At 05:41 PM 1/2/00 -0500, Bob Kassal wrote: >Greetings to all. > >I have located an older (1982) boat with 671 N's that have over 4000 hours >on them. Would appreciate any comments on expected life span of these >engines, problems etc and fuel burn at displacement speed relative to 4 >cycle engines. These are advertised as 150HP. The boat is 44', weighs 30,000 >pounds and is said to cruise at 9 knots, top at 14 knots. (?) Thanks in >advance. You will find some information on these engines in the TWL archives, and also in the archives at www.passagemaker.com. I've participated in those discussions, as well as others in the rec.boats system of newsgroups. You can get those archives at www.dejanews.com. The bottom line is that they are very excellent engines for what they were designed for. On the other hand, they are very poor engines when used for other purposes that they were not designed for. It is my personal opinion that they do not belong in a full displacement recreational powered voyager. The old DDC two strokes are by far my most favorite sorts of engines. We have lots of them in our heavy equipment. When I first started considering what engine to use in our boats, they were number one on the top of my list. I was sure that they would be perfect for our boats, as they have served so well on the heavy equipment. No amount of twisting the facts and the data, however; could make that decision analysis favor them in our boats. The down sides that are important to trawler owners are: 1. They are the noisiest of all your more common engine options. 2. They are the dirtiest in terms of leaking oil -- especially for low power applications where the slobber boxes tend to flow very freely. 3. Their power, torque, and fuel consumption curves are worse than any other diesel engine, when operating at passage making displacement speeds. 4. They are now out of production for use in the USA. Parts are currently very easy to come by, but expect them to become less easy to find parts for as time goes on. On the up side: 1. They last a long time between overhauls. 2. They are cheap and easy to overhaul. 3. They ramp up to full power more quickly than most other engines. This makes them great for dirt moving equipment, but is of little use to you in your boat. 4. The same positive pressure that causes oil leaks also keeps the dirt out of the engine. This also makes them good for dirt moving equipment. 5. They love to run at near full power, which would be about 120-180 hp and 6-9 gallons per hour. This makes them very excellent engines for high load commercial marine applications. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ :: Paul and Cindy Kruse :: KJV Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, 165 South Kenneth Court :: my peace I give unto you: Merritt Island, FL 32952 :: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. E-mail: plkruse@iu.net :: Let not your heart be troubled, 407-453-6206 :: neither let it be afraid. :: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++