Engine Info Please - - - CUMMINS 450C Diamond Series

[auguste]

f08

You have made 13 posts since you registered on THT

All of those posts have either trashed this thread in one way or another

Give it a break . . . let each person hold their beliefs . . . this is not a Church where you try to convince the parishioners that your way is the only way . . .

This is more like a bunch of guys and gals sitting at a bar by the docks having a friendly discussion

Also, nobody here (except you) said that Tony is the only good mechanic . . . that is your comment

However, Tony has been willing to share his experience and that is appreciated

Relax, have fun, and lose a bit of your aggressiveness . . . have fun and let the others express their opinions . . . yours is not the only Church or Synagogue or Mosque in town

[Sleeper]

fo8 Please do us all a favor and move on. Your input to date has had ZERO value.

[SeaNile]

Not to hijack the thread but....I thought all diesels did not like cold weather and took a bit to start in cold weather? Isn't that why block heaters are offered (and on most big diesel trucks too)? What are the issues if a diesel takes a while to start when cold, say less than 50 degrees out?? I know when I pull my boat it will be about 35 degrees out and the engines do not start in 1/2 a crank!

--JK
www.seanile31.com

[Huntersun]

Tony, great to read you over here and thanks for posting your wealth of knowledge.

[Tbrodes]

Wow, I am thinking about pursuing a boat with diesels (3208 Cats). Its so great to see their is a true diesel Guru around this forum. Tony, PLEASE stick around, don't let guys like F08 p*ss you off...there are some of us here that do enjoy the read, and the knowledge you and others give so graciously.

Auguste, good luck with the boat sale! Hopefully everything works out!

Seanile made a good point, one boat I looked at with 3208's took more than a half crank to start up in 42 degree weather with no block heaters on...after that they ran great, minimal smoke, proper WOT, cruise speeds, temps, vaccume. It all looked good.

What say you?

[prowlersfish]

For what it is worth my Cummins 300 B are harder to start below 50 and real hard at 30 so I just use block heaters . the 2 boat near me with 671s won't start below 50 with out the heaters . the rest of the Diesel boats in the marina are fine as you won't see the owners below 65 degress .

[rebriel53]

F08, this post is directed @ YOU.

I NEED to make an apology here to Tony Athens @ sbmar.com.

After reading Augustine's ORIGINAL post.....asking about, surveying, maybe buying a used C450, I emailed Tony directly and asked "Tony, take a peek @ thehulltruth.com. There's a gent the needs some straight forward REAL world info."

I emailed Tony because he has saved me $1000's in advice and product along with countless of other diesel owners.

Other than the fact that he's helped Augustine out and I'm sure will do in the future, I REALLY wished I had not asked him to take a peek @ this thread. Very embarassing for me to ask him for his time (other than Augustine's questions) on this fourm. I just DON'T see this type of attacking etc. on boatdiesel froum.
Tony, my apoligies.
Regards, Bill

[auguste]

rebriel53 - 12/7/2008 4:05 PM F08, this post is directed @ YOU. I NEED to make an apology here to Tony Athens @ sbmar.com. After reading Augustine's ORIGINAL post.....asking about, surveying, maybe buying a used C450, I emailed Tony directly and asked "Tony, take a peek @ thehulltruth.com. There's a gent the needs some straight forward REAL world info." I emailed Tony because he has saved me $1000's in advice and product along with countless of other diesel owners. Other than the fact that he's helped Augustine out and I'm sure will do in the future, I REALLY wished I had not asked him to take a peek @ this thread. Very embarassing for me to ask him for his time (other than Augustine's questions) on this fourm. I just DON'T see this type of attacking etc. on boatdiesel froum. Tony, my apoligies. Regards, Bill

I've spent abot 6 hours on BoatDiesel in the last 3 days and it is a less aggressive site

I'm glad you asked Tony because he did help a great deal

THANKS

[rebriel53]

One last thing. You diesel owners who are GLAD to see Tony over here on this forum for real world diesel info. If you are not a member of boatdiesel forum ($25 per year) JOIN.

Not only to get Tony (Cummins Yanmar), CAT,Volvo, ALL other diesel expertise. Dealer/experts who come to mind, Paul Foulston (Cummins/Steyr UK), Ski in NC? Eric ( ALL diesels), Got Diesel (ALL diesels), Bill Waters (Volvo), Tomas Kempe (CAT)others I haven't mentioned.
You DO NOT get this wasted time and effort of mindless chatter and attacking one another. P Compton does NOT put up with it. That's why the REAL info/solutions is on bd.forum.

Regards, Bill

[rebriel53]

auguste, It will take you many many hours to get ALL the info you'll need on making a decision on the C450s, and also you'll pick some info up on your current Volvos. Very little mindless/attcking posting on bd forum. Peter Compton doesn't allow, post are deleted, non-technical deleted ASAP. Keeps the real reason for the forum up front. Solutions and questions answed on diesel forum.

Me personally, I've got a dozen guys who won 6Bs. EVERY one of them has gotten their important advice and products from Tony saving alot of aggravation $$ etc.

Again, goodluck, Bill

[SeaNile]

I have communicated for years and bought several things from Tony. I'm in PA and buy everything I can from him, his advice and knowledge is priceless! I have 6BTA 300's and Tony has been fantastic with helping me with anything I have ever needed. If Tony stays on THT it will be the best thing that has happened to this site aside from Wiley making the site to begin with...

