6-53 TI. Engines

[TROUBLE]

Hello everyone,

My best friend is about to take delivery of a 1990 38' egg harbor. The boat has Detroit 6-53 TI engines. The listing says 1400 hours, 400 since major overhaul. What's the story on these engines. Ieros and cons and more importantly can someone recommend a Detroit engine surveyor in the Niantic, Connetict area.

As always
Thanks in advance
Art
Trouble

[TROUBLE]

there has to be some one out there that can give me some direction. i know its an egg harbor but he's my best friend

Art

[dsharp]

I have never heard anything bad about them other than they're noisy, but that's pretty common with all of the 53 series vs the 71 series . I don't recall it being a real popular marine engine but they were used extensively in the medium truck market until the 3160 and 3208 cats came out. I don't know why they would need rebuilt after 1000 hours they weren't that high strung . I seem to remember them being rated at around 300 hp. I put a pair of them in a 31 Bertram fly bridge and it ran close to 30 mph. That was in the late 70s and the boat moved down the coast so I didn't keep up with it.

[TROUBLE]

thanks, my friend says he was told they are 499hp. with turbos ???

Art

[dsharp]

I checked on boat diesel and the 653t were rated right at 300 and the ti's are rated at around 400. That's about what I remembered, I remember them having twin turbos but they didn't have inter coolers . Being an east coast boat Johnson & Towers might have marinized them and rated them higher. That could explain the low hours before rebuild. That's only a 318 ci engine.

[captddis]

They made 6V53TI's @ 400 hp in the early 90'S they did not have a great reputation. If under propped and run conservatively they did ok.

[saltshaker]

400HP is what I'd expect. Egg Harbor used them a bit in boats of that vintage. Definitely a stressed out engine. 1000 hour failures are pretty common. I had a friend who had them in a 42 Egg. At 1800 hours he was ready for the 2nd overhaul of the pair so he repowered with 6V92's. Like any highly stressed engine, how you run and maintain it is critical. Run them easy and stay on top of the cooling system and they should last longer. A good survey should tell you what condition they're in.

[jim rosenthal]

400 hp out of 318 cubic inches, if my math is right? No wonder they have a short life. Maybe the way to approach them is to reduce the hp- install smaller injectors and turn the boost down. They might last longer that way.

As naturals, they are fine. As TIs they are from the DD era of "turn up the wick and tear up the warranty"......

[workingonadream]

jim mango performance diesel brandford ct. only works on 2 stroke detroits like you have. nobody better guaranteed 40 years doing only detroits. will be cheaper than atlantic and bayside, but more informative too. he will walk you thru the engines and answer all questions

[workingonadream]

jim mango's telephone number is 203-488-6044 leave a message he will call you back even if it is at night like he does with me. let him know what is the ealiest or latest he can call you back. reply back to me with your name and i will leave him a message tonight giving him a heads up good luck