GM Bedford M466 Engine Info

[Tad Unger]

Hello,

Has anyone heard of a GM Bedford engine? Any experience or opinions?

Thanks,
Tad

 

[Capt. JB]

Yes, I have that engine in my boat. Good old 4-stroke natural aspirated diesel engine, simple to work on, but parts are hard to find. PM me if you have any questions.

-Josh

 

[BruceK]

Bedford was an English brand, on a wide range of trucks, light and heavy. Searching, it was associated with Vauxhall, which became a GM brand. So for parts sourcing it could be worth trying England. Or not.

 

[BryanF]

Most common Bedford diesels over here where inline 6 in a 300 cubic inch displacement and a later version in 330 cubic inches. Stone axe simple. Easy to work on. Mostly just run. Now, parts well that is another story - I have not worked on one since I put a 300 into a dodge 4x4 about 40 years ago. Saw one recently in a boat - still running.

 

[Tad Unger]

Thanks, Josh, Bruce and Bryan. My own research results echo your comments. Reliable engine but parts are few and far between. I e-mailed Carlin and Trans-atlantic Diesels and heard much the same.

Coincidentally, Josh, I looked at a Bluewater 40 this weekend, precipitating this search for engine data. Would you comment on your experience with the Bluewater 40? What are 3 things you like and 3 you don't?

Tad

 

[Capt. JB]

Like:
1) Layout and it's simplicity. Lots of space for a 40fter'. Pilothouse is awesome and closet space,bathrooms, bedrooms are big.
2) Single diesel. Yes, parts are hard to find, but they are out there. Any good diesel mechanic can work on it and Bedford as an engine is very reliable. Economical to run at 2gph @ 8 knots.
3) Clean and stylish. I get tons of comments on my boat. It's lines are timeless and the "stout' battleship look is impressive.

Dislikes:
1) Just with any boat, the older it is, the more can go wrong. As long as the previous owner took care of the boat (ie. window seals, paint, teak decks, etc) all will be good. The boat has been around for over 40 years, it will last forever if it's taken care of.
2) Small swim step. The first thing I did was replace it with a larger one. My family loves to dive, so this was crucial.
3) Unable to open saloon windows. My windows are fixed panels which will be replaced in the future. Not sure if yours are, but it would be nice to open them.

I can tell you that every boater will have their own opinions on what is good or bad on a boat...these are mine. I LOVE my Bluewater and think its a great boat. Hope this helps!

-Josh

 

[Tad Unger]

Thanks, Josh. Those are great data points for me!

 

[Pack Mule]

A freind of mine has one . He has taken it from San Deigo thru the canal across the gulf . He is now doing the the loop , has gone up the east coast and back down through the rivers . Him and his wife were at our marina for about a year and we became friends . He is in Alabama now headed to the keys . They loved theirs .it has a Ford Lehman . I really liked the boat also . I think there are 2 or three for sale now on YW .

 

[Caledonia]

Captain JB, I recently purchased 40ft BlueWater trawler with the 466 cu in and have an issue with the exhaust manifold. The down stream elbow was badly corroded and when it was removed along with the exhaust header three of the exhaust ports had a large build up of oily carbon. I am thinking that this would be caused by worn bore and rings, and the exhaust valve and head ports are probably in the same condition.
Do you know if any company supplies reconditioned heads, or where I could buy the parts to do the job myself.
Also do you know where I could find a shop service manual. There are owner manuals available but I doubt they would go into the detail needed for a head rebuild.

I appreciate any advice you can give Josh. I have lots of experience with gas engines but this is my first diesel.

Al

 

[Capt. JB]

Al,

PM me your phone# and I'll give you a call.

-Josh

 

[Caledonia]

BlueWater

Josh my number is 425-442-8217

 

[Island Cessna]

Cullen Diesel (the Detroit Diesel dealer) in Vancouver promoted and sold the Bedford in the '70's to the pleasure and smaller commercial fishing boaters.They may not have parts, but they should know whether and where you can get them, as they sold quite a few.

 

[Ski in NC]

Captain JB, I recently purchased 40ft BlueWater trawler with the 466 cu in and have an issue with the exhaust manifold. The down stream elbow was badly corroded and when it was removed along with the exhaust header three of the exhaust ports had a large build up of oily carbon. I am thinking that this would be caused by worn bore and rings, and the exhaust valve and head ports are probably in the same condition.
Do you know if any company supplies reconditioned heads, or where I could buy the parts to do the job myself.
Also do you know where I could find a shop service manual. There are owner manuals available but I doubt they would go into the detail needed for a head rebuild.

I appreciate any advice you can give Josh. I have lots of experience with gas engines but this is my first diesel.

Al

Sooted up ports and valves can come from light load running, and no other problem. With manifold off and engine barred over to where exh valve is closed, scrape out and blow out the chunks. Then put manifold and exhaust back on and run engine at heavy load to cook out and burn out any other deposits. Then when back in service, give it a run at 75% power every few days of cruising to cook things clean.

 

[Irish Rambler]

Ski in NC is perfectly right.
I also used mix 50/50 % paraffin/diesel for the first run after cleaning the manifold as the engine will run hotter and help burn off the crud.
You will get loads of sooty smoke for a while, that's normal as it burns off but may upset an eco warrior so do it somewhere discreet.
The Bedford engine was popular in the UK so try eBay.uk for parts as many vintage clubs have parts made to the OE spec, or Mike Bellamy at sales@lancingmarine.com
may be able to help.
Leyland had a direct replacement engine for the Bedford, Leyland engines are still made in India as Ashok Leyland.
DAF marine engines in Holland also still use the Leyland engine block in case you ever need to replace your Bedford.

 

[Driftless]

We run into lightly loaded diesels a lot in the generator world, particularly at hospitals which exercise their generators weekly, but usually without putting any load on them. So the machine runs at 1800 rpm for 30 minutes, but at no load. After a year, there are ~25 hours on the machine but no load.

Generally we put them against load banks once per year and take them up to 80% power (remember, that's 80% of the "Emergency" rating, which is often as much as 20% higher than the "continuous" rating) for four hours.

Typically it rains black soot & carbon for 5 to 15 minutes, then the exhaust cleans up, and the engine sounds better. Then it sings along for the rest of the four hours.

Some of these machines are 30+ years old (hospitals spend their limited dollars on things that make people healthy, not new shiny generators).

Lesson: Running them hard is (a) beneficial (b) not important in terms of wearing them out and (c) important if the engine is often lightly loaded.

...just my two smallest-unit-of-currency's worth

Onward!

JS

 

[bayview]

Indeed I don't think you have proven need of new heads. Follow the excellent advice above and save a few boat bucks.