Never doubt Frank - he’s right again!!

Capt Sandbar

Member
Sep 10, 2018
32
Prescott, Wisc
Boat Info
1993 Formula 31PC - looking for a 48 MY
Engines
7.4 Merc -Bravo II
After reading this forum a little bit and in the process of looking and trying to buy a large Diesel boat - thank god Frank took a minute and commented on my questions concerning a 3176 Cat. As I made an agreement to purchase and started the survey process, I got a call back from the engine Surveyer and he basically told me he didn’t have to bother to do the survey and to save my money - his comment was “ Run away- do not buy those engines “.
This was before I hired him and hadn’t paid him a dime.

Thanks again Frank !! Hope you and Roller Coaster made up !!

Steve
 
After reading this forum a little bit and in the process of looking and trying to buy a large Diesel boat - thank god Frank took a minute and commented on my questions concerning a 3176 Cat. As I made an agreement to purchase and started the survey process, I got a call back from the engine Surveyer and he basically told me he didn’t have to bother to do the survey and to save my money - his comment was “ Run away- do not buy those engines “.
This was before I hired him and hadn’t paid him a dime.

Thanks again Frank !! Hope you and Roller Coaster made up !!

Steve
What did he see that caused him to reach that conclusion?
 
Frank’s insight was fantastic when I was going through the buying process.
 
I'm not the surveyor, but this might help you understand the "telephone survey" the OP described.

The 3176 Caterpillar has a design feature that was problematic: The liners were held in place by an aluminum spacer bolted to the block. They were known to leak both oil and coolant. Most Cat engines are conservatively rated but the 3176 is known to be low on power and performs like it is about 100hp short of the rated 600hp and struggles to get a heavy boat like the 500DA up on the water.

To fix the leaks a complete rebuild with a new spacer/head design is required and on this engine a rebuild requires an expensive complete tear down so repowering is more cost effective because a different type of engine also solves both the leaks and the low power problem. This is also the reason you almost never see a 3176 powered planing hull boat on the market these days.
 
A family friend had 3176's in a 48' sportfish in the late '90's. After multiple issues, CAT replaced them under warranty with.....3196's. Needless to say he unloaded that boat after the aftercooler issues started.
 
I’m assuming that’s what the Surveyor was referring to. He didn’t give me the technical details- his comment was “ you’re hiring me to advise and protect you from problems and I wouldn’t buy this boat with those motors - you will have problems and will end up replacing them “.
Don’t have to tell me twice- I can’t afford to purchase a boat of that expense and replace motors .
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,946
Messages
1,422,764
Members
60,929
Latest member
Henchman
Back
Top