.

Good luck - hopefully you have $7-10,000 in the project plan for this line item.

[soapstone]

I''m planning the same for my boat in the spring. Have to agree with you about the Beta. It''s not just the Kubota parts, but from what I''ve read they also do a good job of using common source parts like water pumps etc. for the non Kubota stuff that you can get anywhere.

[obiec]

I just installed a new Vetas engine in my boat. It is a littal lowder than I was hopping it would be, I bought a 43 HP for 6,500. That was a lot less than any outhers and vetas makes a large line of products, from ports to sea strainers, to lift boxes. i think thay will be in biss for a long time. And thay use a Mitubishi block that is real well known. I couldent see spending all the extra money for a diferent name.

[ocean_lady2003]

I am not realy confinced about the Yanmar''s, manage to blow one of these (48 hp) up every 3 years after about 3000 h (hard use). Than there are little handy things like a missing waste oil discharge pump, wich I would expect on an engine prised like that. To change the seal of the raw water pump you have to take the complete engine mounting of other wise you wount get the pump out. In general I think Yanmar is to expensive.
Vetus isn''t my favored eider since I have one in my own boat and I''am working with a generator from Vetus as well which is also giving problems.
Weak point on the marine bits of the mitsubishis is mainly corrosion at the heat exchangers. Than they start using oil pretty quick. Getting parts for a Vetus engine is also a problem. Starts with something stupid like a raw water pump. The drive is so special that nobody stocks something like this you have to order it.
I like the Kubota version. Is a relayable engine, reasonable prised and parts you get quite easy.
Very good engines, but not cheap are nanni disel wich is based on mercedes. They are running very quiet, relayable and using very little fuel. Parts you get all around the world, where ever you go.

Hope I didn''t mix you up any more.

[Magic_Moments]

I have a Universal M-25xp which has worked well for me so far. They are made by Westerberke, but also some parts cross to Kubota. I have a 29 foot boat, but I have seen it in 36 foot boats as well. They make engines from 11HP to 170HP. www.westerberke.com

I know Yanmar has the reputation and I see a lot of them and not to many complaints.

Ken

[tsenator]

I have had both and basically both are/have been fine. One thing I like about westerbeke over the yanmar is that most westerbekes have glow plugs and most yanmars do not. It shouldn''t matter but it does because as an engine gets older they get a bit harder to start, especially when cold.

I loved my old 20+ year old yanmar 2QM15 I had, but it was a bear to start in the cold. I almost thought about retrofitting glow plugs on it. Once started the Yanmar worked fine.

[FloridaWriter]

i repowered my 30 ft boat with a Yanmar 3GM30F about 15 years ago and I just love it. It starts instantly always, is very quiet, burns only about 2 qts per hour, and is extremely well built. I would recommend it or the other GM series (1GM10, or 2GM20) engines. The only thing to watch out for, and it is true of any engine used in sea waters is to religiously change out the heat riser every 4 years without fail.

David