Perkins 240hp

[divert00]

I know this is not a Hatt or DD question, but Admiral and I are considering adding to our stable of boats (79 43C) and could use your opinions. I am looking at a late 80's Defever trawler-style with Perkins 240hp (9 knots). This is an inline, 6-cyl, 4-cycle turbo engine with about 350 inches displacement. Hour meter shows 6000 hours, maintenance appears good. Owner believes there was a MOH by previous owner, but has no documentation. Any opinions on the average expected lifecycle of this engine, assuming good maintenance?

If you know of another site or marine engine service comapny, where Perkins expertise may be found, I'd appreciate any leads.

Happy Holidays!
John

[Blaine Thorpe]

You might try contacting one of the Perkins-Sabre distributors.

http://www.perkins-sabre.com/Distributors/index.cfm

Blaine

[REBrueckner]

If you also post your query on "Trawlers and Trawlering" you'll get feedback from both DeFever and Perkins owners.... http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/lis...and-trawlering

Yea, everybody seems to think big work was done but cannot provide documentation....pay no attention without documentation....but an engine survey is essential unless you know the engines yourself.

[stormchaser]

The really good feedback is based on the Perkins 6.354 natural which puts out 130-135hp depending on year. Those will go 6-8,000 hours before overhaul but are SMOKEY when cold...they smoke like a worn out DD even when they are fine. I had one in my Willard 40 (a full displacement hull trawler).

Sounds like the boat you are loooking at is the T6.354.4 (4th revision of the turbo 6.354). Should be a 240hp engine. A high performance, turbocharged, inter cooled six cylinder, direct injection marine diesel. Good engine, but they extracted an additional 100hp by going turbo...it simply wont last as long. If they havent been majored yet, they are overdue...definitely get a good engine survey.

[Will]

I'd shy away from Perkins Marine. Their engines are great but in the past, they have mismatched metals in the raw water cooling system requiring dismantling heat exchangers and renewing gaskets every few years. Their marine cooling replacement costs are very high.
Will

[OBXTucker]

Try WWW.defevercruisers.com. it's a paid site, but very helpful bunch, similar to here. I joined a while back before purchasing my Hatt and still spend quite a bit of time there. That said, many if not most older Defevers had Lehman's installed, so that's where the majority of the expertise lies.

Nice boats. You looking at a 49 RPH?

[spindrift]

I have had a couple of rag boats with Perkins non turbo engines in them. They are very easy and simple engines to work on. Additionally, they are fairly cheap to rebuild when the time comes. The real issue of these boats is the have problematic seals that result in them being continuous oil leakers. You just need to pay attention to oil levels and undertand that you have to regularly clean the bilge and engine compartment.

Most of the rebuilds I have seen are on the smaller boats 50HP range with rebuild running around 6K out of the boat. I would think on the boat you are looking at it would be closer to 10-12K

Foley marine diesel up in Mass was a long time distributor for these guys. The owner is a bit of a nut he has a PhD and refers to himself as Dr. Diesel. A better alternative is Bob Hanson up at Hanson marine in Marble Head Mass. Bob is as good as they get as far as helping you . I pulled a 4-108 out of my last boat and repowered with a brand new Westerbeke natural. I think the cost was around 12K for the new engine and transmission. They even let my wife choose the engine color.

Thus, it might make sense given the small price difference just to repower on the boat in question if it comes to that.

Give Bob a call if you need help.

Best
Spin

[Brian Degulis]

Documentation of an overhaul means nothing to me as it relies on the honesty of the person presenting it. I would determine what RPM is required to run this boat at displacment speed since it's not a planing boat that's probably were they've been run. Then look at the engines max RPM. If your 65% or more below the max RPM then those engines should have life left in them. I'm guessing at the 65% if you can get a powere curve that's more acurate.The amount of HP an engine can produce is secondary to what it's actually been producing thru it's life. So even if it's a trubo engine capable of producing 240 HP if it's only been producing 120HP it's going to have the same longevity as a natural or very close.


Brian

[SeaEric]

Parts are getting harder to find for some older Perkins models.

[divert00]

Yes, it is a 49 RPH. Thanks for the input. I have talked to a Perkins service dealer and they recommend a replacement (Cummins at $13k) over re-build. Major and minor "spares" kits are still available. As I can have no idea of the actual usage or maintenance, I'll rely heavily on an engine survey and pricing to offset replacement (if it advances to that level of seriousness).

I still love my old DD 6v92TAs, but maybe because they have been VERY reliable and I understand them. And they sound like they mean business....