Engine Advise

[Jeff Stone]

Hi all. I am looking to purchase a very clean 27' Catalina traditional. I'ts a 1984 model with a 16 HP Universal diesel. The broker says it has 1100 hours on it. How many hours do these engines perform until and are these hours low, medium or high.Thanks in advanceJeff jeff@fnlassembly.com

 

[Tom Soko]

Relatively Low...

Jeff,1100 hours on a boat approaching 18-20 years in age is relatively low. Most people assume about 100 hrs/yr for "average" use. If a boat is cruised extensively, the hours could be 2-5 times higher. More important is how was the engine/boat maintained? A few minutes without oil or cooling water is far worse than thousands of hours with proper maintenance. I've heard of diesels going 5-10,000 hours. The injectors should be rebuilt every 1000 hrs or so, and it goes without saying that the oil should be changed at least every year. Good Luck with the boat!Tom SokoJulandra C36 #659

 

[D.St.Denis]

Hello Jeff,8000 to 15000 on on a diesel engine.Oil isthe life of diesel change every 250 hrs/90 days.Change out the glow plugs and the impeller on the water pump.Remember to get your parts froma Kuboto dealer price for parts go way down....Depending on the use of the vessel 50 to 100 hours per year is about right.For even less hassel set up a extra fuel filter or two.Good sailingD.St.Denis

 

[Brad]

Agree, 1K hours is just broken in...

We are assuming that it has been taken care of.Second the Kobuto parts thing....add the words Universal or Marine to anything and the price triples. I understand that the Universal was built by Kobuto and the Universal people simple added the cooling system.Change the transmission oil also....and buy a spare fuel pump and keep it on the boat.One last thing, if it doesn't have one, add a Recor (sp?) water separator. Good Luck,Brad on the Willy T

 

[Dave]

Engine Hours

To get a perspective on engine hours multiply the hours by 40 and that will convert to what it would be on your car odometer. What others have to say about oil changes can't be over emphasized...Good luck.

 

[Tom]

Engine Hours on Deisels are all relative

1100 hours is low relatively speaking. Especially if the engine was taken care of and oil changed often. But if one engine was run only 15 minutes out of a slip and 15 minutes into the slip 3 or 4 times a week and that is all, but it accumulated 1100's then it is a lot.As opposed to an engine that is run hard (70% of max output) for hours at a time.If I were to choose which engine to take. I would take the one that was run hard for hours. Its much better for Diesels....why do you think truck drivers leave their engines running instead of stopping and starting?But I suspect you will never know what kind of treatment the engine was given, so the next best thing is to have an oil analysis done. This can be pretty accurate on what might be going wrong with an engine (blown rings, lifter sticking, etc, ). Just make sure the oil wasn't just changed though. The engine needs to be run a bit before the oil will show whats up. It'll cost a couple of bucks, but its one way to be more sure of what you might be getting.