Californian 42 LRC under contract

[sunchaser]

Head gaskets on 3208s are prone to leaking coolant after 20 years or so. Have a good Cat guy look those engines over and then come up with an estimate for repairing the obvious. A leaking rear main may be a non issue, easily taken care of with a diaper.

It is a used old boat. Perfection rarely exists. Fortunately 3208s are common with good maintenance skills and knowledge out there. But maybe best to keep looking if you’re nervous.

[Portage_Bay]

Originally Posted by gkesden

The claim when I've done these has been that only 4hrs of operation are needed to find problems in oil samples.

I can't tell whats going on in those pictures. It could be leaking around those screws, to be sure. It could also be something else that dripped down and caused that. The leak almost seemsntovstart higher up, spread out wide, and then just get funneled down by the screw.

It could also be a gasket damaged by over tightening that screw. Or, or, or,...

I'm surprised you only went for a short sea trial. Under the circumstances, I would have wanted one of a good length ans really worked it hard.

Maybe you can get some more time?

Good suggestion. I'll look into that.

[Portage_Bay]

Originally Posted by sunchaser

Head gaskets on 3208s are prone to leaking coolant after 20 years or so. Have a good Cat guy look those engines over and then come up with an estimate for repairing the obvious. A leaking rear main may be a non issue, easily taken care of with a diaper.

It is a used old boat. Perfection rarely exists. Fortunately 3208s are common with good maintenance skills and knowledge out there. But maybe best to keep looking if you’re nervous.

I'm very much aware this is an old boat and perfection is not what I'm purchasing. That being said, #s like $10K per engine are being tossed about if head gaskets and head reconditioning is needed. Add in some other engine issues discovered in survey and the bill could go to $25K - $30K for both engines. This on a boat with an accepted offer of $70K doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Nervous? No. Realistic? Yes.