BMC engines, good or bad? Engine inside boat, good or bad?

[hopefulboater]

Hi all,

Do you all hate your BMC engines?

 

&

 

What would be the pros and cons of having engine inside the boat cabin ?

[RLWP]

 

 

Do you all hate your BMC engines?

 

How do we answer that?

 

 

 

What would be the pros and cons of having engine inside the boat cabin ?

 

whereabouts? A boat with a trad stern and the engine under the step is common, it makes for the most use of internal space. A boat with an engine in an engine room shows off the engine.

 

Richard

[MtB]

Hi all,

Do you all hate your BMC engines?

 

Impossible to answer as we don't all own one. I used to like the one I once owned, back in the day.

 

 

 

What would be the pros and cons of having engine inside the boat cabin ?

 

Pros:

Keeps it dry and saves the electrics from sparking

 

Cons:

There aren't any. It would be stupid to install one outside the boat cabin.

 

Hope that helps...

 

MtB

[RLWP]

 

Cons:

There aren't any. It would be stupid to install one outside the boat cabin.

 

Hope that helps...

 

MtB

 

In your opinion. Thousands of cruiser and semi trad stern owners would say you are wrong. Who on earth wants a leaky, smelly engine in their living space

 

So, having got stupid statements out of the way...

 

Richard

[bizzard]

An engine further forward or in the middle of the boat is very common in displacement sea boats where a good centre of gravity is important for stability reasons, boxed in often with the dining table or seating on top.

[hopefulboater]

 

How do we answer that?

 

 

whereabouts? A boat with a trad stern and the engine under the step is common, it makes for the most use of internal space. A boat with an engine in an engine room shows off the engine.

 

Richard

I think it would be called an engine room, its just after the first cabin entering the boat from the stern.

[Troyboy]

Hi all,

Do you all hate your BMC engines?

 

&

 

What would be the pros and cons of having engine inside the boat cabin ?

I certainly don't hate my BMC engine . What makes you ask that question ?

[Alan de Enfield]

"Boat Mans Cabin Engine" - probably not a lot of room once the bed is down. Would'nt it be better off in its own little engine room.

[RLWP]

I think it would be called an engine room, its just after the first cabin entering the boat from the stern.

 

You have found a boat with a BMC engine in a separate engine room???

 

I suspect you mean that it is under the step below the sliding hatch

 

Richard

[alan_fincher]

 

You have found a boat with a BMC engine in a separate engine room???

 

I suspect you mean that it is under the step below the sliding hatch

 

Richard

 

You would be struggling to argue ours is not in it's own dedicated engine room.

 

OK, that engine room happens to be at the back of the cabin, not set forward in the traditional manner ahead of a living cabin, but it is an engine room none-the-less.

 

Aren't the majority of them ? - they are more usually fully separated from the living space by a combination of bulkhead and doors, than not, in my experience. having them sharing any living space is surely unusual, (though not unheard of!).

 

IMO the main benefits of a "cruiser" or "semi-trad" stern are the ability to have significant numbers of people at the back with the steerer, (if you favour that, of course). The downside is the engine being under the deck, to my mind, as so often the arrangements for keeping rain water out seem totally inadequate.

 

EDITED TO ADD:

 

Amongst the recent stories of far, far, newer engines needing a total rebuild or replacement, I am happy with my early 1970s BMC in my leisure boat, and my early 1960's Lister in my historic boat. Just don't expect nothing to ever leak out of them - it is a holy grail not worth going after!

Edited May 11, 2014 by alan_fincher

[hopefulboater]

 

You have found a boat with a BMC engine in a separate engine room???

 

I suspect you mean that it is under the step below the sliding hatch

 

Richard

Its a ford engine, its got its own space inbetween back cabin and bathroom.

I certainly don't hate my BMC engine . What makes you ask that question ?

A few people I have talked to have told me they break down a lot... easy to fix but constantly needing fixing.

[RLWP]

Got it

 

I'm out

 

Richard

[hopefulboater]

 

You would be struggling to argue ours is not in it's own dedicated engine room.

 

OK, that engine room happens to be at the back of the cabin, not set forward in the traditional manner ahead of a living cabin, but it is an engine room none-the-less.

 

Aren't the majority of them ? - they are more usually fully separated from the living space by a combination of bulkhead and doors, than not, in my experience. having them sharing any living space is surely unusual, (though not unheard of!).

 

IMO the main benefits of a "cruiser" or "semi-trad" stern are the ability to have significant numbers of people at the back with the steerer, (if you favour that, of course). The downside is the engine being under the deck, to my mind, as so often the arrangements for keeping rain water out seem totally inadequate.

 

EDITED TO ADD:

 

Amongst the recent stories of far, far, newer engines needing a total rebuild or replacement, I am happy with my early 1970s BMC in my leisure boat, and my early 1960's Lister in my historic boat. Just don't expect nothing to ever leak out of them - it is a holy grail not worth going after

I looked at about 15 boats today, in every cruiser stern the engine had quite a bit of water in there I do like the idea of the outside space and social aspect, but dont like the rain problem or the exposed and so uncomfortable journeys in bad weather.

[alan_fincher]

A few people I have talked to have told me they break down a lot... easy to fix but constantly needing fixing.

You probably need to either find people who know what they are talking about......

