Engine Life Expectancy

[Seaward Stew]

Just looking at purchasing our first boat, bit confused at engine hours and their importance in relationship to age. reasonably what sort of hours should a Volvo TAMD 41 200bhp be expected to turn in before needing serious and expensive repairs?

 

[QC]

Re: Engine Life Expectancy

Depending on maintenance, in a commercial application it would not be unusual for a diesel like that to run 5000+ hours before overhaul, potentially significantly more. The fact is though that items like heat exchangers, turbochargers, injectors etc. can get very expensive long before then. Especially with poor maintenance or simply non-use.

What application? Pleasure? What year model? How many hours now? Maintenance records? New?

I run my boat about 100 hours a year which is high for most pleasure boaters that average around 50. However, if this boat is for cruising, it could be significantly higher even for a pleasure boater . . . Commercial, 5 days a week, figure around 2000 hours annually, and it goes up from there.

BTW, welcome aboard!!

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine Life Expectancy

Depends on the preventive maintenance. Scheduled oil changes will keep the engine good for 8 to 10,000 hours. The most expensive common problem is water in the fuel. Destroys the pump and injectors.
The injectors need pop tested every couple of year to make sure they don't become "Squirters" and wash the oil off cylinders which increases the wear.
One note though, even the preventive maintenance is expensive compared to a gas engine, and neglect can really cost you.

 

[Seaward Stew]

Re: Engine Life Expectancy

That's fantastic information many thanks. we intend using it for cruising in a 7.6m Beneteau. Oldest we have been looking at is 1999 with 350 hrs on it, all seem to have a FSH with them. Either the 6 cylinder 200hp or 150 4 cylinder seem to be available.