Common Rail Diesels

[thewavehumper]

Originally posted by crazyhorse
EIn answer to Yanmar being better than Volvo why do you say that?

Youre both wrong. CATS are the best.

KADs are notorious for several weaknesses i.e. valves, pistons, head gaskets to mention but a few.

Yanmar suffer from excessive turbo lag, cracked blocks, breaking drives and creating an impenetrable fog screen wherever they go.

Stu.

[crazyhorse]

Hi Wave, sorry I forgot you are now a diesel expert as you needed to fix yours didnt you.?

Hope your well and you got that Big Cat of yours running at over 2500 revs .

Cats are very good engines in the right application,them that run that is.

[Redbay Rover]

I read on the Cummins Mercruiser site that Mercury will be launching a common rail engine soon, but it dosn't say exactly when. I think alot of manufacturers will start to churn out common rail engines so that they meet the 2006 emission regs.

Anyway, forgetting about common rail for the moment, what is the best circa 300 HP diesel engine at the moment? I need it to be quiet, reliable and full of torque. I'm not too bothered about fuel efficeincy and emissions.

[Petrov]

I think it`s hard to say that one engine is better than the other, a lot depending on what and how you are using your boat and what kind of boat.
Offcourse you can never build an engine that will be the best engine on all boats and use, we all have different experience and good luck and bad luck, exactly the same as with cars.
But i will recoemend an engine that is very reliable, a lot of people have never heard of them but they made engien for tanks from the begining, took a tank engine and made it to a marine engine, they are very light but still strong, the biggest model they have is 246.
Go in to their website and have a check.
I heard that a lot of rescue boats on ships, Pilots etc are using the engine because it`s so reliable.
Steyr engines

[thewavehumper]

I'm fine thanks John and the CAT is running fine. It's true that I have been on a steep learning curve. I've no doubt that you will be on the same curve when you get the KAD back in the UK.

This time next year you might be the countrys No1 KAD mechanic.

Nice to hear the eurocommuter is nearly ready. You'll be able to start getting a bit of experience on your CV.

Cheers

Stu

[jwalker]

Originally posted by thewavehumper
Youre both wrong. CATS are the best.


Stu.

er.... A slight weight penalty Stu.

[Redbay Rover]

Thanks for the link Petrov. The single engine jsut isn't powerful enough, but perhaps redbay can squeeze two 164s next to each other

[crazyhorse]

Unfortunatly its down to who you listen to.

The Cat is one of the best but ,Cummins/Mercruser is also very highly respected engine for over 300 hp.The problem is there isnt at present a Cat 450 with a good leg,You could go with a Conrad leg but with a gearbox and weight and HP losses and size ,your unit will be around 10 ft long and nearly weigh a ton.The costs of a new leg will be around 7k and 2 k for a box and your left with around 370hp at the single prop end.You then having spent 30k have to find a boat to put it all in with room for yourself.

This is if you dont want to go for a second hand water jet like stuart has. Wave can tell you all about that sort of setup.

I have bought new and gone Kad 300 and I am still real happy,Although I like the new IZuzo 400+hp plus motor comming onto the market soon it still needs a reliable leg and I dont know what the costs are like or the size of the engine and box.

good luck

[crazyhorse]

Hay Stuart when did you become a master marina? Ha Ha

[gavin]

Unfortunatally Common Rail gives the impression of simplicity efficiency, low emmissions.Unfortunatly these type of fuel injection systems rely on electronics, and individual solineid valves per chamber (cylinder).In order for the system to work,individually operated solenied valves open and close, electronically timed and sensed.This may be good for managing emmisions, however the fuel injection system which predates this system where individual injectors are fed from a mechanical engine driven pump, is simpler reliable, and relys on filtration to keep the injectors free, of deposits, in cars for example injector intervals are approx 60k.For all intensive purposes a single pump pumps fuel to each injector when required.Common Rail is impressive, but interuption in fuel supply to the Rail will affect all cylinders, you are now into electronically controlled valves, again more moving parts fuel sensors and electronic fuel timing, adding to the complexity of a system which in Diesel engines doesnt need to be complex atall.