JD4045T - new owner

My new boat has a 2015 motor. It was one of the things that drew me to the boat originally. I had followed OC Diver's repower, and our boats and use cases are broadly similar. It seems like the perfect power system for me.

I've now had a proper sea trial. Ran at 1600-1800 rpm for 24 hours, then a day of playing around including some time at maximum output. I've got a little bit of shaft rumble at the higher end of that range, but not concerning. Will check alignment this winter.

I checked all the fluid levels before launching, but then happily handed over the ER to a friend helping me on the delivery who is an ex merchant marine oiler. He added a bit of oil at the end, but it might have been low by his standard from the get go. Everything seems to operate as it should. We're trapping a lot of gunk in the fuel filters but I'll burn through it, I think. Have a good supply of filters.

I'm pretty sure I'm overpropped. I was interested in advance in the %load instrumentation, and curious about what it was actually going to tell me. The boat is 50', all water line, maybe 35,000 displacement. Very easily driven up to 8 knots, and I think my target open water cruising speed will be 7-8 knots, something like 1500 rpm. In my current thinking I can live happily with the existing prop.

More details:
- max rpm was ~2200 rpm. Uncalibrated, but I have an optimistic view of the instrumentation. I think it's about as good as you can get in a tier 2. I'll do a high idle test some time.
- exhaust extremely clean up to >2100 rpm
- reported %load was 20-30 across the 1500-2000 rpm range, then increased to 100% at WOT.
- at full throttle heavy black smoke. Backing off to 95% load - maybe 50 rpm - eliminated the smoke
- I had black exhaust water at %load > 90. I didn't find this too alarming. Had similar behaviour in a small Yanmar in my sailboat and it was carbon buildup in the exhaust manifold. The boat has not seen high load operation in the last ten years, if ever.

Comments? Advice? Observations? Will be playing in the ER this winter after another month of waterway cruising. Thinking about soundproofing and ER ventilation, which is currently non-existent. But that's for another thread.

One more thing. The transmission oil cooler is installed on the supply side of the water pump, which seems unusual. The water pump may be at or above the water line. Is this common/acceptable? I can think of reasons to have it after the pump, but maybe it doesn't matter.

The Deere 4045 is a real workhorse, so I think you got a good one.


But is there more to the model number? Maybe 4045TFM50 or something like that? Also an M rating? It does sound like you are severely over propped since most of the 4045 variants will turn 2500-2600 RPM.


Maybe a picture of the data plate/sticker on the engine?

Hi Jeff,

Congratulations on the new boat! Which specific engine do you have? As an example, mine is the 4045TFM75 with 135 HP at 2,600 RPM. The two other ratings are 121 HP at 2,500 RPM and 107 HP at 2,400 RPM.

The transmission cooler is in the correct location as per the manufacturer's specification. The only downside to this location is that any debris that makes it through your raw water strainer may collect at the front of the cooler. I would pull the front hose off and inspect it with a light for debris. Having a copper wire to slide from the other end to clear any tubes is a good idea. Mine is a piece of sold strand house wiring conductor that easily slides through the tubes.

The % of load gauge is a good tool. Without knowing your HP rating, it's hard to comment on where you should be running it. At 90%, the black smoke is likely insufficient air. My engine (because of it's high HP rating) won't let me run at 100% for maybe 10 minutes and above 80% for a half hour. The computer will over ride and slow the engine down below 80% after the time limit. Don't quote me on the times as I may be off and don't go there. Typically I'm at about 1,500 RPM with less than 50% load.

While the 107 HP ratings is an M1 setting with a continuous duty rating at the top RPM, I prefer long life and don't run above 75% as the exception, and above 50% as the rule.

The three HP settings are different computer programs for the exact same engine and can be reprogrammed by a dealer for a Princely sum. I was going to switch mine, until I got the price. If you want the specification sheets, I have them for all 3 HP ratings and can send them to you as a PDF file.

Ted

What ever RPM you get at full throttle test , the usual is a 10% pull back for max power with no harm.

Sounds like the boat is properly set up for long range cruising.

