I am looking at a boat with a Vetus M4.17 43 HP engine. Very low hours. I know nothing about Vetus engines and was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of their quality. Thanks...
Vetus Egines, OK?
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No personal expeerience but info says it is a marinized Mitsubishi diesel. should be a fine engine. Some Westerbeke models are marinized Mitsubishi as well.. Mitsu makes a tough and reliable diesel engine. I do have a good bit of experience with a Mistu that was marinized by Westerbeke.. it is a fine engine.
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I have a Vetus M4.15 in my launch. Installed mid-2006. It's the smaller version of the 4.17.
I have absolutely nothing good to say about Vetus engines. My yard, which sells their thrusters has nothing good to say about them. Here's a bit of what you're looking at.
Poor marinization. Good Mitsubishi block and heads, the rest is poorly executed. Cast iron block and aluminum heat exchanger. No provision for an engine anode or one in the heat exchanger. Castings too thin to bore and tap. Heat exchanger uses a 14mm plug, try to find an anode that will fit in there. I had to jury rig a part off a BMW to fit an anode, after looking around for months for what I needed. This metallurgical tour d'force started corroding in the first year. Look closely at the exhaust end of the heat exchanger. If you see the slightest amount of corrosion or missing paint on the flange, start your anode hunt. If you let it go it will expand within the end cap and split the heat exchanger manifold.
Parts from Vetus are expensive and take forever to arrive. I have waited nine months for a part. I've had the boat down for 3 months waiting for unique Vetus parts.
Paint started falling off the engine after a year. This boat is bone dry and well cared for.
Rubber parts are a throw-away. Replace all hoses and other rubber parts if you get the boat with US made rubber. Do the alternator belt first as it's junk.
Mods as simple as fitting a temp gauge are a challenge. Even from Vetus, you will get a kit with adapters for the sensor and flimsy, unprotected PC boards to interface with an alarm. The over-heating alarm on the boat is inaudible. The Vetus control panel sits about 3" away from my knee and I can't hear the alarm.
Electronics are simple and, other than the normal amount of failures, simple to understand and fix.
Take out the lift pump filter and run without one. I forget what microns they are using but it expects perfectly spotless diesel. This is per Bosch.
Vetus originally shipped with a ZF transmission (forget the model) that has a history of being problematic. Mine went into the shop three times for clutch plates before they finally nailed it down to the fact the linkage had been assembled incorrectly at the factory. Vetus appears to have moved to Twin Disk on later engines.
If you do get the boat, look around for a Mitsubshi industrial engine distributor for parts. They cost a fraction of the price and are always in stock. For Vetus unique parts, plan well ahead.
When it's running, it's lovely. The Mitsubishi starts right up, runs smooth, is quiet and sips diesel.
I have absolutely nothing good to say about Vetus engines. My yard, which sells their thrusters has nothing good to say about them. Here's a bit of what you're looking at.
Poor marinization. Good Mitsubishi block and heads, the rest is poorly executed. Cast iron block and aluminum heat exchanger. No provision for an engine anode or one in the heat exchanger. Castings too thin to bore and tap. Heat exchanger uses a 14mm plug, try to find an anode that will fit in there. I had to jury rig a part off a BMW to fit an anode, after looking around for months for what I needed. This metallurgical tour d'force started corroding in the first year. Look closely at the exhaust end of the heat exchanger. If you see the slightest amount of corrosion or missing paint on the flange, start your anode hunt. If you let it go it will expand within the end cap and split the heat exchanger manifold.
Parts from Vetus are expensive and take forever to arrive. I have waited nine months for a part. I've had the boat down for 3 months waiting for unique Vetus parts.
Paint started falling off the engine after a year. This boat is bone dry and well cared for.
Rubber parts are a throw-away. Replace all hoses and other rubber parts if you get the boat with US made rubber. Do the alternator belt first as it's junk.
Mods as simple as fitting a temp gauge are a challenge. Even from Vetus, you will get a kit with adapters for the sensor and flimsy, unprotected PC boards to interface with an alarm. The over-heating alarm on the boat is inaudible. The Vetus control panel sits about 3" away from my knee and I can't hear the alarm.
Electronics are simple and, other than the normal amount of failures, simple to understand and fix.
Take out the lift pump filter and run without one. I forget what microns they are using but it expects perfectly spotless diesel. This is per Bosch.
Vetus originally shipped with a ZF transmission (forget the model) that has a history of being problematic. Mine went into the shop three times for clutch plates before they finally nailed it down to the fact the linkage had been assembled incorrectly at the factory. Vetus appears to have moved to Twin Disk on later engines.
If you do get the boat, look around for a Mitsubshi industrial engine distributor for parts. They cost a fraction of the price and are always in stock. For Vetus unique parts, plan well ahead.
When it's running, it's lovely. The Mitsubishi starts right up, runs smooth, is quiet and sips diesel.
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