Ford Lehman hours

Was curious as to how many hours all you FL owners have on your engines with out teardown or rebuild?
Thanks
Britt

Just under 2000 hours, 1981 boat. PO wore out 2 gensets; anchoring for weeks using a speedboat to get around, fish,etc.
Anecdotally from a charter operator, 10-12000 is not unusual.

BruceK said:

Just under 2000 hours, 1981 boat. PO wore out 2 gensets; anchoring for weeks using a speedboat to get around, fish,etc.
Anecdotally from a charter operator, 10-12000 is not unusual.

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Thanks. What gave me the idea for this thread was because of a comment from a member that engines dont last past 300hrs and i have heard the lehman is good for 10-20,000 hours. I am considering buying a defever with 3200 on a Lehman, its a 1979. 2000 is low for an 81

Engines are vintage 1973. Total of about 3500 hours now.

Thats pretty low for a 73 Marin you should get out there and do some trawlerin

1983 boat, 4200+ hours

1983 Ford Lehman 80hp under 1500 hrs.

bfloyd4445 said:

Thats pretty low for a 73 Marin you should get out there and do some trawlerin

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The boat spent its whole life in SFO Bay until we bought it. It was used regularly all that time but the distances are pretty short there so you can do a lot of boating but not rack up all that many hours. The engines had a bit less than 1200 hours on them when we bought the boat.

The engines surveyed out extremely well. Today, 14-plus years later they don't smoke any more on startup than they did then (about three minutes) and they use exactly the same amount of oil as they did then (less than 1 quart in each engine every 100-150 hours which is our oil change interval).

So other than the fact they are pathetically underpowered for what this hull can do, they've been good engines so far.

About 4000 hours on my 1973 Lehman. Since I've owned it,I have put on maybe 400 hours; had the injector pump rebuilt when I got it, otherwise just oil/filter maintenance. No smoke, even on startup (fingers crossed).

Greetings,
1979. ~ 5000 hrs. per side. No issues... Twin Lehman.

2900 on mine. Twin FL120's 1980 vintage. I have all the records, never a major repair.

1978 FL120's, twin with 2900 hours. No issues at all.

1981 4400 and 4700 hours. No problems.

ARoss said:

No smoke, even on startup (fingers crossed).

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You know what they say about old-generation British engines--- if they don't leak oil and smoke on startup there's something wrong with them.

You're correct. Bob Smith of American Diesel says a properly cared for Lehman will last around 15,000 hrs. Mine is a 1986 and has around 5000 hours with no problems. It'll outlive me for sure. If you're buying one, an oil analysis will tell you if there are any problems, as long as the oil has some engine time on it. If it's just been changed, the owner may be trying to hide a problem.

Keith said:

You're correct. Bob Smith of American Diesel says a properly cared for Lehman will last around 15,000 hrs. Mine is a 1986 and has around 5000 hours with no problems. It'll outlive me for sure. If you're buying one, an oil analysis will tell you if there are any problems, as long as the oil has some engine time on it. If it's just been changed, the owner may be trying to hide a problem.

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Or doing his regular maintenance

Greetings,
Mr. Marin. If a British engine doesn't leak oil, the sump is empty.

I have no idea how many hours mine has done, but it is the original, and as far as I know un-reconditioned FL120, in a 1975 vintage Clipper (CHB 34. From when I bought it, it had a broken engine hours counter, but the RPM counter it is part of still works fine, so the PO did not bother geting it swapped out. As it was registering 3,600 hrs when it broke, and I have no idea how much before I bought it that happened, I figured no-one is going to rip into an engine working fine just because of some nominal engine time, and the RPM counter still works fine, so I left it alone as well. That was 12 years ago...!
Suffice to say we did a 11 hour non-stop trip over new year, followed by several shorter legs, to a total of about 150nm, and all it needed was 600ml oil and 200 ml coolant top-up. It does not smoke, and it never misses a beat. I'm not obsessive about servicing either. It has only needed new fuel filters twice in that whole time, and when I say needed, I mean, we just decided to change them while doing something else - they were not indicating any trouble. I change the oil and oil filter annually. I have replaced the heat exchanger, and one oil cooler. That's it. They last a long time. I love it.

Daddyo said:

Or doing his regular maintenance

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Yea, what are the odds? Since you can't do an oil analysis on new oil that tells you anything, I'd insist on getting minimum of 20 hours on the engine, then test.

