Buyer Checklist 3126 Cats?

[dtfeld]

Hey!

Been looking for a 380/410 for about a year now and have been through most of the relevant posts here and on Boatdiesel concerning 3126 Cats. Looked at a lot of boats and made an offer on a 380 w/8.1's. Now seriously looking at a 410 w/ 3126's

Does any body have a comprehensive list of what to look for, tests/ inspections that must be performed, and and additional nice to know tests specific to a 410 w 3126's.

I'm looking for a little more granularity than "get a good Cat tech", and oil/coolant/trans fluid samples. A checklist would be nice. If someone has done this, I'd love to see it, would save me from making one up.

Would also help Budgeting I would think

 

[DjDaoust]

Hate to say it, but I would find a reliable Cat Marine tech in the area and pay the money to have them spend time going over the motors. We did this after-the-sale and found a lot of issues. Our fault. But once the tech spent time with them, I felt much more relaxed. We spent about $4k on everything.

 

[Alegria]

I just went through you journey as did another member here. I am sure you read the remarks from Frank which is required reading. I did not have a check list but had notes as to what to look for during the survey. My surveyor commented that I certainly knew a lot about the boat, of course I learned it all here. I was far less familiar with running the boat which eventually lead me to find out, why yes my synchronizer does in fact work and my sensors for the tach and sync on the dash are way way off!!

You want to find a CAT marine service dealer and get what I believe they call a PAR (Performance Analysis Report??) from them. This should include an inspection of the engine, fluid samples (Oil and Coolant), operational analysis/specifics, turbo boost, and blow by. Usually you will have to pay for their travel time as well. The cost of the PAR is about $1500 + travel expenses in my area. It is a full day for them on the water, it's good to match it up with the sea trial day.

The CAT fluid samples are good, but they provide no opinion on levels as good/bad or pass/fail. They just report the news. That is great for showing trending and to catch problems early, but leaves a bit to be desired from a buyer perspective. Of course if the owner just changed the oil, then your few hours of wear on the sea trial won't tell much of a story anyway. The sampling you do will be a moment in time snap shot. So it's good to do it annually and the CAT sampling is simple as I can drop them off when I get new oil for my oil changes, and reasonably priced.

Since my surveyor was pulling the oil in the Generator, I asked that he pull the engines and transmissions too and I paid for a second set of analysis. He used a lab called Polaris and they graded the samples 1-4, 1 new, 4 not good. That helped. Also helped that the seller did not change the oil from last season, if not older. I believe that others have used black stone labs as well. If you can pull your own samples they can run them for you and will provide comments on levels, might be a little cheaper then having the surveyor do it.

Other than a good structural survey it's pretty standard. Feel free to start up a conversation (PM) me with any questions. I really do enjoy running the 410, it is a world of difference from our old 330. I agree totally with everyone in the thread that a 21 K cruise at around 22 gph is great.

 

[JVM225]

I'l echo what Alegria posted.
Having gone through this purchase/survey/sea trial/ process last December with my 3126 powered 410 I found that I got the best guidance and advice from Frank.
My surveyor was also able to do all the proper testing on the motors, transmissions, and genny for me including taking all the fluid samples that he sent to a lab named Blackstone.
Ask around for a surveyor that has the knowledge and ability to do the survey on the Cats. I got lucky and found a highly recommended and well respected one.
The local Cat service people had a minimum of 6 week backlog before they could come out to do the motors, so that wasn't an option for me.
Between knowledge I had gained from looking at more 380's and 410's than I care to count over a period of about a year, and going over an extensive checklist with Frank I had a list of about 40 specific questions the day of the survey/sea trial.
After seeing me go through the boat and hearing my questions the surveyor jokingly asked if I was interested in being his assistant. He commented that he never had such a thorough and knowledgeable customer on a survey.
He didn't know about the secret weapon (source of info).
The survey on the boat and the motors cost me plenty but was offset by the number of things that my surveyor pointed out that I had Marinemax take care of as a condition of sale.
BTW: The crew at Marinemax in Westbrook Ct. was excellent to deal with throughout the whole process.
Before even getting as far as a survey:
Like with any used boat, try every button and switch to make sure it does what it's supposed to do. Look for things a previous owner may have added and see if you can see if the connections were made neatly and properly, and open everything you can and see what you can see, hear, or smell. Look under the dash and anyplace else where wires are visible to make sure that there isn't a rats nest of poorly made connections. I saw a lot of this on the boats I looked at.
Pull all dipsticks and give the sight and sniff test. Look for oil, antifreeze, fuel or raw water leaks in the engine room. Are the air filters clean? Poor or deferred maintenance is a red flag, as are sloppy installations of upgrades or replacement equipment.
I took along a short extension from a quarter inch ratchet on every boat I looked at and tapped it anywhere I could. Particularly in places where a boat is likely to get soft from water intrusion like around hatches, bottoms of windshields, joints, and anything that is through bolted. Check any parts of the decks and sides that you can see for signs of cracks, deep scratches, or other bruises that might indicate that the boat may have hit the dock a little too hard every once in a while.
Closely inspect fit and finish of all hard interior and exterior surfaces, and look for excessive wear and tear on soft fabrics. These boats are old enough that practically nothing in the way of furnishing can be bought off the shelf anymore and replacement or repair of these type items can set you back a lot.
The one additional suggestion I would make is to try to find a member here who owns one and if possible, bring them along for a hard look before scheduling (and paying for) a survey. In the short time I've had mine I've poked my nose in to every nook and cranny I could and although not an expert on it, I'm getting pretty familiar with everything and how it should look or work. Many of the owners here seem to know their boats pretty well too and might be able to point things out of they were along as an objective observer.