I am in the process of purchasing a trojan, F-36 all has checked out good so far Sea trial etc, but I got Oil analysis back and the Guy at the lab is very concearned because of some extremly high levels of Metals and antifreeze
The motor has 800 hours on it, it is from a 1985 F-36 with Crusader 454..
There were high aluminum iron copper lead and more.. very high sodium and potassium
Most concearning was a high ammount of anti freeze.... Send me a pm I will send you the report..
This motor just had a top end done, I wonder if the guy who did it was sloppy and got a lot of fluid in the crank case that has not made it out yet. This would be the first oil change after that work was done.
your idea sounds fairly accurate ..trying to save a few bucks ....make him change the oil run it a few hours and recheck at his expense ,,,,, it is a buyers market...
have oil changed and get it checked again . in order to test the oil properly you have to have some hrs on it , also oil has to be hot to get a good sample test .
My dad worked for Quaker State way back in the day when their HQ was in Oil City, PA, doing oil analysis. I emailed him your post, he said be very careful of the engines, especially if they were run with antifreeze in the crank case. Antifreeze acts like sandpaper to the bearings, hence the high metals content in your oil, those metals in particular are evidence of bearing wear. The sodium and potassium along with silicon are evidence of antifreeze breakdown in the oil, very bad sign for the lower end. If the top end was done (Im guessing the head was pulled?) and the Mech got antifreeze in the case, the oil should have been drained and the case flushed before being ran. Unless its a screaming deal and you plan on redoing the bottom end next, walk away. There may be other opinions on here Seapower Frank would be the one to ask, but I'd find something else.
I have an oil analysis done at every oil change and everyone here is right on the mark. The high metals (depending on what they are) "could" be indicative of a new engine running in.
However, the antifreeze content IS a BIG deal. Think I would walk away from this deal in this kind of market. There's LOTS of boats at GREAT deals out there right now.
Tryin' to be the man, my dog think's I am. marine diesel service owner
I don't want to rain on your parade,
but, if the man who did the work on the engine's was sloppy enough to leave that junk behind ,I'd be leary about the rest of it. All rebuild's or repair's are not equal, they're only as good as the man who did it. You have enough issue's with all the different contaminant's present to make me simply walk away, or buy the boat cheaply enough to allow a proper repair or re-power. Sound's to me like you're trying to talk yourself into this purchase. If this is a "good deal", with the information you have in hand ,it could be a better deal, or NO DEAL. You have been warned.
On the topic of oil analysis, one oil sample does not tell the whole story, yes it does give you some information. The value of an oil analysis is the "trend" taken over time. You will need a couple sample's just to give you a base line. From that point on you look at the "trend" in wear metal's, contaminant's such as coolant, sodium (salt) ,etc... Good luck, Frank
Tryin' to be the man, my dog think's I am. marine diesel service owner
One more thing,
I may have sounded harsh on the guy that did the repair, didn't necessarily mean too. I have alot of occasion's where I make a repair and advise the owner to run the engine for 10, 15 hour's, then change oil and filter. Then change the oil and filter again at the next 50 hour's, for a good flushing. This all depend's on the severity of the failure. But what happen's all too often is the customer get's his boat, pay's his bill and the doesn't do what's been recomended. This may be the case, it could be that this owner was advised and he didn't follow through. Either way you're gonna be the recipient of the "end result". Frank
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