tradthumper

When someone has gone to the trouble of inventing a material that, without interference from us, takes on that delightful 'well dark' lustre, it seems such a shame that people are so determined to make it into something else! ...or just leave them and appreciate their subtle beauty.

It's so rare I'm not sure I'd recognise it. When I think I've had some it often turns out I was just wrong again!

By coincidence, the narrowboat in question had a Thornycroft/Mitsubishi 80D that gave splendid service for over 20 years. I expect they wish they had refurbished it. Isn't hindsight a powerful thing!

Thought it time for a bit of an update. I did eventually get onto the YBW forum and even got a post from someone at Mermaid, though not much help. It seems I was mistaken about 'the complete oil filter assembly' falling off, so apologies for that. In fact the engine failure was due to the spigot in the assembly coming loose and allowing the filter itself to vibrate undone. Obviously, the spigot should be permanently fixed in the assembly but it is a sloppy fit both in the assembly and the filter and can easily be removed with thumb and forefinger. Sounds to me as though it is either the wrong component altogether or has been badly machined and is under-size. According to people on YBW, Mermaid Marine is no longer the long established company we have all heard of and no-one has refuted that suggestion.

I have now been in touch with Hampshire Trading Standards who insist that their RCD Officer's role only involves advising businesses in Hampshire. They have suggested I contact my local Citizens Advice Bureau. I have also been on Dorset's web site where the advice, for Dorset residents, is again to contact CAB. I still can't find any information on enforcement of CE/RCD standards or reporting infringements. P.S. I still don't have the validation email from YBW in spite of emailing to ask if there is a problem. I have subsequently tried to register again using a different set of username, password and email address: same result.

.....and I'm still waiting for the validation email from YBW.

I was only a few hours here but it seems to be quite common on car forums, sometimes several days. I'm not sure if it is deliberate policy or just admin delays. I'm still waiting for the validation email from YBW.

I have now taken Mike the Boilerman's advice and joined YBW forum but not sure when I will get posting rights. Thanks Tony. My acquaintances purchased the original Mermaid MP engine in March 2012, when it was installed in an old, non CE compliant, share owned, narrowboat. My understanding is that the status of the vessel does not affect the requirement for sales of new engines to be compliant and, from a Trading Standards perspective, Mermaid's claim that it is compliant should surely be the key. I have already suggested Trading Standards to them but they don't have much faith in statutory bodies. Perhaps I will make the initial phone call myself. I was hoping to establish whether there have been other catastrophic failures of the oil filter assembly but perhaps the other forum will be more productive in that respect.

I used a convenient picture. WM = Water Cooled Marine.

I'm not sure if there is anything to be gained by knowing who chooses to avoid all things Chinese and who happily buys Chinese made stuff with a respected name such as Nikon, Apple or indeed Mermaid? The reality is that people have bought Mermaid Marine engines on the strength of their standing and their clever marketing. I don't know if they were even aware of the country of manufacture, probably not. It's disappointing to have no answers to my original questions but perhaps it's still early days? I guess I'll have to take Mike the Boilerman's advice and join other forums. I hope they don't keep me waiting too long before I can post.

I have checked online and the claims of emission compliance are certainly there in the brochures, though you need to dig deep to find any reference to MP range of engines whatsoever. Mermaid don't seem to be offering them any longer! As for: I did say: There was no automatic entitlement to repair under warranty, just an assumption (call it naivety perhaps), that an obvious manufacturing fault would be rectified by a company such as Mermaid. The vessel was shared owned so a number of 'owners' holidays were at stake if the vessel remained out of commission. Their actions seem reasonable to me.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had problems getting Mermaid Marine to honour their commitment to these engines? Mermaid's 2012 brochure for the MP range says: "Compliance with emissions legislation, coupled with the Mermaid’s unrivalled customer support gives peace of mind that it can satisfy the demands of vessel, operator and market for years to come." I know of one instance where one of these engines smoked badly from day 1 and shed its complete oil filter assembly, with disastrous results, just after the rather short warranty expired. In order to get operational again without delay, the owners of the boat had the engine rebuilt at their own (very considerable) expense, fully expecting a firm with Mermaid's history to come good in due course. Furthermore, it is a known fact that parts stockists had oil filter assemblies they had been instructed not to sell, which pretty much confirms that a manufacturing or design fault had been identified. Mermaid Marine's long standing history and reputation was a substantial factor in the original purchase of this engine. However, my understanding is that Mermaid Marine have denied the existence of any fault in the engine, either in respect of its disastrous failure or the non compliance with emissions legislation. The engine, both in its original and subsequently rebuilt state, has always smoked very badly, even when lightly loaded (battery charging in neutral). While not accepting any responsibility, I believe Mermaid Marine have offered a rather paltry sum by way of compensation. The owners will need to go to court, with all the implications that entails, to get anything approaching realistic compensation and they still have an engine that does not comply with emission standards. I would be very interested to know of any other MP range owner having: a) a problem with the oil filter assembly or indeed a Manufacturer's Recall to replace it b) a persistently smoky exhaust c) unrivalled (in a good way) customer support from Mermaid Marine d) unrivalled (not in a good way) customer support from Mermaid Marine, similar to my acquaintances' experience, or even... e) an MP range engine that really is clean running and reliable. I would also be interested to know if anyone actually enforces emission legislation in any way by taking action against suppliers of non compliant engines? Personally, I am an enthusiast for traditional British built marine diesels, slow revving, with huge flywheels and shed loads of torque and my 44 year old, direct injection, twin produces less smoke than the above mentioned MP engine. However, I can also see the attraction of engines such as these, given their clever marketing and claims of emission compliance, economy and reliability, especially under the banner of long established, reputable companies. As a casual observer, it has been interesting to see a number of established 'western' engine marinisation companies take on Chinese made base engines, only to abandon them after a few years.