Keith said:

You're correct. Bob Smith of American Diesel says a properly cared for Lehman will last around 15,000 hrs. Mine is a 1986 and has around 5000 hours with no problems. It'll outlive me for sure. If you're buying one, an oil analysis will tell you if there are any problems, as long as the oil has some engine time on it. If it's just been changed, the owner may be trying to hide a problem.

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I'm gonna have that done. The boat went on a trip to Catalina Island Sunday and is expected back tueday. The sticker on the oil filter shows it haveing been changed in november of 12. There are detailed records on this boat going back to 1999 and before that it only had one owner which is documented.
A posting in the simgle vs. twins thread got me thinking about the real life of one of these engines. I have a 1975 ford tractor with a similiar engine in it that i drove for 1/4 mile with no oil in it five years ago cause i changed the oil and my neighbor distracted me before i tightened the drain plug and it fell out. I was out brush hogging when i noticed the oil light so i drove back to the farm rthen discovered no plug. Well the tractor runs as good as ever still burns leaks not a drop and no smoke. Its the only tractor i have so it gets quite a bit of use.
I think if the Lehman is built like my tractor it will live a long long time.
Thanks for the information

Britt

Keith said:

Yea, what are the odds? Since you can't do an oil analysis on new oil that tells you anything, I'd insist on getting minimum of 20 hours on the engine, then test.

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Well Sunday it left San Pedro in southern California for the islands for a couple of days so it likely will have a few hours on it before i get it surveyed

I think the original Lehman WAS a tractor engine.

Keith said:

I think the original Lehman WAS a tractor engine.

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According to Marin,it started life as the Ford of England Dorset diesel, having less a success as a truck engine than as a standing or constant rpm engine.
I just sourced a fresh water pump assembly for my 2715E engine, it came from England but I can`t see a country of manufacture. The seller, Wagga Wagga (a rural town) Tractor, lists application to various farm machines, 3 headers, 2 tractors and 8 Ford trucks.
Clearly, a major use was ultimately marine. I`d like to hear from someone who has done high hours with one, but < 5000 seems to be the most.

BruceK said:

According to Marin,it started life as the Ford of England Dorset diesel, having less a success as a truck engine than as a standing or constant rpm engine.
I just sourced a fresh water pump assembly for my 2715E engine, it came from England but I can`t see a country of manufacture. The seller, Wagga Wagga (a rural town) Tractor, lists application to various farm machines, 3 headers, 2 tractors and 8 Ford trucks.
Clearly, a major use was ultimately marine. I`d like to hear from someone who has done high hours with one, but < 5000 seems to be the most.

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me too. I've heard of 10,000 hours but none have been listed yet. My tractor engine was originally made in Enghland then they were made here in the USA from 1965 on

Marin said:

You know what they say about old-generation British engines--- if they don't leak oil and smoke on startup there's something wrong with them.

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they used to say that about Harleys as well. .....but i have notice a few seconds of smoke on start up

1983 twin 120s with 4200 hrs. Documented routine maintenance, no apparent problems, no oil burn, minor smoke on start. 100 hour oil change with 15W-40 Delo oil, engines are run at least monthly. Maintenance per Lehman manual and Bomac suggestions including valve adjustments. Injectors to come out this spring for pop-test.

Base engine for the FL120 is the Ford Dorset. Started as a truck engine, failed miserably, Ford almost took it out of production but tried it as a stationary industrial engine. Worked great at that and eventually found its way into agricultural applications, mostly combines but some tractors.

This engine was never manufactured in the US. The Ford Dorset engines were installed in Ford products that were made in the US but the engines themselves were made in England. Actually, all Ford diesel engines were made in England regardless of what country the vehicle or equipment the engines were installed in were made. This was the case for many years.

The later FL135 (or SP series of Lehman engines) was based on the Ford of England Dover engine. Very similar in physical layout to the Dorset but a completely different engine made in a different plant.

Mine manufactured in '73 has ~1500hrs. Normal smoke at start-up.

Says right on the manual:

Ford Industrial Engines and Power Units...

Manufactured in England by the Ford Motor Company Ltd.

7581 hours and no issues on the FL SP135.

Larry M said:

7581 hours and no issues on the FL SP135.

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you are top dog now with most hours...what rpm do you run at mostly?