"Oh, you have diesels?" "You don't..." Why did you..."

[bbwhitejr]

I was invited to another overnight raft up, I know gas boats will be there, and everyone will be running their generators since it's going to be hot this weekend. That's one reason I may go but not spend the night.

When we had our '07 44DB, friends had a CY gas boat. We tied up with his generator exhaust blowing toward me. 2-3 hours later, CO detectors start going off and raising hell. It took better than an hour to get them to stop. We swapped sides with my diesel gen exhaust in his direction and never another issue.....

Bennett

 

[b_arrington]

The maintenance costs debate of gas vs diesels for a 38ish to 42ish length boat is an interesting one. I have only had my diesels for 1.5 seasons. Labor costs is zero as I have done all the service/maintenance, similar service to what I did on my previous gas engines. Parts, I don't personally see a difference.

I'm also doing the maintenance on my engine so my labor cost is zero, too. I did not feel comfortable doing work on my gas engine so paid for those services. I do see a little bit of difference in some of the consumables of the diesel vs. gas. For one, the amount of oil needed for an oil change (6 gallons) at x cost (more than gas engines). Oil filters and impellers are a bit more expensive too. But it's not huge. I performed my own aftercooler service over the winter so that cost was limited to the service kit (o-rings, etc). I think the costs come when you need to pay someone to do a significant service and need a bunch of parts.

 

[mrsrobinson]

I'm also doing the maintenance on my engine so my labor cost is zero, too. I did not feel comfortable doing work on my gas engine so paid for those services. I do see a little bit of difference in some of the consumables of the diesel vs. gas. For one, the amount of oil needed for an oil change (6 gallons) at x cost (more than gas engines). Oil filters and impellers are a bit more expensive too. But it's not huge. I performed my own aftercooler service over the winter so that cost was limited to the service kit (o-rings, etc). I think the costs come when you need to pay someone to do a significant service and need a bunch of parts.

Agreed to the cost of consumables, and I too rarely worked on my gas engine and let the marina service shop do the work.