Bertram33 User Forum

Does anyone know a good source for remanned cat 3208's ? Probably in the 350hp-375hp range. Franco

Try doing a search over at Sams Marine (Hatteras owners Forum). There is a company that rebuilds and sells Cats that some of the owners have bought engines from. I think it's in Va. Anyway they all seemed please with the engines they got from them. Buzz

Thanks Buzz Franco

I'm running a 1979 33, we put 6600 hrs on the orginal 3208's, alittle slow but great ride, replace them with 3116 350 hp got 399 hrs before trouble started, then at cats recomadtions went with 3126 375 hp got 1000 hrs then trouble started, replace again with 3126 375 got 400 hrs then trouble started again, now have 3126 350 hps got 1200 hrs waiting for the trouble to start, as stated the speed is great cruise at 26 kots but not the ride you had with 3208 boat is supposed to run at 22 knots where it rides the best, if i can help with more imformation about these new motors feel free to hit me back here or at my email capt.hank69@yahoo.com i've got lots of imformation on the subject

What RPM are you running at 26 knots?

2450 rpms, we were told to take the trottles to the top and bring back 250 rpm for cruise, we like the ride better at 2450 unless ocean is real calm, hope this helps

quote:Originally posted by franco Hi Guys, This is a truly educational site especially to novices like me. I am interested in a 33 SF in the Georgia area with cat 3208's with 270hp. I would prefer more power than that. Can the existing engines be tweaked to 350hp-375hp without major changes? A brief summary of what's involved would be welcome.Alternately,do you know a good cat guy I could talk to about this? Thanks in advance. Okay well I can help a lot with this one. Upping the HP to 350-375 is a definite no. You can get up to 320 HP on a 3208T without the aftercooler. Adding the aftercooler to essentially turn the engine into a 3208TA is possible, but not practical. The Twin Disk MG 502-1 gears that the boat likely has will take 320 HP, but I would not try to run 350-375 through them. Also the height of the engine with aftercooler will not fit inside a B33 engine box. You would also have to change out the fuel injection pumps to make use of the aftercoolers, a really big deal (read: $$$$). We could talk about shaft sizes too... but that's a contentious subject here, and the rest of the reasons are enough. The good news is: 1) Posted HP ratings on the 3208T are nebulous at best, don't worry about 270 vs. 320, you have a 3208T and that is all that really matters. 2) That a properly working 3208T should be plenty of engine for a B33. Allow me to explain: What I have learned about all these diesels is that the turbos slowly wear out. I think the older 3208's see it happen more often to them only because they are so heavily built and thus last so long. The owner of an engine that only makes it 1500-2000 hours before crapping out would probably not notice that his engines were beginning to get slowly but progressively weaker from ever-weakening turbo boost. The engine usually dies in some manner before the turbo does. But for the 3208, the opposite is usually true: the turbo wears out before the engine. What degrades is the "hot side" of the turbo, the (front) end in which the exhaust is piped through (and is the force that runs the turbo). With use/time, the corrosive exhaust gases slowly erode away at the (cast steel) inside circular walls of the hot side chamber. The clearance tolerance in the turbo is very small. Open it up through corrosion and the exhaust starts leaking by without turning the turbine. You loose boost, the engine looses power, and it smokes black because it's not burning all its fuel. Not too long ago I learned that I've been running around in my B33 with 3208T's, going on six years now, with dead turbos. The engines have always run like a clock for me, and I love having the weight/ballast of the 3208s' in the belly of the boat when the seas are rough. I just always wished that I had a little more power to consistently get the boat up to that magic 22-23 knot cruise. I could get there when lightly loaded and with a super-clean bottom, and sometimes with heavier loads using trim tabs to help get the bow down, but not otherwise. I've done a lot of different things to my engines and had begun to suspect the turbos a while back. Well about a month ago I finally pulled the exhaust elbows off and had a close look in there. The tolerance between the turbine blades and hot side chamber walls should be 0.018". Mine were well over 0.090". Bingo... dead turbos. My engines have basically been naturally aspirated, or very nearly so, for the whole time I've owned the boat. I consider this wonderful news as I'm excited to see what it'll do with new turbos, a relatively cheap upgrade. I also had the deck off recently and found a twisted/collapsed exhaust hose on one engine, a mistake left over from some idiot that worked on the boat before I owned it, which also certainly exasperated the problem. But that's another story. So anyway - I've already fixed the hose, and this month I'm tackling the turbo replacement on both engines, among other major maintenance things. I'm expecting that I'll be able to report a very respectable cruise speed after my girl finally gets the new turbos that she needs to breathe correctly. You're probably looking at a boat with 20+ year old turbos on it as mine are, and they're probably cooked as mine are. Turbos aren't exactly cheap, but relative to other options it will be. Based on what I already know about my boat, with corrected turbos I'm anticipating a full-load cruise of 23-24+ knots. I'll be thrilled with that. Will report back when I know for certain, probably early February....

quote:The 3208 is a workhorse as long as you keep it where it was originally meant to run. That is naturally aspirated. When CAT started to up the horsepower with turbos and aftercoolers, that's when they start to come apart quickly. I'd definately rebuild the old 3208 if that's what I had & turn it slow with huge wheels. No offense meant but this is really bad advice. Turn wheels that make rated WOT RPMS or slightly more, nothing else. All ratings of 3208T engines are very heavily-built long-lasting engines. The 3208TA is fine up all the way up to 375 HP, at which it behaves (lives as long as) most other engines, and above which it is a poor choice. CAT got the 3208TA up to 435HP... but it was a mistake to rig them for more than 375 HP

Long and short. I have the 3208T's in my 33sf. They make 275 and that is plenty. They are also super heavy which adds to the stability of this very stable boat. The 3208T, in theory should last a very long time because it is so overbuilt(it is designed to not ever be resleeved so the block and cylinder walls are way overengineered). It is most reliable and effective in the 275HP setup. Anything more than that is an invitation for problems. In addition these engines are very simple and most work can be done by the owner, although there are somethings that should be left to the pros. Good luck!

I have the 270 cats and I will say they are very reliable engines. I would like more speed without running the engines above 2400 rpm. If I was to re power I would look at 6bta as the 315hp engines are much lighter. The lighter the better! I may be wrong but a 33FBC weighs 26k without fuel? I do know the Cats are can be fifty percent heavier than other engines. One other thing above new engines every 1000 to 2000 hours? Didn't your warranty on new engines cover some of your problems. At 25 to 40 thousand per engine I would think you would have had some issues with Cat? If I were to re power also I wouldn't buy rebuilds as they are only as good as the person rebuilding them. When I bought Merritt engines the factory rebuilds were 20 percent less than brand new engines.