Answers to the above questions determine the engine we recommend. For example, if you sail on an inl

We often get phone calls at Sound Marine Diesel from boat owners inquiring about installing a new engine in a sailboat. This article explains the repowering process in general terms. When should dollar deal rent a car you consider repowering?
If your present engine is always hard to start, has constantly smoky exhaust, burns or leaks a lot of oil, is low on power, has coolant or water in the oil, or parts are difficult or expensive to acquire, repowering solves ALL these problems.
Installing a new diesel engine in your sailboat has many advantages. A new engine has the latest diesel technology. New engines are lighter, smaller, and run much smoother and quieter, with minimal exhaust emissions and superior fuel economy. The new engine and transmission dollar deal rent a car will have factory warranties, with no parts supply problems.
You're also able to leave your homeport for far off destinations, confident in the fact that the new engine will get you home in a timely and safe manner. This greatly increases dollar deal rent a car the utility and safety of your boat and removes the "will the engine start this time?" anxiety. After all, she is a "pleasure" boat. Remember, unlike a car, one cannot hitchhike home when your marine engine is broken.
Customers ask if rebuilding their present engine is financially feasible. It is usually not so. Parts can be expensive and difficult to find, if they're even available. Rebuilding an engine without rebuilding the transmission dollar deal rent a car is a bad idea, as the transmission becomes the weak link in the powertrain.
Old raw water [salt water] cooled engines, such as the Volvo Penta MD7, MD11, Farymann A30M and Atomic 4 gasoline engine, are very poor candidates for rebuilding. They usually break during disassembly, due to advanced internal corrosion, and cannot be reassembled. Also, the internal water passages in the block and head are wasted away to a fraction of their original thickness, with a major and permanent engine failure inevitable. Most machine shops that rebuild engines will not touch salt-water cooled engines for these reasons.
There's also a world of difference between a professionally rebuilt engine and a "home rebuilt" engine. It takes a high degree of precision, experience, technical skill, and the correct machine and hand tools to correctly rebuild an engine. This means you must, at a minimum, hire a professional to rebuild the entire fuel injection system, engine head, and correctly dollar deal rent a car inspect, fit, and install the other major components. This costs money that is better spent on a new technology diesel.
Answers to the above questions determine the engine we recommend. For example, if you sail on an inland lake with no tidal currents, you don't need a lot of horsepower to drive the boat. Conversely, if you sail offshore, where you encounter large waves, strong winds, dollar deal rent a car and also need electrical dollar deal rent a car generating capacity to operate dollar deal rent a car radar, an autopilot, watermaker, etc., we suggest more horsepower, along with a larger alternator or two.
The trend for the last 15 years is to install more powerful engines in sailboats. Some customers want a powerboat when not sailing, and desire a large engine to drive the boat to hull speed, dollar deal rent a car and to maintain speed when encountering wind and wave. In a displacement hull sailboat, dollar deal rent a car this attempt is easily overdone.
Remember, the speed of a displacement hull (one that plows through the water, in contrast to one that skims over the water] is limited by the length of her waterline. Once top speed [hull speed] is attained, the boat cannot go faster, no matter how much horsepower is installed. This is because the hull has formed a bow wave, a stern wave, and a trough between them. The boat is sitting in a hole, and cannot climb her own bow wave.
Therefore, it will take "X" amount of horsepower to drive a sailboat with a "Y" waterline length to hull speed. We then suggest a bit more horsepower, for reserve power when fighting strong currents and waves. More power than this is not needed or desired, as the boat cannot go faster dollar deal rent a car than hull speed. Why pay for horsepower that cannot be used to drive the boat?
One BIG limiting factor in pushing any sailboat is the diameter of the propeller. If your boat can only fit a 12" diameter prop, such as the Tartan 34C, more than 25 horsepower dollar deal rent a car is a waste of money. This is due to the inability of the small prop to transfer greater horsepower to the water. dollar deal rent a car Also, an oversized engine costs more, weighs more, and is harder to service since it fills the engine space more completely than a correctly sized engine.
