Detroit Diesel Surveyor Recommendation

[Bill Wright]

Need to Survey 871 Natural 1971 engines and a Westerbeake 15 kw genset at Hilton Head. No hour meters. Hull survey for Hatteras 53' Motor Yacht required also. Recommendations please.

[Bill Wright]

Having a hard time finding a surveyor for these 1972 engines. Any help would be appreciated. Bill

[Bob Bradley]

Where are you located?

[Bill Wright]

The boat is in Hilton Head, Shelter Cove Marina. I am in Virginia. Bill

[drburke]

Glad you got that out there, Bill; Hilton Head is South Carolina which is the missing info.

Note to others: kindly provide more geographic information.

Too many on here post things like "gadget for sale a Bob's Marina, down by the red traffic light" which is a little provencial.

Please remember many are not in your city, state, coast, or even country.

DAN

[Bob Bradley]

I know a pretty good guy, but he's up here in CT. Sorry.

[MadHatter53]

Most of us use the sig line for that.

[mike.s]

Save your money and skip the engine survey, they are old Detroits. If they start quickly without excessive smoke and surging they will be good for a while. If they start hard and smoke for longer than 20-30 seconds their compression is getting low and they will need a rebuild in the near future. I bought my boat with 1292's 4 years ago. I was told the motors had 2000 hours on them with one being rebuilt at 1,800. In all the boats I've had I was talked into a motor survey on one of them, and I felt ripped off afterwards. The survey didn't tell me anything I couldn't tell from looking at the motors and running the boat. When I bought the boat I have now I figured one was rebuilt and the other motor would need a rebuild shortly. I was surprised when I went for the survey how quickly and smoke free the non rebuilt motor started. It's now over 4.5 years and 1000 hours later and both motors still start instantly with very little smoke.
If they do start hard, smoke, and surge it doesn't necessarily mean rebuild time but at that point it's time to get a qualified mechanic to look at them.

[JLR]

Not sure I agree with this advice. Having had 692's,892's and 1292's, I'd say an engine survey is well worth the money. One can "cadillac" a rack to hide a low compression hole at startup. Also, by pulling or looking at the turbo, one can tell whether there is a broken ring. Of course, block heaters will hide many problems. So, a qualified mechanical survey can provide guidance as to condition not necessarily apparent otherwise.

[Jammin']

I don't know if he will travel that far, but Eric Rydzewski did mine, including oil analysis, and I was happy with him.

Eric Rydzewski
2033 Middle Sound Loop Rd
Wilmington, NC 28411 USA
910.471.2870
erydzewski@aol.com