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Looking for Feedback on Azimut 62FB (2004-2007)

Discussion in 'Azimut Yacht' started by Alex F, May 10, 2020.

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  1. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    It is a great boat indeed, tight access in engine room and other areas is another concern I have.

    A friend upgraded to M59 couple years ago and is very happy. Do you have any details why you're recommending to stay away from it?
  2. Liam

    Liam Senior Member

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    Osmosis and blistering is a small issue nowadays. The cases are a bit different, but you basically dry up the thing, blow the osmotic blisters up and then cover do the whole thing with epoxy, and you have a bottom only a high end custom builder will do.
    Many surveys confuse buyers on blistering and osmosis. The real concern is when the blistering is osmosis, blowing the resin out. That is osmosis.
    A gel coat air bubble blister without putting osmotic pressure out is more a cosmetic concern, then a real structural one.
    Osmotic is natural process of GRP construction, now how care has been done in the build is the difference between one year in water and osmosis, and twenty years and a couple of blisters.
    Azimut of this age tend to have superficial blistering usually on the spray rails.
    The Azimut 62 produced from 2002 to 7, and as Evo from 7 till 10. The Evo has glued windows in the midship master cabin, and extra large window in the VIP suite forward.
    Azimut use Diab Core so even if it gets wet it is less problematic then say balsa. They started using it since the nineties.
    AFAIK the 62 has a solid bottom hull, but they did had a habit of building with the core going down the chines and below water lines.
    The model was replaced by the 64 in 2010.
    The 62 is a good sea boat for what it is, and was a better sea boat then the Azimut 55. I would also rate it a better sea boat then its bigger competitor at the the Manhattan 64, even though build quality on Sunseeker usually is a bit better. Not by much but it is better.
    It was a best seller for Azimut in the time selling over 200 units, and its greatest competitor was the slightly larger Sunseeker Manhattan 64 which sold over fifty units, and the Ferretti 620 in Italy.
    Princess challenged this battle when they entered with the four cabins 62 in 2007 which was a huge success for them.
  3. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    All of the hardware on marquis is undersized. Hinges, cleats, etc etc. they run like a pig, bow high with a slow cruise speed, and just the overall quality is not there.

    The 64’ manhattan is a better seaboat. Although azimut are usually pretty good sea boats.
  4. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    I'm reading that CAT requires coolers to be changed at every 1,000 hrs or 6 years. Are those not serviceable (core gets out to be cleaned and greased), like in other engines?
  5. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Boarding is an issue on many euro boats not just mutts.

    boarding from the swim platform only works with floating docks. At a fixed dock (very common in SoFL and on the east coast) you re out of luck getting on and off from the platform

    passerelle can work as long as you are stern in and not alongside a long dock. Even when youbare stern in, marinas often have dock boxes and electrical boxes which may be in the way

    I ve seen some European boats with boarding gates on the sides but many don’t have them forcing people to climb over the rails. Dangerous.

    mom the other hand US builders design their boats for the US market and marinas
  6. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    this is a new requirement following issues CAT had with the original C32 aftercooler design. It s bit of a CYA move by cat. I had the original aftercoolers replaced on the lazzara 84 I run after it was purchased 4 years ago. We ve put close to 2000 hours. We ll see what we do two years from now but my cat tech isn’t really advocating replacing the new style aftercoolers at the new interval
  7. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    I rather have the roominess high freeboard provides and deal with "inconvenience" of boarding. I also meant to refer to marquipt (https://www.marquipt.com/products/sea-stair/) boarding ladder as a solution for side boarding.
  8. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    Does this apply to only larger CATs like C18 or larger? I know many folks with CATs in 350-500HP range that never change theirs in 15 years of service.
  9. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Problem isn’t the freeboard it is not having boarding gates on the sides. If you have boarding gates (preferably opening inward not to interfere with high docks or pilings) you can easily board from a fixed dock long side or a finger pier. No door/gate and you have to climb over
  10. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    The Cat inter-cooler has expanded and (IMO) getting more FUBAR every time I read more updates.
    Probably the best way to think about it;
    Cats inter-coolers are not built to last a long time.
    Cat inter-coolers use some kind of special solder that make any further solder repairs near impossible.
    Cat wants to CYA during extended warranties.
    Cat wants after warranty income.
    When a Cat cheap inter-cooler does dump in an engine, any Cat liabilities are covered.
  11. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    yes it looks like at it applies to various CAT engines