Next goal would be a really accurate fuel burn check , and a well done fuel tank capacity check. If you are going offshore.

FF said:

What ever RPM you get at full throttle test , the usual is a 10% pull back for max power with no harm.

Sounds like the boat is properly set up for long range cruising.

Next goal would be a really accurate fuel burn check , and a well done fuel tank capacity check. If you are going offshore.

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Suggest you get the JD Power Assist app. Once downloaded, enter your serial number. Among other data, you will get the option codes. In option codes, look at the Performance label.
That will confirm you’re M rating, HP and WOT rpm.
Lots of other good data buried in the app.

Thanks for comments. It's an M75, built 2005. Ignore my 2015 reference. ~1700 hrs.

Jeff F said:

Thanks for comments. It's an M75, built 2005. Ignore my 2015 reference. ~1700 hrs.

View attachment 107497

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Can't tell from the picture, is that 4045TFM75 or 4045FFM75?

Ted

O C Diver said:

Can't tell from the picture, is that 4045TFM75 or 4045FFM75?

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Click on the photo to blow it up...It's quite clear that it's a 4045TFM75.

Thanks. That would commonly be referred to as a 4045TFM75. There should be another sticker with the M rating, including rated HP and RPM.


Since you are new to Deere, all those other numbers are the option codes for the engine as originally built. If you look at their parts catalog (it's online), it's broken into sections, and the section numbers correspond to the first digits of the option code. Then the remaining digits are the specific option that you have.


So the first code, 1101, is for the rocker arm cover (110 pats group). And 1101 is the particular cover that you have. There are 4 possible covers. 640 is the exhaust adapter, and you have 6403 which is a wet elbow. 6402 is a dry elbow.

Have a 2010 naturally-aspirated John Deere 4045. Works well, no smoke, hardly any vibrations.

Jeff F,
Most excellent choice in engines![emoji16]
Of course I'm a little prejudiced, as I have 2 of these bulletproof babies in my boat (4045TFM50). Strong, easy to maintain, parts available in every town that has farm/industrial equipment.
My transmission cooler is plumbed last in the raw water circuit.

Thanks for comments. It's the M3 version.

After a few more days on the boat I wasn't completely confident in my theory that I was overpropped. I ran a few times at higher power for an hour or more, where I had clean exhaust but black cooling water. Figured the whole system could benefit from higher load operation after a lifetime of loafing. The PO said he never tried more than 1700 rpm and never went more than 50 miles from home.

Today when I went through my routine the exhaust and cooling flow is suddenly now clean, and I'm able to get to 2640 rpm, 95% load at WOT.

I guess I was able to successfully 'clean things out' by running harder. My guess is that the exhaust elbow was partially clogged with carbon, and that the restriction was limiting higher output. In any case I'm happier now.

Feel free to offer alternative explanations for what I've described. Air flow to the motor is unrestricted.

Finally had a detailed read through the owner's manual and was delighted to be able to call up fuel consumption rate and fuel used on the digital display.

Lifetime fuel used is 2,700 US gallons for 1,690 hours. Not much.

The real time fuel consumption calculations are supposed to be pretty accurate within a tenth or two. That is the lower right corner of my display. Extremely helpful in seeing how modest speed changes effect fuel consumption. It's also helpful for recognizing a dirty bottom or fouled prop as fuel consumption goes up for same RPM with lower speed.

Ted

Beautiful day on Lake Simcoe where I'm parked for a few days. I went out and did some speed runs while enjoying the OEM instrumentation. Motor and systems seem to be in very good order now.

I'll be quite happy at 1300-1600 rpm 95% of the time, I think.

Jeff F said:

Beautiful day on Lake Simcoe where I'm parked for a few days. I went out and did some speed runs while enjoying the OEM instrumentation. Motor and systems seem to be in very good order now.

I'll be quite happy at 1300-1600 rpm 95% of the time, I think.View attachment 107682

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This was meant for the existing thread. Can moderators remedy?

Yes, Jeff, I'll merge them. Done. Cheers, Pete B