3126 Cat Diesel

[1962 31]

any one use or have any views on these motors still trying to find some diesels for my boat
not sure of the horse power of them I just sent an email to ask the owner

[mike ohlstein]

I recall that there were loads of problems with the early ones. Blocks cracking, I think. Something about some of the blocks being cast in France, and wanting to surrender......

[jackryan]

Here is a pair of low time 315 HP Yanmar's from Craigs List: http://cfl.craigslist.org/boa/4704749475.html

The add says engines need work, but it's a low price if they are not too bad.

JR

[IRGuy]

Mike..

I never followed this subject closely, so I might be wrong here, but before I bought "Phoenix" I looked at a couple of boats with 3116 Cats in them. As I understand it the 3116 series had some blocks mfgd in France during a strike in whatever US foundry Cat used to cast their blocks. Some of the French blocks had metallurgical problems that led to premature engine failure. Cat's response was supposedly "Run your 3116s until they fail, and if they do we will discuss replacement with you." Not exactly what the run of the mill boat owner wants to hear. This fiasco led to Cat's decision to drop the 3116 line and replace it with their 3126 line. Supposedly the new 3126 line was a much better engine, but Cat took a big hit in the "small" marine diesel engine market because of their poor response to 3116 owners.

I have read several places that the "soft" or "French" block engines usually failed very early on in their lifetimes (within a couple of hundred hours) so if a 3116 ran past this time they most likely didn't have bad blocks and were supposed to run for a reasonable life cycle.

I understand that the 3126 sales suffered because of the 3116 problems, As you know, Cat has dropped out of the "small" marine market (for sub 350HP diesels) after the 3116 debacle.

[mike ohlstein]

You could be right..... I might have the wrong engine.

[Bruce]

3116 were the problem child.

The 350hp 3126 is a pretty decent engine other than the injector sleeves. Run the serial by a cat dealer to have them check for issues.

[TailhookTom]

3116s were incredible motors -- some lasted 50 hours!! I'm not kidding, my dockmate behind me had a pair in his Cabo -- went through 3 pairs in 1 summer -- including 2 pair in the same week. he cleaned a lot of soot off my boat too. His next boat was an outboard powered 18 Parker -- he gave up on diesel boats because of those motors.

Tom

[bob lico]

3116 during the strike first 107 engine blocks made in france if you made over 100 hours you have a US. made one additionally has FR raised casting on port side.3126 at 350 hp is one of the best built engine out there at 420hp a little less reliable however you have world wide cat behind you. Ridiculous comparason to marinizes car motor with rubber bands driving cam and approaching the no no area of 1 hp. Per cubic inch in diesel.

[coolair]

wonder what work the yanmars need??

I know this is probably on the site somewhere, but my buddy has always thought yanmar motors were not re-buildable, like a cummins is, its that true?

I know someone that has a pair of 330 cummins. one has 400hrs the other has 0 hours on rebuild. I would have bought them, but have no desire to drop that much money in the boat at this time.

[Tony Meola]

Tom

If you go Cat you are at the mercy of Ransome unless you can find some one else who will work on them. My sisters boat has the 3116 in it. She had to rebuild one engine when a water pump failed and god knows what that did but it was a whole lot of money later.

She was going to have Ransome do it, but Forked River Diesel gave her a better price, plus the boat and engine stayed local so that made her feel more comfortable. Also it is also about the drive time if she needs them to pay a visit was only 10 minutes fromForked River Diesel's shop vs Ransome 1 hr. Which as you know you pay for.

Make sure you have a good Cat shop up in your area.

[Tooeez]

About fifteen years ago I worked for a commercial operation that repowered four small boats with the 300hp version of the 3116. We ran these boats 16 hours a day, 7 days a week and had very few major problems--I only recall one engine that went down because of a bad head, and that was a least a year after installation. We also had 425 hp 3208's, and you could set your watch by how often we blew those up. Because of that Cat offered to install and test a prototype 3126 in one of our boats for a year--they basically said see if you can break it----and we couldn't.
Cat also told us they don't measure engine life by hours, but by the amount of fuel put through the engine: 30,000 gallons and it is time for a rebuild. We kept records, and that was just about right on the money.
There is no doubt lots of folks has trouble with these engines, but the ones I saw were pretty tough.

[Bob H.]

I fish on a 40 ocean express with a pair of 420 hp 3126, owner has logged over 3400 hours and they haven't missed a beat..keep the fuel fuel filters changed and oil every 75 hours. Injectors are buried inside the head out of sight, cat tech with computer can plug it in and tell you how the engine has been treated. BH

[scot]

If you ever want to know about the problems, performance, bugs, life span, etc. of a particular marine diesel engine, go on Boatdiesel.com and read several years (hundreds) of owners post. The categories are sub-divided by engine make and series and the post come directly from the guys that own that specific engine. EXTREMELY useful.