Let's discuss the Catalina 30, an extremely successful design of 6000+ hulls built. Hull speed of this boat, with her 25-foot waterline, dollar deal rent a car is a theoretical 6.5 knots. The boat needs only 12 horsepower to reach hull speed, under ideal conditions [clean bottom, flat water, no wind, correct transmission reduction ratio, and correct prop]. Now, let's add a bit more horsepower to ensure the boat can reach hull speed under less than ideal weather conditions. Sixteen horsepower is adequate. Twenty dollar deal rent a car horsepower is ideal for this boat, as boat speed is maintained under most conditions, while also charging batteries. Remember, the boat is still an auxiliary powered sailboat, not a powerboat. If you must make headway under power into 25+ knots of wind, and the resulting dollar deal rent a car waves, you need a powerboat…and a seatbelt!
dollar deal rent a car Repowering your vessel is your chance to install the correct engine for your exact application. To maximize powering efficiency, the engine, transmission reduction ratio, and propeller must work together. Don't assume that your present dollar deal rent a car transmission ratio and prop are making the most of your engine's horsepower. Many times when customers complain about poor boat performance, it's because the propeller's diameter, pitch, or transmission reduction ratio do not compliment the engine's power.
Your engine should be running at cruising rpm when the boat is at hull speed. Cruising rpm is usually somewhere between 85% to 95% of maximum engine rpm. This will allow the engine to develop its rated horsepower and operate dollar deal rent a car the cooling system efficiently, and will correctly load the engine for maximum service life. There will also be a few hundred rpm in reserve, to maintain hull speed when encountering wind and wave.
If you intend to install an engine of "X" horsepower because dollar deal rent a car that's what the boatbuilder did, you may be perpetuating a mistake. That's because it is very common dollar deal rent a car in the boatbuilding industry to install an engine that was purchased dollar deal rent a car inexpensively, regardless of its overall suitability for the application. One example is the Cape Dory 28, displacing 9,000 pounds. The factory sometimes dollar deal rent a car installed dollar deal rent a car a VolvoMD2B engine of 25 horsepower, weighing 505 pounds, which is WAY too much power and weight for the application. The boat simply cannot use all the available horsepower, and the boat is handicapped by the extra engine weight. A much more suitable engine would be one of 13 horsepower, dollar deal rent a car as it has plenty of power to drive her to hull speed, such as the old VolvoMD7A. TheMD7A was installed in the heavier Cape Dory 30, and is smaller dollar deal rent a car and lighter than the MD2B by 120 pounds.Modern designs such as the BetaMarine 13.5 horsepower engine weigh 195 pounds, resulting in improved sailing performance, particularly dollar deal rent a car in light air.
Any new engine must be installed to the latest marine standards. This means only certified marine-grade materials be used for the exhaust, cooling, ventilation, electrical, control and fuel systems. These specialized parts and materials are not available at Home Depot. The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC; abycinc.org) publishes voluntary engine installation standards for small craft.
The most common dollar deal rent a car mistake boat owners make when repowering is to duplicate the old exhaust system currently. This results in a new engine being installed to an outdated standard, and puts it at risk for major damage. A wet marine exhaust system is a critical installation in any sailboat. It must be designed and installed to prevent raw water from backflooding the engine, and also have minimal restrictions to allow the engine to freely dollar deal rent a car breathe.
Backflooding is very damaging to any engine.Major repairs are likely if salt water enters the cylinders. This can occur when sailing dollar deal rent a car (engine off ) in a following sea, or when the boat is pitching or heeling, thus swamping the exhaust through hull.We prefer a through-hull with an integral flapper valve, as it provides another layer of protection against backflooding.
The ABYC says the exhaust through-hull must be installed where it will not be underwater during the normal operation of the boat. The ideal location is in the middle dollar deal rent a car of the transom. If this is not practical, the through hull-should be located as high and as close to centerline as possible. dollar deal rent a car The old practice of locating the exhaust through-hull on the counter is a bad idea, as it will be submerged whenever the boat is underway.
Most sailboats also need a high-rise exhaust elbow on the engine, to help prevent exhaust water from flowing backwards, and possibly entering the cylinders. It was common in the past to make the high-rise elbow from cast iron pipe. This caused many problems, such as excess weight being bolted to the engine's exhaust manifold, high exhaust restriction from using several 90-degree pipe elbows, and limited service life due to corrosion. Modern marine engines usually use a one-piece dollar deal rent a car stainless steel high-rise elbow to eliminate these problems.
A waterlift type muffler must be installed to assist dollar deal rent a car the engine in discharging the exhaust water up and overboard. The muffler is located at the lowest point in the system. Its primary function is to capture exhaust water when the engine dollar deal rent a car is shut off. This will help prevent water from backflooding the engine. Its secondary function is to muffle exhaust noise.
dollar deal rent a car Avoid the thin, blow-molded plastic mufflers, dollar deal rent a car as they will melt should the raw water supply dollar deal rent a car be interrupted. The old stainless steel mufflers corroded internally from hot salt water, and developed leaks.