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Hopefully about to be a new owner of a 1988 Sabre 36. The Westerbeke W27A is original equipment and has over 2000 hours on it. Could be that it runs for another 1500 or more, or it could be that after 31 years it will need replacing in the couple of years. I'm hoping someone has experience and/or insight on what good replacement options might be.
Don't know, the answer to your question. I haven't done that research yet. Two things come to mind though. If you are just buying the boat, I'd have someone look over the engine, test the oil, compression etc. Make sure everything is sound.
I don't want to jinx myself, but my WB 27 is 34 years old and still running strong. You may have to replace things like water pumps, Heat exchangers etc. but if the engine was well cared for it should service you well for years to come.
We just retired a diesel 38 year old genset that had around 19,000 hours on it and was still running fine. Problem was with freeze plugs and the like, not the diesel engine's operation. Take care of your Westerbeke, change oil frequently, especially if you don't use it much, and keep anti-rust additive in the fresh water and you should be good to go for many years. We changed oil every 150 hours on the old genset and will on the new one as well.
2000 hours is nothing for a well maintained diesel!
IMHO the main killer of marine diesel engines is salt water. Assuming the engine gets basic maintenance like oil and coolant changes, it should last a very very long time. Now if you let the oil sump sit in a salt water bath, or ignore a leaking sea water pump that is dripping or spraying salt water into the block, and otherwise ignore it, the case will rot and once that happens it's not really worth it to make repairs.
I've seen an engine that was constantly exposed to salt water (the oil pan). Eventually the pan developed pin hole leaks. That allowed oil out and salt water in. That destroyed the bearings and the engine was ruined.
The Universal M25 in my 1986 O'day had about 4000 hours when I sold it in 2014. It ran very well and easily moved the boat at hull speed.
Good point about the sacrificial anodes. I try to check them every month. I just replaced the one in my heat exchanger anode after 3 months of use. This particular pencil anode had corroded in the middle. I guess that there was some kind of mould release agent on it that prevented it from wearing from the end.
Our Yanmar 3GF has 8,000 hours and runs perfect well. Just broken in. Good advice for you here from others . Let me add:
Best think is to learn and understand care of a diesel. Mac Boring has a great course on it. There are some basic things we do every year. I consider them preventative maintenance. The are are some items we have done every 2500 hours. Heat exchanger and injectors are in this category. Also not the engine but the exhaust elbow.
I carefully clean the external engine each spring checking wiring harnesses, hoses and clamps . This includes the underside of the engine. A nice cleaning every year goes a long way. I take spring commissioning as the time to clean all intake screens. Inspect the water muffler , especially on older boats with ss / alimunium ones. Check all the clamps too.
Diesels also like to be run. The don’t like short intervals. I look at ours like what you do when exercising. Keep that in mind when coming back from a sail into a mooring or slip. While we practice each year sailing into our slip, our practice is to motor back up our creek u dear load ( 20 minutes) and after docking low idle the engine for 5 minutes.
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