cat 3196 report

[Bill Gillespie]

I took a peek at the the boatdiesel. com website and was surprised at the large number of negative reports about these engines, even carping that these engines in a boat would reduce its value. Has anyone else looked at this site? Many comments about broken motor mounts.

Bill

 

[Four Suns]

I belong to boatdiesel.com but don't really follow the "cat" threads. I know that the one guy Tony there is a big Cummins QSM-11 verteran and his insights into that engine are good for me.

 

[Pirate]

I spent a long time looking at a lot of 2001 480DB's with 3196 motors before I made the decision to increase budget and get the Cummins motors. The Cummins have been the best diesel I have ever owned. Absolutely NO smoke, smooth, reliable, efficient. I have 2300 hours on mine now with no major issues.

My friend has a 540DA with 3196 motors. He's had no real issues (we are in fresh water) except for a bad injector which is no big deal. He did ask me what I use to clean my tender because his stays black with soot. I told him I rarely needed to clean it and when I did, it had nothing to do with soot.

 

[Bill Gillespie]

The expert on the 3196 threads is a gentleman from Florida by the name of "Captain Dave" and the other frequent responder is a lawyer that is preparing litigation against Catipillar. Anyone who requests advice or makes a complaint is immediately contacted by the lawyer. Bad news! The primary complaint, it seems, is broken motor mounts and the fact that there are only four when six seems to be the best number.

Where is Frank Webster when you need him?

Here in the Calfornia Delta, these engines have as good a reputation as Cummins - if you take the recommended care of them.

Bill

 

[Four Suns]

The three major things on the QSM-11's that I have seen from boatdiesel are:

1. The top bracket holding the cast aluminum coolant resevior on the head tends to crack after about 100 hours (it's right by the turbo). Both of mine cracked and I just had to spend about $5k this season getting those replaced with new and refabricated brackets. The whole coolant system has to come apart to get one of the bolts out.

2. The cheap-o brown plastic Racor-based air filters can have the inside screens fall apart and destroy the turbos (and who knows what they will do to the inside of the engine). I replaced mine with a QSM-11 aftermarket Airsep retrofit from Walker Engineering. Very nice product. A guy with a 480DB on boatdiesel didn't replace his in time... oops..

3. The exhaust manifold is a dry fit/attach and tends to leak sometimes. I don't have this problem yet but it seems to appear on higher hour engines and there is not much that can be done. It's generally very small and not an issue but there is a discussion on it on boatdiesel.

I agree with the smokefree aspect and reliability though. I have a little white steam (very little) come out the pipes on the back when cruising but have never had to deal with soot of any sort. I only have about 600 hours though so Matt's experience is more real life on useage. In the 600 hours I have put on, both times the valve lash has been checked and has resulted in very little adjustment as well.

Anyway... that's what boatdiesel has been good for with me. Seeing the issues and what preventative things can be done before a catastrophic failure. I haven't really seen any destroyed QSM-11's yet though but the air filter issue being pointed out may have saved me from turbo issues down the road. Hopefully with the Cat engines, you can get the same sort of info before major issues come up.

 

[Dancin Dave]

Bill, what report? yours, boat diesels, or a lawyer and a so called expert.
It seems they bash every cat motor on that site.

I'm actually looking at 540 Dancers now. And I would certainly buy one with that engine. Its my job to make sure the boats engines has had all its upgrades or updates by a certain hour. Thats what records are for.

Cat takes care of any issue that comes up, they dont ignore it, they stand behind there products. There machines, in saltwater environments, new engines are developed, and things come up and then there dealt with. No secrets there. I was told by cat that when I find my 540 and the motors didnt have the updates that they would still make the repairs even though they are out of warranty(no cost), now thats a company I want to deal with, NOT SUE, then some schmo gets stuck in his boat, misses a day of work, cat replaces both engines and wala a class action lawsuit including many other engine models. its a boat, things happen. That sue happy guy should be thankful he had cats, they fixed his boat. Then he sued. I know the type , new boat every year, trade, trade, trade, they dont know what the inside of there engine room looks like, let alone check the oil. They spend so much money on a boat and expect nothing ever to happen. They need to wake up and grow up. If its broke fix it, simple. But dont sue and bad mouth, praise is more like it. Especially in this industry.

And thats all I have to say about that!

 

[fwebster]

Where is Frank?.......he's been in Florida enjoying his Caterpiller diesels!