37’ bertram with 3208 435hp

[Simpleg1]

Anyone have any info on the 435hp cats(3208)? My father is looking at one and we would like to hear from someone who has one. We do a lot of tuna fishing on his 31 and are not sure if the 37 can make the 80 mile run one way with the fuel capacity. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[bob lico]

purchased a 38' Bertram with 3208---435 hp, we went to the canyon no problem from Keyport NJ. 380 gallon of fuel in main tank is more than enough however that 3208 has steel oil pan which is beyond dumb as you might expect we developed a heavy leak coming home from the Hudson canyon with a shit show of adding oil every 20 minutes. pulled engines and put in C-7 460hp each.

[scot]

3208 at 435hp has a rough reputation.. just too much power from that block.. they are said to be very reliable to 375hp, not so much beyond that rating. Disclaimer: this is hear-say and internet chatter, boatdiesel.com etc.

[Simpleg1]

Yeah so we here the 425hp was the problem child. Cat changed the block design for the 435hp, but if boat not propped right then issues.from what I’ve read on the internet people seem happy with the 435. We would just like to hear from anyone who actually has the step up which hasn’t been the easiest to do.i appreciate all the feeed back.

[Tooeez]

About 20 years ago I worked for an organization that had 3 36' boats powered with twin 435hp 3208's. We lost five of the six original motors right around 1700 hours due to intercooler failure; I don't remember how many of the replacements failed also, but it was a couple at least. There was no warning of the problem; by the time you realized something was wrong the engine was destroyed. We wound up replacing the 3208's with 3126's.