Mitsubishi Marine Diesels

You mention lead time. How much time will it take to fab up engine mounts etc for different engines? You can drop in cummins without touching the beds. I don’t know, But most engines use different steps, levels or mounts. Nevermind having to change the gears. That’s another thing to buy and install. Just a thought. And No, I don’t know why he doesn’t answer his messages!

14 to 16 weeks lead time for the KTA’s if you were to order right now. The Mitsubishi’s 4 to 6 weeks. The Cats. Still checking and trying to find some 3512’s. The local Cat dealer is pushing the C series. But I can tell you right now. Cats aren’t in the budget. As for mounting. Nothing is gonna be a direct replacement. The 398’s are #00 flywheel housings. We are going with #0 housings.

Have you thought about reman engines from cat. I know they sell the 3512’s that are tier II compliant that are reman. L.A. machinery, M.S.I. and Saunders engine out of Mobile used to sell them, they are about 60% of the cost of new. Saunders might even give you something for a trade on your 398"s. They might hit you for a not having a core charge, but it is still less than a new engine. I am not sure where you are local at, Thompson tractor might have reman engines as well. I know saunders used to have bunch of 540 gear parts and flywheel housings laying around over there, They had a ware house full of that old used stuff.

Anyone know the difference in fuel economy between the engines he’s looking at? We have a tier II set of cat 3508’s in one of our tugs pulling full we burn about 33gal/hr per side.

The KTA’s and SR12’s burn about the same. 35-40GPH full ahead.

I have HO Penn looking for Cat reman 3512’s Tier ll with #0 housings. I’ll give Saunders a call first of the week. Thanks for the heads up.

[QUOTE=tugboatchief;77370]I have HO Penn looking for Cat reman 3512’s Tier ll with #0 housings. I’ll give Saunders a call first of the week. Thanks for the heads up.[/QUOTE]

I think technically Saunders was bought out by MSI, a few years ago, but they are still in the same building, with the same people running it, and have the same phone number. 251-456-4507

They are the Detroit, MTU, Cat, and twin disc dealer for Mobile. I worked for them 4 or 5 years back in the late eighty’s. A good bunch of people for the most part.

[QUOTE=tugboatchief;77042]The major drawback on the cats is the weak and finicky top end. At 450k a piece who wants to sink another 100k in at 10,000 hrs. [/QUOTE]

On the HD series engines they also want you to do the rod bearings at the mid-life as well. We’re gearing up to do our second go around on mid-life’s Thankfully we have swing turbos this go-around so we don’t have to buy Cat reman units.

I’ll call MSI in the morning with the number you have listed. Thanks again.

I don’t mind doing the work. My problem is the initial expense of new engines from CAT. We have always ran the KTA’s and 3508’s and never had a problem with either one. If the KTA’s were readily available there would not be a discussion. But that’s not the case.

Yeah just spoke with Matt at MSI. No reman 3512’s tier ll. They do have Tier l 3512’s.

Some 3512 engines can be overhauled into tier II engines. The block is the determining factor, you need a big cam block. So, if you can get tier 1 engines and run them to the topend and upgrade to tier II at the topend interval. I believe the cost of the upgrade runs about $30k over the overhaul cost. But not all 3512 engines can be upgraded. The upgrade drops a 3512B from 1650 horsepower to 1600.