Rebuild 4.108 Perkins

[Woody]

Has anybody had a Perkins 4.108 rebuilt? Will find out today what it is going to cost me. Boat is far away from home so I am in somewhat of a bind. But, that said, would be interested in what the charge might be from other areas of the country. No, I don't knnow exactly what went wrong. Will find that out as well. Think it was a bearing. Thanks, Woody

[Parfait's Provider]

Engine rebuilt by Trans Atlantic Diesel in Tidewater, VA ought to run less than $8K, but while you have it out....

If you replace with modern technology you will need to rebuild the bed, but you might discover that it needs to be rebuilt anyway. Labor is a large part of the cost, but in the end the difference between new and rebuilt is probably less than $10K with a grand total possiblly less than $25K. Figure paying $16K for the completed rebuild and $24 K for a new engine with a rebuilt bed.

Been there, done that; my capital investment is much higher than I had expected, but the engine starts in less than a second after sitting for a month and I smile every time. The Yamaha 3JH3E is a great replacement for that 50-year old Perkins technology.

Oh, it doesn't leak either.

[Bill Michne]

I had my 4.108 replaced with a Yanmar. My thinking was that a rebuild would give me a new 20 year old engine with old pumps, etc. attached, whereas a new engine would have the benefit of 20 years advances in metallurgy and other diesel technologies. Also, I've heard that the Perkins rebuilds still leak oil fairly soon afterwards, which was a significant problem for me. So I wound up with an engine physically the same size but significantly more power. The trade off is the increased cost of installation, because of the need to rebuild the engine bed, exhaust system, etc. In terms of cost, the rebuild might be in the neighborhood of $6-8K, depending on who does it and how much work you can do yourself. Whichever way you go, NOTE THIS! Before you decide who will do the work, check them out thoroughly. This business is full of incompetent hacks who will take your money and leave you hanging if there is a problem. Stick with well established shops with good reputations, and try to talk to previous customers (several), and get everything in writing before the work begins. Trust me, I know these things...