[yzlian]

need advice on re-powering my 37

hello fellow sailors, my 1993 PSC37 had an unfortunate incident and now needs re-powering. its current engine is the 50-hp yanmar 4JH-2E, the original engine on the boat since new. it served me well on several long voyages, including crossing the equator relying solely on it, and powering through some pretty heavy weathers in northwest pacific and east asia. because of my age etc, my future trips will be limited to shorter ones, within southeast asia.

i've looked at ebay and saw four options within my budget:

4JH-3E (yanmar's replacement of the 4JH-2E, but 10 more hp, ie, 60) quite new

Universal Marine M50/5444 Kubota 40hp, quite new

Westerbeke 58 rated 38- 40 hp (said to be made by mitsubishi of japan) oldish

VW Marine Diesel 35 hp looks pretty old...

can some of you tell me anything about these engines regarding pros and cons for the PSC37? if necessary, i can provide the links (very long ones!) many thanks!

yzlian
PSC37 (#260)

 

[Faster]

Re: need advice on re-powering my 37

Our current and former boat has/had the VW marine diesel. They are generally rated between 40-50HP (VW Rabbit blocks) The North American 'marinizer' is Pathfinder. They are reliable engines, a bit noisy, perhaps, and use the normal peripherals (Hurth gear, Bowman H/E, Jabsco RW pumps etc) I'm quite happy with them but they suffer from a bad rep for no reason I can see.

For many reasons a direct replacement (yanmar for yanmar) will be the easiest path.

 

[svHyLyte]

hello fellow sailors, my 1993 PSC37 had an unfortunate incident and now needs re-powering. its current engine is the 50-hp yanmar 4JH-2E, the original engine on the boat since new. it served me well on several long voyages, including crossing the equator relying solely on it, and powering through some pretty heavy weathers in northwest pacific and east asia. because of my age etc, my future trips will be limited to shorter ones, within southeast asia.

i've looked at ebay and saw four options within my budget:

4JH-3E (yanmar's replacement of the 4JH-2E, but 10 more hp, ie, 60) quite new

Universal Marine M50/5444 Kubota 40hp, quite new

Westerbeke 58 rated 38- 40 hp (said to be made by mitsubishi of japan) oldish

VW Marine Diesel 35 hp looks pretty old...

can some of you tell me anything about these engines regarding pros and cons for the PSC37? if necessary, i can provide the links (very long ones!) many thanks!

yzlian
PSC37 (#260)

Yzlian--Assuming the 4JH-3E is an essentially drop-in replacement, why consider anything else? I have never heard anyone complain of having too much power available and your fuel consumption will depend more so upon the power you're actually using than the engine size.

FWIW...

 

[mondofromredondo]

I'm far from being any expert on diesels but having owned 2 westerbekes I can say that here in California I found parts to be quite expensive and more difficult to find than my Yanmar. I've concluded that if something was good enough for PSC to decide to install in their boats then its good enough for me. Plus I love being able to know something will drop in and mount to the same holes that are already there. If your Yanmar lived long enough to satisfy you that you had a good motor then why change?

Good luck

 

[deniseO30]

Guess I'm the only one who's curiosity has peaked. What was the unfortunate incident ?

 

[yzlian]

hi denise030, the incident was when some of my friends sailed it, the oil level was low. some screeching sound developed but the engine was not cut. it went worse. a second time it happened again, the thing blew up and one cylinder had a whole blasted through on the side. pretty ugly sight. i suspect there may have been some prior damage to the inside of the block. some seawater got in a few years ago from the fuel vent when the boat heeled over a lot. the seawater filled the water separator cup and overflowed into the engine and it seized up. that happened on one long trip in a gale situation with winds at about 35-40 knots. after repairs, it worked ok again for a few years. but i did not clean out the block. corrosion may have occurred. all this may have been reasons. can anyone sort that out?

 

[yzlian]

would anyone recommend/not recommend the kubota? it is smaller than the 4JH-3E, but more kindly on my budget.

 

[deniseO30]

Guess you aren't going to rebuild that one! "choose your friends wisely" eek

 

[MarcHall]

Re: need advice on re-powering my 37

h
i've looked at ebay and saw four options within my budget:

4JH-3E (yanmar's replacement of the 4JH-2E, but 10 more hp, ie, 60) quite new

yzlian
PSC37 (#260)

1. Friends who repowered their boat with the Beta (ie Kubota) were happy with it, indicated parts were less expensive then Yanmar. Following some recent threads on repowering seem to indicate that the Beta may be more expensive then the Yanmar.

2. A few years ago I replaced the original Yanmar 4JHE installed in 1989 with
40/44 hp with the "drop in" replacement Yanmar with ~50hp. The newer Yanmar required an larger exhaust system so the overall cost of the re-power was more expensive then the original quote due to the replacement of the exhaust system. Something to to keep in mind when shopping for a replacement.

Why did I need to re-power
Headed down from San Diego to Ensenada to have a bottom job done at Baja Naval. Transmission froze for some reason off of Ensenada. Baja Naval pulled the transmission and sent it to San Diego to be rebuilt. They then installed the transmission back in the boat but put the pressure plate in backwards. Engine ran for about 15 hours before the bearings gave out. Quoted cost of a rebuild vs a new engine were not that different so I went with the new engine.
Baja Naval at one point offered to refund the cost of the transmission rebuild but I never actually saw any money from them. The couple of lawyers I talked to both recommended I just walk away from any lawsuit.

Marc Hall
Crazy Fish - Maintaining, Upgrading and Sailing a Crealock 37

 

[yzlian]

does anyone know if the 4JH-3E is a "drop-in" replacement of 4JH-2E, in terms of fitting sizes, exhaust, shaft, etc? thanks.

 

[Gladrags1]

I don't know if it is a drop in replacement but I wou imagine so. Neither one is turbocharged so the exhaust manifold and hoses should be the same. I Would stick with the Yanmar as it is a very good engine and a known entity. I have the original version in my boat (4JH-TE) and it works well. I believe the changes in horsepower are the result of internal changes such as boring it out more for increased compression. I do know that the engines take different filters.

Tod