It's pretty amazing how most engines seem to experience the same failures around the same hours. You have to discount the freak disasters as ALL engine models have the occasional one-off grenades. Keep in mind production and installation numbers when doing this. If there are loads of problems with particular engines that really haven't been around very long (less than 10 years).. stay away. On the flip side, if there are few post and mostly minor problems with particular engines that have been around since the 70's, 80's or 90's and tens of thousands are out there, most likely = good engines. The problem with marine diesels is that it typically takes 8-10 years before a consensus develops about durability, unless they are really junk.

Good luck

[bob lico]

"Starboard engine has a bad cylinder head and #3 piston - needs work.
Port engine needs cylinder head re-conditioned - block excellent shape"

pretty much what we run into at Oakdale Yacth ,that is cylinder head problem at between 600 and 1200 hours on a well maintain engine actually at those hour only oil changes and all filter changes are done every 100 hours . check fluids,belts . we had to get one of these engines together because it was owned by our brokerage lady so we paid a scalper $3800.00 for cylinder head assemble and put in water so far so good.

[1962 31]

I really appreciate all the input thanks guys
but im going to check out a pair of cummins 6bts tonight that ive been trying to get the guy off of for a while boat took on some water he says they still spin so I will se tonight
probably going to be core money for them so I will rebuild them here at my shop make sure they are fresh before doing a conversion ill keep ya posted

[JohnD]

I've got a set of 450 hp in my B35 and they work good for me.

They're more like C series cummins as far as size and weren't the easiest to install in a B35.

Based on size, I wonder about fitting length wise in a B31.

I've not put too many hours on them but happy with power and performance. I use Alban CAT in Baltimore and they haven't been too bad, reasonable with cost/advice the couple of times I had them out.

Br,
JohnD

[mike ohlstein]

There was a Dr. Jordan who had Cats in his B31. We saw the boat at the UVI 1 or 2. They were shoehorned in there pretty tight.

[Capn' Tony]

Guys it took me a while to respond; computer hiccup. Everything I read in this post seems on the money. The 3126 was the answer to the bad rap on the 3116. I happen to have done a lot of research before going with my Bert 33' with 3116's. They have 2500 hrs and run like tops.
I just wanted to and my 2 cents.

Thanks
Capn' Tony
Roamin' Beauty
Bert 33'

[1962 31]

Going with the 210 cummins motors gears exhaust gauges props shafts controls and what ever else I can scavenge and use 4k were going to yoink them out this weekend then bring em to my shop tear them down and see what I'm getting myself into!!

[PeterPalmieri]

Great news I hope it works out.

[Tony Meola]

Tom

Have you ever worked on Diesels before?

Once you get them in the boat. you will find you will cruise right around the same speed as the gas engines, but will sip fuel.

[John F.]

Great choice. Good luck

[1962 31]

tony we have done some diesel work here and ive learned to stay the hell away from the ford 6.0
I built a cummins motor for a customer in the spring for his truck they are an easy motor and I can use my shop manual for torque specs and such and I found out the other motors I was looking at were the 3116 so I think rebuilding these cummins is my best bet

[TailhookTom]

tony we have done some diesel work here and ive learned to stay the hell away from the ford 6.0
I built a cummins motor for a customer in the spring for his truck they are an easy motor and I can use my shop manual for torque specs and such and I found out the other motors I was looking at were the 3116 so I think rebuilding these cummins is my best bet

And you can walk into any NAPA or other chain and get probably 90% of the parts you need the same day!

Tom

[Tony Meola]

They are your beest bet for parts. Filters and all are a lot cheaper too.

[1962 31]

made the deal for the cummins we pulled his boat out on Sunday
used my 14 skiff for a tug boat not bad with 25 knot winds
my work truck got stuck in the metedeconk river up to the tail gate chains and a backhoe later that was out now to get some time to pull the motors and get em to my shop

[Tony Meola]

Tom

I don't need to tell you, wash that truck good including the underside. Otherwise that salt water will leave with you shell over time.

[1962 31]

What should I ask for my old motors mpi 454 new manifolds risers raw pumps 1180 ish hours with the gears

[Tony Meola]

Tom

When I sold my 454 Mercs back in 2008 I sold one to a guy I knew for $450, but only because I knew him, and a Marina took the other for $650. Both were running good. The one needed lifters but otherwise they were in good shape. In fact the one is still running but not getting a lot of use.

I would say between $1500 and $2,000.