--JK
www.seanile31.com

[auguste]

SeaNile - 12/7/2008 5:23 PM I have communicated for years and bought several things from Tony. I'm in PA and buy everything I can from him, his advice and knowledge is priceless! I have 6BTA 300's and Tony has been fantastic with helping me with anything I have ever needed. If Tony stays on THT it will be the best thing that has happened to this site aside from Wiley making the site to begin with... --JK www.seanile31.com

You can't get a better recommendation than from someone who is seanile

SorryJK I just had to tease You have a fantastic boat (and that is not teasing)

[rebriel53]

Well....I hope Tony continues to monitor the posts. He's a busy straight shooter. No real time for crapolla.
Bill

[chrisjb]

SeaNile - 12/7/2008 12:02 PM

Not to hijack the thread but....I thought all diesels did not like cold weather and took a bit to start in cold weather? Isn't that why block heaters are offered (and on most big diesel trucks too)? What are the issues if a diesel takes a while to start when cold, say less than 50 degrees out?? I know when I pull my boat it will be about 35 degrees out and the engines do not start in 1/2 a crank!

--JK
www.seanile31.com

I think this thread has already been somewhat highjacked; someone can correct me if I am wrong, but here goes;

Diesels ignite oil because of compression. Compression generates heat..heat = expansion, yada, yada. So when the engine is cold, and the metal (valves, rings) are not expanded due to heat, this is the best time to guestimate the wear on the valves and rings. Tolerances on diesels are very small due to the high compression, so when heated, an engine needing work could run just like an engine that doesn't need work. Its a quick/cheap way to see if you need to look more deeply into the insides of the engine or eliminating buying an engine that could be nearing a ring/valve job/rebuild.

On the cummins 330b - with cold start - you can also pull the dipstick and see if oil is being pushed out/and pull the breather to see if you see any smoke rising. (now when you see that on a hot engine, a mechanic will tell you to "run Forest run!" )

Block heaters try to work around this, but mainly they were put on to reduce smoking on cold startups. The smoking comes from incomplete combustion because the engine is not operating at ideal ambient temp. Also I think having warmed oil helps reduce a little of the stress on the starter/battery when cranking. I think the cat 3126 offers an intake air heater versus using a block heater.

[rebriel53]

chrisjb, I have to disagree with part of your post. With all do respect, if you DO NOT breathe the 6B by blocking the breathing tube, the engine WILL breath by blowing out the oil check tube or the tappett gasket right next to the breathing tube. Then you have an oil leak.
All diesels have to "breath". I was on a "new" 330B not to long ago. The "breather" was open to the engine room with a collection jug and a filter. Some light crankcase fumes were visible. At cold startup and after a few hours of hard running..From what I know, the visible fumes quite normal.

The normal breathing of diesels and creating fumes "puffing" out of the engine and how to mitigate the fumes is how Walker Airsep made their $$.

Again, with all do repsect,

Bill D

[prowlersfish]

rebriel53 ( BILL ) I agree 100% with everything you said ! You can get a lot of info off Boatdiesel for free but you can get a lot more for 25 bucks. years of info , real life info the best prop calculator around its great . and allot less BS.

auguste if you find I am wrong I will pay for your membership . ( I bet I won't have to pay his way)
Tony is a great guy has help me allot .I have learned a lot from him.

[chrisjb]

Thanks for the correction. I'm definitely not an expert on diesels, didn't stay at the holiday in express, but have been a member of boatdiesel for some time. It's a very informative site, and the most comprehensive site on diesels that I have found.

[captddis]

f08 - 12/7/2008 5:57 AM

This quote should make you think a little bit. Being a diesel mechanic is not rocket science. I have a good mechanic at Cummins Southeastern, but there are good diesel mechanics all over the place. I don't think my engine has lasted for 8,200 hours because my mechanic is some kind of miracle worker. Keeping diesels running a long time just takes a little common sense. Here is a quote that I thought was pretty funny:

I'm sure Tony is a good mechanic too, but if you believe he is the only mechanic who knows anything about diesels, then has done a better job of salesmanship with you than he has done with me.

No sales job here, I disagree with Tony on things and we both have strong opinions. I have been repairing marine diesels for 30+ years. Maybe not rocket science but everybrand has its quirks and strong and weak points. Manufacturers also update their products over time , a casual observer would not be aware of the updates. Or in the case of the idler bolt failing after a certain amount of hours, someone who does not routinely service that model would not know that for reliabilities sake that the bolt should be replaced at X hours.
Ask your mechanic when the bolt should be replaced, let us know what he says.
Better yet try to order a set of marine hoses from Cummins SE, Or ask them a technical question. I bet they will tell you that they can't answer for " legal reasons"

[auguste]

prowlersfish - 12/7/2008 6:33 PM rebriel53 ( BILL )

You can get a lot of info off Boatdiesel for free but you can get a lot more for 25 bucks. years of info , real life info the best prop calculator around its great . and allot less BS.

auguste if you find I am wrong I will pay for your membership .

Your money is safe . . . I already got well over $25's worth from BoatDiesel (like I have from TheHullTruth)and I've only been a member there for a couple of days

[prowlersfish]

auguste , I only bet on sure things