 

..... or at least avoid talking to people who assume you can run any boat engine of any age, on zero maintenance, and ignore oil changes, or the fact there is no water in it.

 

Because they are older engines BMC 1500 and 1800 motors (like the smaller air cooled Listers), tend to be found in the cheaper boats, where they have not been adequately looked after. Any marinised (or marine) diesel will suffer if totally neglected, but I suspect more BMCs fall into the category where this happens than more modern, newer, ones.

 

It doesn't make them a bad engine, but buy any canal boat where the engine has been neglected, and is half "shot", and it will not suddenly heal itself just because you have bought it. If you don't know how to know if it has been adequately looked after, you need to engage somebody who can assess that.

[Detling]

If there is water in my engine 'ole under the cruiser stern it is because I have been lazy and not cleaned the drainage channels out, At about 1 inch by 1/2 inch it doesn't take much to block them particularly if moored near trees.

(bud cases and catkins at the moment, seeds and flower petals as well as leaves in the autumn basically trees drop mess).

 

Boats for sale are often neglected and at this time of year may have had no TLC since September.

[hopefulboater]

If there is water in my engine 'ole under the cruiser stern it is because I have been lazy and not cleaned the drainage channels out, At about 1 inch by 1/2 inch it doesn't take much to block them particularly if moored near trees.

(bud cases and catkins at the moment, seeds and flower petals as well as leaves in the autumn basically trees drop mess).

 

Boats for sale are often neglected and at this time of year may have had no TLC since September.

No TLC is about right I would say, on one boat when I stepped onto the bow the my feet were suddenly almost under water.

You probably need to either find people who know what they are talking about......

 

..... or at least avoid talking to people who assume you can run any boat engine of any age, on zero maintenance, and ignore oil changes, or the fact there is no water in it.

 

Because they are older engines BMC 1500 and 1800 motors (like the smaller air cooled Listers), tend to be found in the cheaper boats, where they have not been adequately looked after. Any marinised (or marine) diesel will suffer if totally neglected, but I suspect more BMCs fall into the category where this happens than more modern, newer, ones.

 

It doesn't make them a bad engine, but buy any canal boat where the engine has been neglected, and is half "shot", and it will not suddenly heal itself just because you have bought it. If you don't know how to know if it has been adequately looked after, you need to engage somebody who can assess that.

Ok so they suffer from neglect, explanation makes sense, thank you.

 

I was thinking I would need to get a mechanic to check the engine. As far as I know a surveyor will only start it, which I can do myself. If Im lucky they may know something about engines but just as easily they may not know any more than I do.

[cereal tiller]

No TLC is about right I would say, on one boat when I stepped onto the bow the my feet were suddenly almost under water.

Ok so they suffer from neglect, explanation makes sense, thank you.

 

I was thinking I would need to get a mechanic to check the engine. As far as I know a surveyor will only start it, which I can do myself. If Im lucky they may know something about engines but just as easily they may not know any more than I do.

Which FORD engine were you referring to in your earlier post?

 

If it is an XLD it will have a Cambelt,Must be changed every year or two,Cambelts do not seem to last long in boat engine bays.

 

CT

[hopefulboater]

Which FORD engine were you referring to in your earlier post?

 

If it is an XLD it will have a Cambelt,Must be changed every year or two,Cambelts do not seem to last long in boat engine bays.

 

CT

Ford Beta BD3

[cereal tiller]

Ford Beta BD3

Based on a Tractor engine with a long track record,a Classic of the future!

 

CT

[hopefulboater]

Based on a Tractor engine with a long track record,a Classic of the future!

 

CT

So a good bet then?

[peterboat]

BMCs were not a great engine in their day in cars and vans. In boats they are slightly better but to be brutal the 4 we have on our moorings are the most unreliable boats on the moorings. If they go out we are always surprised if they come back under their own power. We rebuilt Keiths engine last year at great expense so only time will tell if it will be better than before. He also has a separate engine room so it was easier to work on than a cruiser stern

 

Peter

[hopefulboater]

ah....

[trackman]

The BD3 has a good reputation I believe, and is a totally different engine from XLD based units.

Like my Beta JD3, it was intended to look & behave as much like a "traditional" canal boat engine as possible whilst being modern in terms of maintenance needs, spares availability etc.

I believe Beta Marine only stopped using the Ford engine the BD3 is based upon when it became difficult to source. They then switched to a John Deere for the current JD3 that we have in CN.

To add to my earlier post, before we got CN we had a share in a boat with a BMC 1.8. It was neglected prior to our group buying the boat and needed a serious overhaul, but after that it never let me down in several hundred hours boating.

It had leaks often but not bad enough to stop us cruising. The electrical systems failed now and then too, but that was nothing to do with the engine itself, just the poor installations attached to it!

Edited to add comments on BMC engines

Edited May 12, 2014 by trackman

[John V]

Nothing wrong with an engine in the boat...on my yoghurt pot there is a dinky little Vetus hiding under the galley sink!

BMC's like running on the cool side and don't like being revved.....keep plenty of water flowing and keep the revs low and they are good engines. Miss-treat them and they will make you regret it!

[Proper Job]

Am I the only one who is confused in this thread?

 

Is it a BMC or a BD3? Is it under a cruiser stern or in an engine room?

 

What on earth are we taliking about?