2” for the engines and 1” for the Gen. 3/4 for the AC I believe. My 1” coupler wouldn’t fit so I just did the old method of pumping AF in reverse through the thru-hull with my drill pump
Official Caterpillar3116/3126 Thread
- Thread starter carterchapman
- Start date
2” for the engines and 1” for the Gen. 3/4 for the AC I believe. My 1” coupler wouldn’t fit so I just did the old method of pumping AF in reverse through the thru-hull with my drill pump
Looking to purchase a 2000 380 AC with 3126 Cats. These engines have 950 hrs on them. I was told there was a soft block issue as well as an issue with Valves breaking. Is there anyway to tell from the serial number is these engines may be subject?
- Jun 2, 2008
- 5,023
- Boat Info
- 1998 450 Sundancer, Achilles dinghy w/15hp
- Engines
- 3126 Cat's
Get the serial numbers and call CAT. (this is what I did)
block casting FAPS COULD (not definitive yes, or no) indicate a soft block.
That engine would have failed by now if it suffered from either. The valves especially showed up 200 hours and usually was catastrophic.
Have a CAT technician run the blow-by test and take oil samples. The blow by test will show premature engine wear among other issues.
Thanks, do you happen to have a phone number?
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
As others have said your engines most likely don't have an issue, or they did, and the issue was resolved. Since your profile doesn't tell us anything about your location, I suggest you Google for a caterpillar dealer in your area.
My 2001 engines had right at 1,000 hours when I bought the boat in March, do your due diligence, these are great engines and a great boat. Scroll back in this thread to do some reading, you'll learn a lot and get most if not all of your questions answered. There's an Official 380 thread here aa well
My 2001 engines had right at 1,000 hours when I bought the boat in March, do your due diligence, these are great engines and a great boat. Scroll back in this thread to do some reading, you'll learn a lot and get most if not all of your questions answered. There's an Official 380 thread here aa well
- Jun 2, 2008
- 5,023
- Boat Info
- 1998 450 Sundancer, Achilles dinghy w/15hp
- Engines
- 3126 Cat's
Find a CAT dealer nearby and start your relationship with them. You should also be able to go online and create a profile with your serial numbers etc. https://parts.cat.com/en/catcorp
- Oct 6, 2006
- 12,153
- Boat Info
- 1996 450DA
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillars
Caterpillar has a great website. Go to "Cat.com" then look in the upper right corner for a dealer locator, When it opens, fill in the location then select "marine engines" in the second blank.
As far as soft blocks and valves falling when t he keepers fall off, Cat stopped warranting the soft block issue in about 2004 because they were getting almost no claims by then. The soft engine blocks presented with high oil consumption, blue smoke and oily soot on the transom. Most of the bad engines were replaced before your boat was built. The chances of you having one or more soft blocks is very low given the age of the 380AC you are looking at.
Dropped valves is another problem that is also very unlikely for your engines. This was a problem created by improper metallurgy in valves supplied by TRW. The groove cut in the valve stem would give way and let the valve keepers slip out and the valve would fall into the cylinder. This is almost always a terminal event for a Diesel engine. This problen was identified and corrected in about 1998. Further, on affected engines the keepers failed at around 125- 175 hours. Your engines are well past that and if a previous owner had experienced a valve failure, it is almost a certainty that Cat would have already replaced the head/block/etc. before now.
Since the chances of either Cat problem is very low in these circumstances, my suggestion is to go ahead and make your deal on the aft cabin but make it contingent upon a satisfactory mechanical survey that includes oil sampling, a blow by test on both engines, and a fluid analysis on the coolant. Get a contract signed and put a deposit down which will get the boat off the market and give you time to do your surveys. After you have contract in place and the boat secured, then you are at the point the point at which you would need to involve a Cat technician. For now, call the nearest Cat dealer and ask about scheduling and costs.
Good luck with it………..
