Detroit 6.2L Hydroforce Diesels

[hobbystuff]

I have a friend who has been searching for a good trawler but there hasn't been much on the market lately. Rather than miss another season, they are considering purchasing a Cooper Prowler 10m Sundeck that is currently on the market.

The boat has Detroit 6.2L Hydroforce 170hp diesels with 3000 hours on them. I have not had any experience with these engines. Any issues with these engines they should be aware of?

 

[Ken E.]

I have a friend who has been searching for a good trawler but there hasn't been much on the market lately. Rather than miss another season, they are considering purchasing a Cooper Prowler 10m Sundeck that is currently on the market.

The boat has Detroit 6.2L Hydroforce 170hp diesels with 3000 hours on them. I have not had any experience with these engines. Any issues with these engines they should be aware of?

Suggest you visit boatdiesel.com to see what info they have on this engine, which is rare in marinized form.

 

[sunchaser]

The DD 6.2 and 6.5 s from that era were pretty gutless and unreliable. The Stanadyne electronic fuel pump was problematic. I had one in a pickup and it was not a good performer in comparison to the gassers.

However, many were made and surprisingly the engine in an improved form is still made by a third party as I recall. Spare marinization parts' availability should be checked out.

 

[Comodave]

+1 on the boatdiesel recommendation.

 

[Slowmo]

You'll likely get a variety of opinions on any engine. There are good engines that some people trash and bad engines that some people love. However if an engine isn't very common then marine parts supply would be a significant concern. Just because there are lots of the core engines around in trucks doesn't mean that you can easily get things like exhaust risers etc. So I'd check marine parts supply out in addition to identifying what the watch points on that particular engine are.

 

[hobbystuff]

Thanks for the comments - I did go to Boatdiesel.com - not a lot of information on these engines at all. Other information tells me it was kind of gutless as a truck engine and reliability seems to be average (but there are wild swings in opinion).

In a marine application where the intention is to run at trawler speeds, I wouldn't be too worried about the "gutless" part but I am definitely concerned about reliability and parts availability. Regardless, if they were to proceed it would be with a full mechanical inspection and support from a good mechanic.

Any other information is appreciated.

 

[Ken E.]

I recall another marinizer of these engines - Peninsular Diesel. If you do a Google search, you'll get some information, even an Albin users group that used them. Seems like getting parts might be a big problem for these, being out of production for years and never having much of an installed base of users to begin with.

 

[Lepke]

Older, mechanical, 2 cycle Detroits are my favorite engines for reliability. The 6.2 is not. Marine parts for that engine are hard to come by. The marine version rarely has parts for sale on ebay. Do a search on "Detroit Diesel 6.2 issues".
If the boat price is low enough to cover most of the cost of replacement, then maybe.
That said, if you baby the engine, it could last a long time. And if the boat has twins, that's a kind of reliability. But the engines will effect your selling price even more some years from now.

 

[hobbystuff]

So after doing some investigation and reading the responses you have provided, that boat with those engines will be getting a hard pass.

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Comodave]

So after doing some investigation and reading the responses you have provided, that boat with those engines will be getting a hard pass.

Thanks for the input everyone.

If you can’t get parts or parts are difficult to get now it will only get worse as time goes by. Good decision.

 

[jhall767]

What I didn't know is the 6.2L diesel was available in a 1/2 ton pickup truck back in the 80's. Not meant to be a workhorse engine though. Just fuel efficient compared to a gas engine.

Good choice on walking away.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Hoby wrote;
“In a marine application where the intention is to run at trawler speeds, I wouldn't be too worried about the "gutless" part but I am definitely concerned about reliability and parts availability.“

If a boat is a trawler and designed as a trawler the engine load shouldn’t be less than other trawlers. But so many trawlers were overpowered many to most are running around at 1/3 output. Or less.

But if a boat is repowered the opportunity to choose the right amount of power to allow the boat to then operate at 50 to 60% output presents itself. If one shops wisely an engine that presents minimal adaptive problems will easy to not that hard to find.

The bigger the engine the more it costs .. not only to buy but to operate. And most of the time it will burn less fuel especially if it’s a new or newer engine.

Seems a no brainer to me.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Also ..
Re the PU and economy issue pickups have basically never been designed w economy engines .. fuel burn or otherwise. One of the best PU truck engines ever was the 303 (or thereabouts) cu. in. designed only for PU trucks. It was a V6 GMC. It was notoriously fuel inefficient. I think it was 10-12mpg.

The later model PU truck that are diesel are automatically more fuel efficient but are very expensive compared to gasoline engines.

 

[jhall767]

Hoby wrote;
“In a marine application where the intention is to run at trawler speeds, I wouldn't be too worried about the "gutless" part but I am definitely concerned about reliability and parts availability.“

If a boat is a trawler and designed as a trawler the engine load shouldn’t be less than other trawlers. But so many trawlers were overpowered many to most are running around at 1/3 output. Or less.

But if a boat is repowered the opportunity to choose the right amount of power to allow the boat to then operate at 50 to 60% output presents itself. If one shops wisely an engine that presents minimal adaptive problems will easy to not that hard to find.

The bigger the engine the more it costs .. not only to buy but to operate. And most of the time it will burn less fuel especially if it’s a new or newer engine.

Seems a no brainer to me.

I agree. but a 10M boat with twin 170hp diesels should run on plane at 20 knots or so. So is it really a trawler or not? For displacement speed a single 170 hp is way more than is needed.

A lot of older boats end up as "Trawlers" because of engine problems or owner worries.

 

[Rufus]

The fear mongering about poor parts availability for this engine is pure horse pucky. I just checked Rock Auto...you name it and they have it...in most cases a selection of suppliers. The only unique items are exhaust components. On-line photos depict a very simple fabricated arrangement. I'm confident my local welder could knock them together with no trouble. I looked up the subject boat on line. Looks like a steal compared to the clapped out Lehman and Perkins powered Taiwan "trawlers" currently on the market. In any case, parts availability is not a reason to write it off.

 

[Comodave]

I am not familiar with them but the parts I would be concerned about would be the marinization specific parts. I think they were a pretty low volume marine engine production. Generally marine engines that are low volume have more parts availability issues. Maybe not but that has been my experience.

 

[rslifkin]

Looks like these guys still support that engine in some form: https://www.udmarine.com/

So as long as they plan to stick around to support the Peninsular and other 6.2/6.5 conversions, pars should be available.

 

[Lepke]

You can keep any engine running indefinitely, with enough money. But it's probably not the best way to enjoy boating.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Re: Post #17. Mr. rs. Any ballpark guesses as to how much one of those replacement 6.5l engines might be? $30K? $50K? Serious question. I have no concept of potential cost(s).

 

[rslifkin]

Greetings,
Re: Post #17. Mr. rs. Any ballpark guesses as to how much one of those replacement 6.5l engines might be? $30K? $50K? Serious question. I have no concept of potential cost(s).

Not a clue. The place I found doesn't list prices publicly.