2003 35 Carolina Classic with 480CE’s – Things to look for?

Hey Phil –

Correct – high blow by. I willl admit, the engines ran like bats outta hell and showed no signs of weakness. To answer you question, there was a fair bit of gray smoke on the cold start, but it quickly dissipated. Figure 30 seconds or so? And then there was large plume of black smoke every time he’d bring it up to planing RPM (1900+ or so. I can’t say for certain) – and then the black smoke would turn to steam 15 seconds or so later.

The engines never got hot. At WOT (which was only 2480RPM), the engines were about 167-169. They may have jumped into above 170 for a moment – but for as many times as we brought it up to WOT, I was impressed how cool they ran.

It was only when he hooked up his blow by tool that we learned there was a problem. Is it possible that if the aftercooler was clapped out (roached) – that would have been the culprit behind the high amount of oil in the blow by??

Well… my journey across the country did not go how I had expected at all. When I arrived at the shipyard, I was pleased to see that the gel coat had shined up great, and aesthetically, it was as nice or nicer than I was hoping. But that’s about where the story ends. My first part of the sea trial across the Chesapeake bay proves the boat was and is way overpropped. 2100 RPMS and the fuel burn was around 16gph. 1900RPM was 12gph. I wasn’t stoked, but figured the boat could be re propped. After inning across the bay, we picked up the Cummins mechanic for a mechanical survey. After hooking up his tool to the turbo/after coolers to measure blow by, we cut the survey short. The starboard motor measured 12, but the port motor measured 32. The cylinders are roached. The block basically needs to be replaced.

I’m super bummed. And ready to walk away. But the owner is willing to replace the motor with a Cummins recon. And replace the aftercoolers on both motors. On his dime. My gut tells me to walk. Thoughts??

That’s awesome Rob – thank you very for looking out.

I’m flying to Virginia Monday to Sea Trial the boat. In the interim, the broker has given me a folder FULL of receipts. So many it’s actually a little scary.

In 2011, the owner stated lots of black smoke. The props were overptiched and they replaced both turbos.

In 2012, he spent about $7k building the custom exhaust risers.

Later the same year, the stbd engine #3 cylinder valve seat failed. The damaged piston was replaced, and valve seats in all cylinders were bad. They replaced the turbo again. And machined the cylinder head. The invoice says new head, but the mechanic says he had the head machined and gave himself more clearance as preventive maintenance. Can this be done?

At the same time, they checked the port engine and it had a cracked cylinder head, cylinder #6. Valves cylinders 3-6 were loose. Cylinder head was pulled and machined the same as the other motor.

The next year, the owner hit a shoal and ALL the running gear was replaced by insurance. About $35-40k in receipts. My surveyor just checked it out yesterday and said it looks great – like it was a job well done.

Since then, a lot of work has been done to the boat. The port transmission was rebuilt. New sea water pumps. New alternators. New batteries. New sea strainers.

Aftercoolers need to replaced for sure.

My main concern is these motors. Supposedly the owner has only put about 300 hours on the boat since the heads were redone in 2012. Does anyone know if you can machine the heads to allow extra valve clearance?

Again, any help is appreciated.

I will be posting fuel numbers after we Sea Trial the boat next week.
My question

Norfolk, Virginia