As far as soft blocks and valves falling when t he keepers fall off, Cat stopped warranting the soft block issue in about 2004 because they were getting almost no claims by then. The soft engine blocks presented with high oil consumption, blue smoke and oily soot on the transom. Most of the bad engines were replaced before your boat was built. The chances of you having one or more soft blocks is very low given the age of the 380AC you are looking at.
Dropped valves is another problem that is also very unlikely for your engines. This was a problem created by improper metallurgy in valves supplied by TRW. The groove cut in the valve stem would give way and let the valve keepers slip out and the valve would fall into the cylinder. This is almost always a terminal event for a Diesel engine. This problen was identified and corrected in about 1998. Further, on affected engines the keepers failed at around 125- 175 hours. Your engines are well past that and if a previous owner had experienced a valve failure, it is almost a certainty that Cat would have already replaced the head/block/etc. before now.
Since the chances of either Cat problem is very low in these circumstances, my suggestion is to go ahead and make your deal on the aft cabin but make it contingent upon a satisfactory mechanical survey that includes oil sampling, a blow by test on both engines, and a fluid analysis on the coolant. Get a contract signed and put a deposit down which will get the boat off the market and give you time to do your surveys. After you have contract in place and the boat secured, then you are at the point the point at which you would need to involve a Cat technician. For now, call the nearest Cat dealer and ask about scheduling and costs.
Good luck with it………..
Last edited:
- Jun 2, 2008
- 5,023
- Boat Info
- 1998 450 Sundancer, Achilles dinghy w/15hp
- Engines
- 3126 Cat's
Thread violation, 2-week automatic suspension...(hahahaha)
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
Sorry, I missed that you said Aft Cabin. Mine is the sundancer. Ex-wife's father had a 420 aft cabin, 2001 with the 3126 cats, fantastic boat.
- Oct 6, 2006
- 12,153
- Boat Info
- 1996 450DA
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillars
Try Flounder Pounder.com in Florida he has a division for only Sea Ray parts and is located near the Sea Ray factory locations. There is also a seller on eBay that carries a lot of OEM Sea Ray replacement parts.
And, Great Lakes Skipper - they tend to have a lot of OEM Sea Ray stuff.
- Oct 6, 2006
- 12,153
- Boat Info
- 1996 450DA
- Engines
- 3116 Caterpillars
I don't know how they are organized now but Great Lakes Skipper used to be a Sea Ray dealer. They have the SR price list and the few times I've needed something and tried them they were not very competitive so I'd guess that price list is where they peg thweir saking prices. I did get a great buy on an FX-37 Fortress anchor from them but didn't have much luck on typical things.
- Aug 20, 2021
- 1,297
- Boat Info
- Started out as MAYBE A DANCER
Became a Dancer - 12/23/21
- Engines
- 450 DA Sundancer running CAT 3126
As stated earlier and for the record, NOT ALL FAPS BLOCKS WERE DEFECTIVE.
Real world experience: my 1996 450 DA has FAPS blocks.
435 hours at the time of purchase & survey.
In addition to the hull survey, did the CAT survey, blow-by test and fluids the following day.
Engines now have 500 hours - no signs of any issues.
CAT service history shows the heads & turbos were removed in 1997 at 74 hours for a warranty issue.
It's important to know that while there were some FAPS - French block metallurgy failures not all FAPS blocks failed or will fail, so don't write off a boat that has FAPS blocks without doing some investigation.
BEST !
RWS
Real world experience: my 1996 450 DA has FAPS blocks.
435 hours at the time of purchase & survey.
In addition to the hull survey, did the CAT survey, blow-by test and fluids the following day.
Engines now have 500 hours - no signs of any issues.
CAT service history shows the heads & turbos were removed in 1997 at 74 hours for a warranty issue.
It's important to know that while there were some FAPS - French block metallurgy failures not all FAPS blocks failed or will fail, so don't write off a boat that has FAPS blocks without doing some investigation.
BEST !
RWS
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
