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Help please, New boat with Isuzu 42 HP .....


Gypsey_Kings

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Hi

 

The boat we are getting (Just had survey done last thurs & awaiting report) has an Isuzu 42HP engine in it. I am new to diesel engines, but have worked on some car engines in my younger days. Back when you could still understand what was what. I have been battling to find out any info on it from the Weird Wide Web Infernalnet.

 

Anyone have any helpfully tips on looking after one of these beasts. Are they good/bad, cheap spares/not cheap, etc....where are the best places for spares? Anything I should keep a sharp eye on? Special tools?......etc.....etc.....Any PDFs around - service manual etc...

 

Any idea on what sort of prop it should have on for a 18 tonne - 59ft / 6'10" with 18"draught?

 

I only have one picture of it at the moment and want to do as much research as possible before I get back to the boat....it only has 108 hours on the clock....and I think it is a 4LC1, but not sure...

 

IMG_0986.JPG

 

Thanks in advance for any help - The forum is amazing for its wealth of information - imagine of you could bottle it up and sell it !!!

 

cheers

Clive

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Hasn't the previous owner kept the owner's manual? You should have a manual for the gearbox too.

 

Their pretty good engines - I have the Isuzu 55hp. Every 250 hours change the oil and gearbox oil (both with the same APICC grade) plus new filters (oil, fuel, air) and the sediment trap (that black thing on the top left of your picture) . Check the belt tensions, mountings and any wires or pipes for chaffing and you should be fine.

 

Some boat builders don't install large enough skin tanks and keel cooled canal boat engines can overheat when pushing against the current on rivers. The formula is 1 ft sq/4 or 5 hp, so you should have an 8-10 ft sq skin tank.

Edited by blackrose
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Unless this was a self fitout or built prior to 1996ish the boat should be CE marked and part of that is to provide a boat manual that should contain all the manuals and instruction sheets. If it is not so marked and equipped then the sale is possible illegal in the EU so the price may well have to reflect that. Your surveyor should have checked this.

 

Many hire fleet used this engine and by & large they seem to have a fair name. Simple and robust.

 

I doubt you will find much stuff on the net specifically for the engine but there are lost of sites that have a lot of good info on them. Try www.tb-training.co.uk.

 

Wild guess at prop size (again the surveyor should tell you if he thinks it is wrong) 14 x about 12 to 15. You might swing a 15" prop but at the risk of more noise etc. To be more sure we need to know the gearbox reduction ratio and maximum engine speed (Google Castle Marine Prop Calc & play with t).

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Hi again

 

@Blackrose - Yes, There is a hardcopy owners manual with the Brokers. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get my hands on it. Trying to get up to speed as much as possible now while I have the time...Gearbox is a PRM150D2 which is a 2:1 ratio, as far as I can gather so far. Did get the PDF manual for that. Thanks for the info given, which is exactly what I was after ....did not know what (that black thing on the top left of your picture) was.

 

@Kevinl - Thanks for the link....no sure if 4LC1 is the model of the engine!!!

 

@Tony Brooks - It is CE marked - 2010 built boat, as I said to Blackrose - the brokers have the RCD owners manual etc, which I have'nt been able to even look at so far...Surveyor is Steve Hands so I'm sure he's covered everything ( I do not have his report yet, but will be getting it soon). Thanks for the great links, will be going thru that later - I wonder why there is so little in the internet on the Izusu 42, as I have had little trouble getting info on just about all the rest of the equipment on the boat. Gearbox is a PRM150D2 which is a 2:1 ratio, I think, - maximum engine speed?? it did go up to 2000rpm on the river trial, but not sure if that was full power.

 

thanks for the comments, much appreciated...Good to know they're OK engines....

 

cheers

Clive

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....did not know what (that black thing on the top left of your picture) was.

 

More correctly, it's called a water separator/sediment trap, also known as an agglomerator. It separates out any water that's accumulated as condensation in your fuel tank which has then got through to the fuel line, by ultilising the fact that diesel will float on top of any water. It also acts as a pre-filter prior to your fuel filter. If you switch off the fuel isolator at the tank you can drain a bit of liquid from the bowl into a jam jar by opening the wing nut at the bottom to check if there's any water in there. If so, drain the water off until you can see red diesel coming out. You can also take the sediment filter element out and change it for a new one by removing the central bolt. After fitting a new element, switch the fuel tank isolator back on and bleed the fuel trap of air by loosening the bolt behind the central bolt in your picture. If you forget to bleed it the engine may stall as it's starved of fuel, but it shouldn't really matter too much because I think your engine is self-priming and should draw fuel through the trap if you re-start the engine and give it a bit of revs.

