Perkins 4.236

Doing some work on my 1974 Gulfstar 36' trawler with twin perkins 4.236 diesels. Having a hard time finding some parts, right now specifically, a pair of raw water exhaust elbows. Anybody out there have suggestions where a good place may be to look for parts? I'm in Florida, but of course I could order from anywhere.
Appreciate the help..
Thanks

Try Richard Kuhn at Hercules Engine Components in Massilon, Ohio. He's good people and they ship anywhere. 800-345-0662 ext 101. No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

kawilt said:

Having a hard time finding some parts, right now specifically, a pair of raw water exhaust elbows. Anybody out there have suggestions where a good place may be to look for parts?

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Marine Exhaust Systems of Alabama - MESA Marine

If you can't find aftermarket cast manifolds from Barr or other sources, then MESA Marine is your best bet. With the 6.354 n/a (the 4.236's big brother) we've all had to face the music and pony up for their $1700+ stainless manifolds since no one makes them in cast anymore.

The good news is they're quality constructed and will probably last longer than the engine they're attached to. I think your manifolds are around $1200 each at MESA in Stainless.

Good luck in your search.

Scoll down to the 4.236 elbows

TAD for Perkins Engines Exhaust Elbows & Flanges, Perkins Exhaust Elbows, Perkins Engine Parts, Perkins Diesel Parts

If you have no luck with any of the other previous replies, google Marine Manifolds, Amityville, NY. Paul, the owner can manufacture an exact replacement at a reasonable cost it you ship him your old ones. He might even have a template for your existing exhaust elbows. He manufactures them out of cupronickle which will last an extremely long time. Had him make replacements for my 1981 vintage Perkins 6.354 several years ago

Older engines in good shape

Being new to diesels, I have to ask this question. Everybody's been very helpful with me in finding a raw water exhaust elbow for my twin 4.236s. This is going to set me back almost $2000 for the pair. Stainless steel. The engines are the original from 1974. They have 2,600 hours on them and the oil analysis came back pretty good. I say pretty good because the surveyor said he didn't see any problems. I don't know how to interpret the numbers shown, but they were very low. But then again the engines only had about 10 hours on them since the oil was changed. But my question is, should I be concerned because of the age of the engines, or is it the care given them and the hours that they have.
You guy's have been very helpful.
Thanks

Those Perkins 4-236's will do about 10,000 hours if you take proper care of them. Mine are 40 years old, and I have absolute faith in them. They will outlive me, by far.

jwnall said:

Those Perkins 4-236's will do about 10,000 hours if you take proper care of them. Mine are 40 years old, and I have absolute faith in them. They will outlive me, by far.

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Thanks a lot jwnall, that's good to know. I won't have to worry about that, like yours, these will be around a lot longer than me.

kawilt,

First I gotta say $2000 sounds like a lot of money for 2 elbows. Does that include fabrication and installation? I bought mine off the shelf just like the elbows I replaced. I looked through my receipts, but couldn't find what I paid. I'm thinking they were $800 for the pair, but I could be wrong. But if it takes $1000 per engine to return to service, I bet it'll be money well spent.

Oil analysis without a baseline is almost meaningless....especially with only 10 hrs on the oil. If you're going to rely on it as valid data, you'll need to sample before replacing the oil, then continue in similarly in the future to establish a baseline to be able to watch for a trend. I haven't done any analysis on my oil. I just change it every 200 hrs. At 2000 RPM, I find I need to add a quart to each engine every 50 hrs or so. (I just looked in my log today on the way home and it had been 50 hrs between oil 'top-offs'.)

My 4.236's are 1977 models so they're pushing 37 years old. I bought the boat in 2007 with about 2300 hrs. They turned 2900 hrs this week and are running great. If it took 37 years to build 2900 hrs, they've got MANY years of good service remaining assuming proper care and feeding.

I run them at 2000 RPM for 7.5 kts at a consistent 3.0 GPH. The PO did the same. My plan is to keep them fueled, oiled, and cooled. That requires stuff like fuel system maintenance, zincs, coolant changes, oil/tranny and water heat exchanger servicing and impeller service (@ 200 hrs).

I hope you get similar results.

I have looked everywhere for the elbows. Been told that were no longer made. The best shop I found will make them for $750 ea. plus shipping. I will have to send one of them up to there shop as a template. The previous owner of this boat kept an engine log, he was very meticulous. He has owned the boat for 15 years. I had an engine survey done and the engines look almost new and the surveyor could find nothing to be concerned about after an extensive sea trial. The engine room is spotless and well cared for.
I will keep looking for a couple of day's, but I think I've run out of suppliers. The cost from everyone I've talked to is between $725 and $1250 each. Going to see if we can find a local welder to rework them.
Thanks so much for all the suggestions and places to contact. I feel more confident after everyone's responses.
Bill

I am in the process of closing on a 1976 Gulfstar I noticed the current owners had the cooling system replaced or upgraded 4 years ago. Are you talking about the rubber right angle caps? If so as part of the owners upgrade these were replaced. I still have the old units as spares. My engines are Perkins but the smaller version the 4-154's. I think these are also known as Mazda Perkins motors? It's obvious the Mazda pickup truck version would have a conventional radiator cooling system, not the system commonly used on boats.
I'll second calling TAD for parts they seem to have a good supply of 4-236 and 4-154 marinized parts available.
Bill

I looked at Transatlantic web site. They do have an elbow that looks like it might fit, just a little different configuration. There $725 ea. Marine Manifold will take the original as a template and make a new one exactly like it. Their cost is about the same. If I can't find something off the shelf or have these fixed, Ill have to get them made. Thanks for helping.
Bill