DD Rebuilding Specifications

[Traveler 45C]

Originally by "Genesis", found by Traveller45C

Here ya' go:

Assuming it is a COMPLETE rebuild, $3k/hole is about right for budget purposes.

BTW, complete means, to me anyway:

• NEW marine heads. NOT RECONDITIONED.
• Premium injectors in said heads. NOT your old ones.
• New kits, of course.
• Main bearings rolled in; all journals plastigauged to confirm proper bearing fit and fitness for continued service.
• Turbochargers exchanged.
• ALL coolers removed from the engine and tank-cleaned (ultrasonic or caustic), including the oil cooler.
• New freshwater pump, thermostats and housing seals.
• Seawater pump pulled, inspected, new impeller and cam installed. If pump body is questionable, pump is replaced.
• On engines with blower-drive alternators, new hub kit (this is a fairly common oil leak point, and disturbing it once installed virtually guarantees an oil leak here)
• Blower checked and, if oil leakage detected at seals or clearances are out on the lobes, overhauled.
• New fuel pump (on front of blower).
• Exhaust manifolds dismounted, wire brushed and painted. Entire engine cleaned of all oil and debris, prepped and painted, all surfaces.
• Run-in is done BY THEM- not you- and you are provided with sea trial documentation proving the engines turn up within specs. You should be on board for this, obviously.
• A WARRANTY good for at least two years or 500 hours of operation is given on the rebuild, covering all parts replaced or inspected. If THEY miss something, THEY eat it- not you. The major exceptions here are the gear train and camshaft(s), since those are not removed. If they miss crank or journal damage, or install a bad head or kit that blows the engine 100 hours out, however, they must eat it, as they have the opportunity to catch this and it is their job to do so. That’s why you’re paying them.

Basically, a proper rebuild should give you a new engine in virtually all material respects. If it doesn’t, then I’d be looking at what it costs to find a pair of newly reconditioned engines and swap ‘em. At $18k per motor you are damn close to halfway to the price of a new engine WITH gear- don’t forget that!

If you can’t get all of the above then I’d have the engines pulled and rebuilt on a stand, followed by dyno verification. There are way too many rebuilders out there who refuse to provide any kind of real warranty and no verification of the quality of their work. Having the engines pulled costs money, but the inframe out-of-boat rebuild gives you the opportunity for that dyno verification that the engine produces rated power when they’re done, that it is running correctly at full power, and that the run-in was done according to proper procedures (since they need to do that before doing the dyno pulls.)