Edited by blackrose
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I have the same engine, seven years, 2500 hours. What can I say about it? Nothing. I get it serviced professionally once a year and it has never given me a single problem, never, nothing! (touching wood!)

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There is a fair bit of rust on the engine to say it has only done (allegedly)108 hours blink.png

 

EDIT: Changed miles to hoursfrusty.gif

 

It looks ok to me, but a bit of external corrosion isn't really any indication of engine hours.

 

I actually think the worst aspect of Isuzu engine (or at least my Isuzu engine) is the paintjob. Mine is flaking off all over and it doesn't like extended contact with coolant. I think I've got a small leak by the water pump and the paint has gone sticky and wet.

 

I've no idea how one would go about re-painting an engine in-situ.

Edited by blackrose
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We have one in Grace and it has now clocked up 12000 hours. Still sweet as a nut. No real witchcraft. Regular oil change with API CC and filter every time. Fuel filter changed every 500 hours (more throughput with her being a hire boat)

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Hi

@Blackrose - Thanks for the detailed info...I will be doing a full service on it before going anywhere. This will be very useful.

@WJM - Good to know it's a solid engine. Looking forward to clocking up as many hours if not more myself....

 

@Blackrose - I'm inclined to believe the 108 hours on the clock as the engine is three years old, but the original owner just sat in the marina on shore power...He did'nt even use it to charge batts (so all six are now knackered). I even wonder if he ever took it out of the marina.

 

@RichardH - Now there's goal for us to aim for ...12000 hours, gonna take a while...(that's more than 4 years @ 8 hours/day, everyday.)

cheers

Clive

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Our Isuzu 42 is excellent, you should have no worries about the engine. I don't know where you are based but if you can get somewhere towards the bottom of the Llangollen then I thoroughly recommend getting Neil Coventry to have a look at it - his contact details are in the HMI manual on the ID blog. Last time we were up there we got him to give our engine the once over and boy could you notice the difference.

 

Tony knows a hell of a lot more about props then I do so take this in that light. Our prop is an 18x12, engine, hull, gearbox and prop are balanced just perfectly for us, I would not want to have a little one.

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I'm inclined to believe the 108 hours on the clock as the engine is three years old, but the original owner just sat in the marina on shore power...He did'nt even use it to charge batts (so all six are now knackered). I even wonder if he ever took it out of the marina.

 

There's no reason not to believe those hours. My engine's 8 years old and it only has 800 hours on it. But I would try to find ou if the first service at 50 hours was ever done. It's not the end of the world if it wasn't - another 58 hours wouldn't wreck the engine.

Edited by blackrose
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  • 1 year later...

We also have one of these engines.Ours is raw water cooled through a heat exchanger.This is the "seagoing" version,most narrow boats will have the keel cooled version .Probably supplied by HMI,Babcock Airfield. They dont exist any more,although the parent company still does,I believe,(They are the U.K.importers of Hitachi excavators).As many hire fleets used these engines genuine filters are available from many boatyards. I believe that the spiritual succesors to HMI now sell Isuzu spares.(Cant remember the name,is it Canaline)The gearbox is probably a PRM150,which is a good box.The only spare we have needed in 2200 hours is one fan belt.One comment about the engine.The manufacturers power rating is for the engine at 3000rpm.Very unlikely you will rev this high.I imagine the useable horse power is probably nearer to 25 than 42.No doubt one of the experts on the forum can advise.

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Hi,

you need to identify the engine from the sticker in the rocker cover (the Isuzu one not the HMI one) this will give you the family of engines that yours is based on and from this you can find the uses and specs ie cars, trucks, diggers gen sets etc

My Isuzu 70 is used in the Trooper model of cars so all filters etc are the same as either the 2.8 (oil filter) or the 3.2 model

Belts and air filters are HMI fitted but common to other uses in the plant field

A littlr time spent on the www will save £££££££££s

Ray

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