Some years ago when buying a boat I looked at several Tollycrafts that had the 8,2s. At that time the President of the Tollycraft Club explained to me in great detail the work required to keep them going. The list was a bit longer than I thought prudent. Tollycraft too as the warranty issues flooded in and they abandoned the 8.2, so said the ex VP sales for Tollycraft.
What exactly is this "great detail (about) the work required to keep them going"? The mechanical injection rack needs occasional (long term) tuneup. Ours are at 1300 hours and still function perfectly. What else beyond typical maintenance?
I'm well aware of the early warranty history on the engine. Virtually all of them were tied to the head gasket problem I described earlier. Ocean Alexander had the same experience. The problems were addressed on later versions of the engines...unfortunately not soon enough. Sounds like dock talk and conjecture...details please.
In talking with DD marine shops they provided me with sufficient information to make the prudent decisions such as cooling system issues due to DDs marinization design. Not to mention a really long lived 8.2 is about the hours time a better V8 marine engine in the late 80s was hitting its stride, the 3208 Cat soon to be usurped by the Cummins 6BT.
The issues weren't tied to the marinization systems, they were inherent to the basic engine...clamping force on the heads and thermostat issues. By the time Detroit applied fixes to those two areas, the engine was sadly, the stuff of uninformed folklore....which you are diligently passing along. Do you have records on the service life of the later versions of the 220/250 horsepower turbo engines with the upgraded heads? Not hearsay...actual data that tracks service history versus engine configuration?
A friend, experiencing the normal 8.2 difficulties dropped in two JDs and was quite simply, elated with the results.
Exactly which "normal difficulties"? Of which version of the engines do you speak? Derogatory comments about the early engines are justified, but painting the later configurations with the same brush is patently unfair, let alone false.
And I was the lucky manager of a fleet of GM diesel pickups back in the late 70s when DD was working with GM, guess the progeny of that engine.
What's your point...other than more innuendo. The engine is not a gas derivative as some folks think...it's a purpose built diesel with very robust rotating components...gear driven timing, fuel pump and governor. It entered service in the 1981 time frame after your fleet experience. The Jabsco raw water pumps need to be regularly serviced and watched...not all that unusual on any marine engine. What else?
As I said earlier Skidgear, a diligent owner can keep them going, but for long distance cruising they are not very popular nor highly sought after.
What exactly do you mean by "keep them going"? And what are you trying to infer by "diligent"? The engines in our boat have "kept on going", for almost ten years under our ownership with absolutely no additional maintenance beyond routine oil, filter, belts and hose changes. There have been zero issues ...none, nada, zip. They're well past what I'd expect as the service life of a gas engine in a 45 foot boat. If you have certifiable information that they detonate at X number of hours, please share it. What exactly is the typical Achilles heel?
The unique characteristic of the engine among four-strokes, is of course, the mechanical injection rack and the injectors....carry overs from the 2-stroke engines. I consider it a plus. But I do suspect that the "normal difficulties" you reference are actually related to piss poor maintenance of the rack....not catastrophic issues with the long block. A rack tuneup is not this bogey man that sneaks up on you every 200 hours, and which requires an on-call 24/7 mechanic. For the record, at 1300 hours, there is no evidence the injection racks on our engines are anywhere close to needing adjustment. As I mentioned previously, the rack in a marine installation typically gets set and left for a given engine rpm, which obviously minimizes wear and tear as compared to a road use engine where the linkage is constantly moving. You either acquire the special tools to do the job yourself or find a mechanic. The shop manual is excellent, and I have accumulated the special tools to do the job. Time consuming and detailed job...but it ain't rocket science. If comparing fuel injection systems, I believe I'd trust a well tuned 8.2 for an extended cruise long before an equivalent vintage engine with an old (or new) tech injection pump.
As I suspected, you haven't owned or operated one of these engines yourself. Unless comments are supported by data and specifics, I tend to categorize them as opinion, folklore, dock talk, hearsay, etc....
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