HELP! Diesel Engines in 460 Sundancer

[Carpedmman]

I am 1 week away from becoming the owner of a very nice 2003 460 Sundancer. When researching this boat, it was represented as having the 480CE motors (446HP) and now the survey comes back with the CUMMINS 6CTA8.3M4 (417hp). Does anybody know what differences there are in these motors other than HP? I always believe there is no replacement for HP and so wanted the larger engines that became the "standard" in the 460.

Is this a deal breaker? Thoughts/suggestions?

 

[Odyssey]

I can't answer the question about the differences between the two engines but I would be very concerned about the fact that the boat was mis-represented. I can't imagine a boat owner who doesn't know what engines are in his boat. This issue would be a huge red flag for me.

RB

 

[Gofirstclass]

Carpedman, I'd ask your surveyor and get his opinion, or at the very least give Trudeau's a call and see what they have to say about the two engines. You're only taking about a reduction of 29hp per engine, or about 6%. I'd be more interested in the longevity of each of the two kinds of engines than the actual horsepower.

One thought on the HP difference...the more you "push" an engine to get more horses out of it the more likely you are to shorten the life of the engine.

 

[capecodcruiser]

You need to do some research on the difference between horsepower and torque. One of the many benefits of diesels is that they produce huge amounts of torque, not lot's of horsepower. And they produce this torque very effeciently, and at lower RPM's. I won't comment on the mis representation, that is for others, but the Cummins motors are very good. I personally would take a Cummins over a Cat. But that is like picking a Ford over a Chevy. Good luck either way, sounds like a great boat.

 

[Carpedmman]

Since I posted this thread I have discovered that the boat was actually built in June of 2002 at the beginning of the MY change. I am thinking that the engines were leftovers from the previous year and were used to get the boat produced using current inventory. I spoke with Frank Webster and got the main difference of the motors being the 480CE is Electronic and the 6CTA is Mechanical. We all are very familiar with "Electronic" engines-CPU, etc.

Mike, I would give a call over to Truedeaus, but they don't do "big boats".

Thanks all for your help!

 

[First_Mate]

PM me with your cell number if you would like to chat. I have the 480 CE's and there are definite pro/cons to both.

 

[Asureyez]

6CTA-8.3 M$ is still mechanical and you can actually do much of the work yourself if you desire to. Properly maintained 6C's will not smoke, are thrifty and reliable . its not a bad deal to have mechanicals.