What engine spares to carry for your sail boat in the Sea of Cortez

Spares for the sea of cortez aren't really any different than cruising anywhere else, this is what we carry, for our aging Perkins 4108. The only thing we haven’t used on this list since 2017 are the gasket paper, starter motor, and replacement Perkins specific hoses.  What might be just as interesting is what we don’t carry.

We don’t carry any mechanical component which we can’t replace ourselves in situ - our rational for this is that whilst there are only a small number of distributors of major parts (cylinder liners, pistons, injection pumps, etc)  they ship globally and are well stocked, and the reality is that we’ll be stuck in port for a significant amount of time whilst we strip the part, and find a machine shop that we will have plenty of time to wait on the part arriving.

The reality is also that if the motor was to require a serious rebuild, we’d most likely either find a drop in replacement in the form of another 4108 or a new engine with similar SAE bell housing rather than spend a lot of cash on a 45 year old engine with 45 year old machining tolerances.  The engine is crazy reliable however, it always starts and runs, it doesn’t smoke, and other than suffering from old engine problems (Poor joints, bad seal design) it’s easy to work on and pretty forgiving, we tend to focus on having spares that will allow us to keep running, even if its not at full performance or with some inconvenience.  I.e. If we had a head gasket fail, we’d just slap a new gasket on, but wouldn’t have the head surfaced, change the valve guides etc, but would take the time to inspect them prior to doing the replacement so that we can make a decision once we’re in port.

We are also fortunate that whilst Mexico is not a great place to get parts, its an easy place to get machine work done - pumps can be rebuilt easily, especially if you bring the seals and bearings to the shop. 

We carry a basic tool kit - spanners, sockets, Allen keys, pliers, small blow torch, that sort of thing, and a few more specialist tools:

• Torque Wrench

• Gear Puller - which can in a pinch be used a bit like an arbor press,  We have a three jaw hydraulic one which can fit between the crank pulley and the fuel tank.  

• Cheap-o arc welder - I had this kicking around and its tiny so it ended up on the boat - I’ve used it once to repair the end of the boom when the bracket for the main sheet cracked,  and also welded a crack in a stanchion - its not pretty but it was better than nothing and saved a trip ashore.

• Good quality digital multimeter - 99% of the time its used as a continuity tester, but its sensitive enough we can check motor field windings, capacitors, cell resistance, etc.

• Automotive scissor Jack - we used this to support the engine when we were changing out the crankshaft seal, and when removing the sump - its stayed on board in case we ever need to repeat the task, but it could also be handy in pinch when you need to force something apart or otherwise support something heavy.

Not listed explicitly is that we have a large selection of fixtures and fittings on board, including those commonly used on the engine.

item

Qty

Comments

Raw Water Impeller

2

We replace these annually, and tend to just buy a bunch whenever we run low

Raw Water Rebuild Kit

1

Includes everything except the pump body

Raw Water Pump

1

Ready to go, failed after 1800 hours- suspect poor alignment

Fresh water pump

1

Ready to go - failed this year, unknown last change

Top end gasket set

1

Bottom End Gasket Set

1

Rocker Cover Gasket

1

Water Pump Gasket set

2

Raw Water Pump Gasket Set

2

Racor Fuel Filters

4

We replace these every year, we have two racor filters,  we switch over from one to the other max every six months. 

Engine Fuel Filters

4

Replace these yearly

Crankshaft Seal Rear

2

This is a two part teflon rope, and is a known weak spot in this engine. I’ve replaced it once and it’s lasted >2000Hrs but we had a bunch of other leaks we thought might have been this failing and hence bought a bunch of spares

Front Crankshaft Seal

2

Bottom end gasket has one, and we have one spare.  We’ve damaged these removing the timing chain cover (needed to heat the timing pulley) so we keep a couple spare

Starter Motor

1

Solenoid

2

Starter Motor Brush kit

1

Full Set Replacement Hoses

1

Full Set Replacement Hose Clamps

1

Gasket Paper

1

Epoxy Putty

1

Gasket Sealant

1

Long Length of 2/0 Cable

10ft

Enough to go direct from battery to positive terminal on starter motor. Both ends are stripped ready to rock and roll.

Injection Pump Rebuild Kit

1

Injector Nozzles

1

These are a service item although we’ve never actually had to change them, so we keep a full set ready to go in case we have problems

Injectors

2

Injector Olives, Studs, Crush Washers, etc

Assorted

We keep a full spare pack of olives, crush washers etc.  We’ve had the steel washers that keep the injector line fitting sealed to the injector pump leak, as well as a fuel line olive fail.

Fuel Hose

6ft

Enough to reach the lift pump from the tank or Jerry can

Fuel Pump

1

Can be used in case the lift pump fails, or to transfer fuel/oil/etc as needed

Oil Filters

4

We buy these in (relative) bulk whenever we run low

Oil

2 Gallons + a bunch of 1L containers for topping up.

Enough for one full oil change + one snafu in a combination of 1qt and 1gal containers.  Justification is that if we have a really bad leak we can at least run the engine if we absolutely have to in order to get into port or out of trouble even if it makes an almighty mess of the bilge.

Manual states replace every 100 hours, we change every 200 because filters have evolved a lot since 1970’s, we did an oil analysis once and basically still had plenty of time remaining on the oil after 100 hours.  Disposal of oil can be difficult here, so this gives us some more flexibility.

Gearbox Gasket Set

1

Gearbox shaft seals

2

We went through a spate of seal failures on the paragon, eventually traced to bearing play, we replaced the bearing and the seals haven’t worn out since

Gearbox Main Bearing

2

ATF Fluid

2 gallons + 1 small container for filling up

In 1 Qt sealed bottles - gearbox seals have been a weak point, and we can’t go astern without oil pressure.

Sorbant Pads

100

Buy in bulk, we put them under engine, and gearbox, as well is in the master cabin floor in case we ever have a serious leak there’s a better change of catching it all before it enters the sea.  Our 4108 loses about 1L of oil every 20 hours of motoring, probably about half into the combustion chamber, so these last forever now, but it has had a habit of dumping a lot of oil in a short period of time when something does fail.  We use these for cleaning up anything when we’re servicing anything with oil - they aren’t cheap but are very useful.

Alternator

1

We have a replacement alternator with built in regulator (can be removed) which will be used as a drop in replacement should ours fail.

Belts

3

We buy these in bulk and replace them whenever they show signs of excessive wear.  Usually about every 2-300 hours.