OTish: Boat Engine

[RJH]

In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.

When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.

My friend said he was satisfied with this explanation. I'm not so sure - is
this in any way equivalent to a car engine? if so, I can't see that sort of
oil loss happening because of a loose dipstick (I asked my friend to check the
dipstick arrangement - whether it was screw down etc). But that's just my
expereince of relatively mundane road going cars. And I'd be wary of an engine
that had run on low oil in any event, although hopefully the alarm cut the
engine off before any damage.

Any insights?

[Fredxx]

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.
My friend said he was satisfied with this explanation. I'm not so sure - is
this in any way equivalent to a car engine? if so, I can't see that sort of
oil loss happening because of a loose dipstick (I asked my friend to check the
dipstick arrangement - whether it was screw down etc). But that's just my
expereince of relatively mundane road going cars. And I'd be wary of an engine
that had run on low oil in any event, although hopefully the alarm cut the
engine off before any damage.

Not personally but I have known others to loose a lot of oil with the
dipstick missing. Best inspect when the engine is running, if at all
possible.

For £200k I would suggest a survey is mandatory. Not all surveys include
the engines but I'm sure it's possible.

[D A Stocks]

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.
My friend said he was satisfied with this explanation. I'm not so sure - is
this in any way equivalent to a car engine? if so, I can't see that sort of
oil loss happening because of a loose dipstick (I asked my friend to check the
dipstick arrangement - whether it was screw down etc). But that's just my
expereince of relatively mundane road going cars. And I'd be wary of an engine
that had run on low oil in any event, although hopefully the alarm cut the
engine off before any damage.

I would want the whole thing cleaned professionally because disposing of
heavily contaminated bilge water legally might be expensive. I would then
inpect the clean engine bay and dry bilges before repeating the test run,
after which I could then check for oil (and other) leaks.

For something like that I would probably have a proper survey done anyway.

--
DAS

[Mark]

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.

every inboard boat engine I have ever seen has a very long thin dip stick
tube for I would have thought obvious reasons
so even without the dipstick in place would only spit out egg cup full of
oil

it could be whatever is used as an engine breather is blocked or something
much more expensive

--

[newshound]

Post by Mark

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.

every inboard boat engine I have ever seen has a very long thin dip stick
tube for I would have thought obvious reasons
so even without the dipstick in place would only spit out egg cup full of
oil
it could be whatever is used as an engine breather is blocked or something
much more expensive
--

I wondered if oil was added via the rocker box, and that cap had been
left off. However I agree that it could be a breather problem, or
something much worse.

As someone else said, I'd be getting an expert opinion too.

[Tim+]

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.
My friend said he was satisfied with this explanation. I'm not so sure - is
this in any way equivalent to a car engine? if so, I can't see that sort of
oil loss happening because of a loose dipstick (I asked my friend to check the
dipstick arrangement - whether it was screw down etc). But that's just my
expereince of relatively mundane road going cars. And I'd be wary of an engine
that had run on low oil in any event, although hopefully the alarm cut the
engine off before any damage.
Any insights?

I think you’re right to be concern. Engines blow out oil when crankcase
pressures get too high which could be due to piston ring/bore wear. I
think he’d be well advised to get a second opinion.

Tim

[Peter Hill]

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.
My friend said he was satisfied with this explanation. I'm not so sure - is
this in any way equivalent to a car engine? if so, I can't see that sort of
oil loss happening because of a loose dipstick (I asked my friend to check the
dipstick arrangement - whether it was screw down etc). But that's just my
expereince of relatively mundane road going cars. And I'd be wary of an engine
that had run on low oil in any event, although hopefully the alarm cut the
engine off before any damage.
Any insights?

Boats will have a low oil level warning which is different to low
pressure, engine wrecked light that cars have. Need to verify that it
was low oil and not oil pressure.

Some boat engines are handed, particularity twin installations. The one
that runs backwards could sling oil up a dipstick tube as they don't
move the dipstick. Get the owner to show him how to refit the dipstick
properly or he will repeat this for himself. Car engines the dipstick is
on the side that the crank descends on so the oil isn't flung up the tube.

I once saw a car go though auction that arrived with the filer cap
missing from the rocker cover. That was an almighty mess and knocked
about 10% off it's sale price.

Need another run to check that doesn't happen again and a survey. He
should ask how many gallons it used on the demo run. A day out could be
£100, that's why they sit in the marina all year. Fuel tanks are always
hundreds of gallons, like 3 to 4 hundred.

Boat - a hole in the water that you shovel money into, the bigger the
hole the more money it takes. Hope he's got £20k/year to spare as the
rule of thumb is 10% of the value goes on maintenance each year.

[Fredxx]

Post by Peter Hill

Post by RJH
In the hope someone on here knows something about boat engines. A friend is
buying a boat/yacht - it has 2 engines and is quite sporty as these things go,
I'm told. About £200k second hand.
When out for a test, one of the engine's alarms went off, and this was due to
a major oil leak - apparently the engine bay was covered in oil. The seller
assured my friend that this was all quite innocent - he'd forgotten to refit
the dipstick properly, and as they'd been running it at full power (30 knots I
think he said) for a while, pressure had built up, and these things happen.
He'd clean up the mess, refill the oil, and all would be well.
My friend said he was satisfied with this explanation. I'm not so sure - is
this in any way equivalent to a car engine? if so, I can't see that sort of
oil loss happening because of a loose dipstick (I asked my friend to check the
dipstick arrangement - whether it was screw down etc). But that's just my
expereince of relatively mundane road going cars. And I'd be wary of an engine
that had run on low oil in any event, although hopefully the alarm cut the
engine off before any damage.
Any insights?

Boats will have a low oil level warning which is different to low
pressure, engine wrecked light that cars have. Need to verify that it
was low oil and not oil pressure.
Some boat engines are handed, particularity twin installations. The one
that runs backwards could sling oil up a dipstick tube as they don't
move the dipstick. Get the owner to show him how to refit the dipstick
properly or he will repeat this for himself. Car engines the dipstick is
on the side that the crank descends on so the oil isn't flung up the tube.
I once saw a car go though auction that arrived with the filer cap
missing from the rocker cover. That was an almighty mess and knocked
about 10% off it's sale price.
Need another run to check that doesn't happen again and a survey. He
should ask how many gallons it used on the demo run. A day out could be
£100, that's why they sit in the marina all year. Fuel tanks are always
hundreds of gallons, like 3 to 4 hundred.
Boat - a hole in the water that you shovel money into, the bigger the
hole the more money it takes. Hope he's got £20k/year to spare as the
rule of thumb is 10% of the value goes on maintenance each year.

I've heard it said that boats and horses are the best indicators of the
economy. The stock market faithfully follows the direction of value for
high cost, high maintenance assets.