Hi, I recently re-engined my Vancouver 27 with a beta 902. All in all very happy with the outcome, powers the boat nicely with some reserve power for strong winds and or sea states. However, I recently notice a significant vibration in the engine felt right through the boat when dropping down in speed to idle particularly when manouvering. At first I thought this might be an alignment issue but it also occurs with the engine in nuetral. Anyone else have this issue?
I suspect thet even though your alignment is correct, you have one mount being carried by the other three. If you loosen the shaft coupling bolts and the top lock nuts on your engine mounts and re-check your alignment and ensure that each mount has an equal amount of work to do, I think that you will then have fixed the problem.
We recently repowered a Vancouver 27 here in North Carolina with the BZ602 (Beta 16) and this engine also powered the boat much better than the old Bukh 20 that it replaced.
Good Afternoon, Stanley, After completing a sail from NY to Nova Scotia, with motorsailing most of the way and a brand new BETA 902 on board, I noticed similar symptoms. I will follow your suggestions as to the load distribution. 1. My question is: how do you measure equal load distribution/alignment? I would imagine that after loosening the bolts - top & bottom - the engine would settle down on the mounts. Would it be enough to measure the distance from the bottom of the mount to the top of the lower nut/washer, on all four mounts? Any other suggestions? 2. Also - I noticed that on lower RPMs/idle (around 900 RPMs), my 902 tends to "die" while I shift to forward/reverse. I was a little hesitant to adjust idle too high. How high is too high? What would be your recommendation for idle RPMs? 3. Would you recommend installing a coolant reservoir and allow the flow between it and the cooling inlet, via overflow tube? I find myself adding coolant, in small quantities, often. This would allow for the reservoir to take over. 4. What would be the best transmission fluid to use on this engine? Cheers, Paul P.S. Very happy with the performance and fuel consumption. She kept going, at 12 - 20 hours, at a time, while motor-sailing the last 700 nm. She is now at 130+ hours.
1) Measuring the distance from the engine beds to the brackets on the engine will not give you the right answers. Remember that everything has to be square to the shaft which needs to be central in the stern tube. Generally the boat builders do not build perfectly level and square engine beds and thus measuring the way you suggested will not give you the answers you want. A certain amount of experience and mechanical ability is required to be able to align an engine correctly. I suggest that if you have any doubts about your alignment, or if there is excessive movement on the shaft and engine, that you get a mechanic to check this for you. As you are not complaining of any vibration, I suspect that your alignment is fine.
2) The idle speed of this engine should be about 900 rpm in gear. You may experience a momentary slow down when engage in gear.
3) It is always nice to have a coolant recovery bottle (these are available from auto parts stores for between $15 - $25) as this will collect any coolant from the overflow and keep it out of the bilge. Keeping the coolant full also helps the cooling system on the engine but of course, as the engine heats up the coolant expands and will come out the overflow pipe. When the engine cools down, this will be sucked back in through the valve and pressure cap.
4) The transmission manufacturer just recommends ATF. We use ATF/Dexron III/Mercon and this is available from all major oil suppliers in the US and Canada.
I trust that you will have many more years of great service from this little engine. These new diesels are much cleaner burning and quieter than the rattely old things that we were using only 20 years ago. As a matter of interest, how much fuel is your engine using?
Hi, Stanley, Thanks for the advice. I ran her only at a max 1800RPMs, as she was "out-of-the-box new" all the way, for 9 days total. It gave me about 6.5 kn speed and about 1/2 gl/hr (or 1.8 lt/hr) fuel consumption. The boat is about 10,000lb, it's a CS33, fully loaded. Cheers, Paul
Hi Stanley, thought I would provide some updates to the issue. Interestingly enough I raised the issue of the an unbalanced loading of the mounts to the installer and he insured me that all was good. A while later while underway I heard a tinkling noise from down below and noticed one of the engine mounts had come loose! needless to say sh-- hit the fan.
The engine was re-aligned and mounts checked. The installer was exceptional at following up on the problem and supporting me through this issue so I have no real issues with them. But I have noticed that the engine vibration is still significant at idle especially when coming down from a load into neutral. Its really begining to bother me. It also appears to be hanging up at about 1000 RPM while at idle and if it drops to approx 900 rpms the vibration goes away. Any ideas?
Hello Greg, Can you please let me have some more info. What boat do you have? What transmission and what ratio? What is the build number (Woc#) of your engine? This is on a sticker on the valve cover or on the side of the exhaust manifold facing the valve cover. Is the flexible coupling installed? Thanks, Stanley
Hi Stanley, I installed a Beta 28 hp in my 38 C&C 2 years ago. Belated thanks for some great advice and help with the installation. The first season the engine ran without a hitch. At the end of last year the engine developed a moderate vibration at idle of 800-900 rpm. No vibration while in gear. No noise while underway. I do not understand what you mean when you say "one mount may be carried by the other three". I believe my alignment is correct. The mounts look ok and all of the bolts are tight. Any suggestions. Thanks BRad
1)Part of your problem may be the idle speed. These engines are supposed to idle at about 900RPM. (800 is definately too low).
2)As you had no vibration for the 1st year, I believe that the alignment was correct, however, the flexible mounts do tend to settle a little over the 1st 50 hours or so and you may find that you need to re-check the engine alignment.
A combination of 1) and 2) is likely to cure your vibration issue.
To answer your question, I have seen engines supported on 3 mounts and the 4th is actually either not doing anything to hold it's share of the load, or, it is actually adjusted to pull down to compensate for the opposite side mount which is adjusted too high.
Please let me know how you get on. Regards, Stanley
