Engine serviceable?

Hello all, my first post!

I'm considering about buying a unfinished 60' steel vessel that has been docked for over 20 years. It has never been in the water: the construction was abandoned because of bankruptcy in the 1990's.

The hull of the vessel is mostly in good shape, but the engine worries me. Can a marine diesel engine withstand 20 years of inoperation? The engine is a 225HP soviet-era ME 3D6 turbodiesel. I have attached a photo of the current condition of the engine.

What do you think?

 

If it had been stored correctly,maybe- but for me personally it's not worth the risk,I wouldn't risk my life on it.


I spent a month in Russia..I think it's a Macos/Makos

 

Run a compression and oil pressure test. Injectors have to be sent out to be tested. Turn the turbo and make sure the bearings are smooth. If that checks, run the engine.

 

curious, are parts available for it?

 

Thanks for the input!

I found a couple of suppliers for spare parts on Alibaba:
SAN-TRADE
Budarin

I would imagine this type of engine is in use on countless vessels in the area of the former Soviet union. I hope this will uphold the demand for parts in the future.

 

And it seems Makos still makes these engines:
www.makos.ru/dizel_1-en.html

Spares list from the manufacturer

 

Get good diesel engine advice at Boatdiesel.net. Look for answers from Ski, Tony, and Paul. I believe I wud bar the engine over and feel for distinct "lumps" of compression after soaking WD in the cylinders a day or two. Mark the crank pulley with three marks 120° apart. You should feel a hard spot, compression, every 240 degrees (every other mark). Three bumps every two turns. The rings will likely be not seating well if there is no penetrant used. Under no circumstances turn the key until you are sure it bars over and you feel "lumps" (Simply to make certain no water has found its way into a jug and if there are no lumps, you'll know why). A diesel engine compression test is of dubious benefit. The compression test will be dependent upon RPM ( A strong battery will show more compression) and I wud look for anomolies rather than a number for compression (maybe three, four hundred PSI?) They shud all be within about 5 or ten% and one just doesn't get more info from "testing", per se. Another "compression test" is to disconnect the fuel pump and turn it over with the starter. You'll hear a cylinder with low compression (r,r,r,R,r,r). But really, what difference does it make? - You shud be concerned with not doing any more damage to the engine and seeing if it runs. If it bars good and runs, and you haven't damaged it, you can start the road to bringing into "ship shape". I wud first ask experts on diesel engines for more advice. New oil? Prelubing (the upper end, turbo, etc., will have NO oil at start-up)? What's in there for coolant? Talk to me about fuel filtration, if you get that far. Okay? Now you have enuf info to ask good questions. If it doesn't run well (which it probably won't), then adjust your offer accordingly.

 

I just looked at the pic up close. Plan on pulling.

 

The seller is a shipyard, so they should have qualified mechanics available. I'm thinking to tie the inspection and repair of the engine into the sale. Maybe ask them to pay for the inspection on the condition that if the engine can be repaired, I would agree to buy the vessel.

 

Just curious, would water in the cylinder cause corrosion and that would affect the compression?

 

I'd suggest making an offer for the boat that assumes the engine is worthless. If it is salvageable that's a bonus. Asking the shipyard to cover inspection/repair of the engine will cause them to jack up the price to cover their risk.

You might be better off installing a reman or secondhand engine. If your heart's set on the ME 3D6 (was it a particularly highly regarded unit?) then lift it out of the boat after purchase, find a retired mechanic or diesel shop that enjoys a challenge and offer an hourly rate to strip down as required and get it going again. Help with 'grunt' work in doing this. But I'd think you'll still need some favours, friends and a lot of bargaining on parts/reconditioning to make it serviceable enough at a reasonable price to trust your life to, or perhaps to even satisfy an insurer.

 

"Just curious, would water in the cylinder cause corrosion and that would affect the compression?" - Yes but it cud be seized or hydrolocked.
"I'd suggest making an offer for the boat that assumes the engine is worthless" - Good idea

 

When negotiating with the yard, you could tell them you are assuming the engine is worthless. If they say 'no its not' then you can ask them to prove it. That way they take the risk at their own time/cost, and if they don't want to do that then they are tacitly accepting that it is worthless, and you've lowered their price expectation.

 

Yeah, I'll probably assume it's worthles. I don't have any special preference toward the 3D6. I was just thinking that if the engine is already installed and could be repaired that could be a good option. I do like the idea of having an engine that does not rely on a ECU though, but there are alot of options that satisfy this.

 

Absolutely do not bar over until the fuel system has been dismantled and cleaned. The fuel injection pump and injectors (or is it unit injection?) have tolerances 100x finer than the rest of the engine, and are far more likely to cause trouble.