    I posted the following in another thread. To put things in perspective this is everything we ve had to do in the last almost 4 years and close to 2000 hours on pair of 2009 C32s (besides oil changes and zincs)

    port engine ECU replacement $3900
    Raw water system descale $400
    2 impellers $1000
    Valve cover seals stbd $200
    IAP sensors $400
    Remove clean and seal ZF coolers $1200

    Could Anyone with MANs post their costs over 2000 hours ?
  12. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Would be apples to oranges if we posted including all recommended service and you're not including all recommended in yours, specifically the inter-coolers.
  13. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    I'm reading on another board that C18s aftercoolers have removable core. To me it's inline with other brands and falls in the category of major maintenance (1K hrs or 2-3yrs, whichever comes first). I can only assume that you had to replace your because the core was beyond cleaning condition and the owner said just put new ones in. Am I missing anything?

    I do this service as per recommendation of my brand (CUMMINS). I could be wrong, but if I'm reading various posts correctly, CAT kind of misled the public by stating to just inspect the coolers. If they stated that hey need to be serviced like other manufacturers state, perhaps lots of issues could have been avoided. I'm still learning about CATs, so I could be making wrong assumption.
  14. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    Liam,
    Great post, thank you.

    Some time ago I've heard that some older versions of oval windows leaked. I don't recall if it applied to 55, 62 or both. On the bright side, at least you could open them for natural ventilation. Do you know if there are any issues with the larger version of glued on windows?
    Last edited: May 13, 2020
  15. bliss

    bliss Senior Member

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    Alex, I was with you 'til I found out widows had windows.;);):):)
  16. leeky

    leeky Senior Member

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    Awwww, come on, show us your apples or your oranges. You could even point out the differences between the two.
  17. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    :D:D:D

    Thanks for noticing.....Glad I was within allowed 30 min for post editing....LOL
  18. bliss

    bliss Senior Member

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    LOL is exactly what we need right now! Thanks!
  19. Silver Lining

    Silver Lining Member

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    This most definitely applies to CATs in the 350-500 HP range. Although the actual aftercooler cores may be bronze, it is at the collars that they start to leak. They are required by CAT to be removed and cleaned every couple years and then replaced at the 6 or 7 year interval. I replaced my aftercoolers in my 3208 CATs 1 1/2 years after buying our current boat, and 8 years and 1600 hours later I replaced them again last year. They NEEDED to be replaced last year as the tell tale signs of corrosion at the core/collar interface had started to show again.

    Failure to replace aftercooler cores when they start to fail will lead to engine failure. No reputable shop will repair and braze aged CAT aftercooler core as the material to be brazed cannot be made sufficiently clean with confidence, considering the result of an aftercooler failure. I guess the nice thing was that a pair of OEM aftercoolers last year cost me $8K out the door. I got tired of waiting for one of the recommended CAT shops in Miami to come out and do the install, so I did it myself at no charge, and I know it was done correctly.
  20. Alex F

    Alex F New Member

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    I think I just found the answer to my own question regarding the afercoolers change. I'll post basic info here for anyone who's following the thread and whoever will be doing the same search in the future.

    Source of the data boatdiesel.com, which is an excellent resource I've used for many years.

    A member has posted his issue:
    "Rebuild At 1700 Due To Internal Rust And Corrosion

    I have just been informed by RINGPOWER that my CAT C-18 engines need approx 50,000 worth of repairs with only about 1750 hours. I bought the 48 ft express boat new in 2005. Apparently, the aftercoolers needed to be inspected at 1000 hrs.

    My 5 year extended warranties just expired last December. There was no evidence of any problems until this issue occured. No smoking, engines ran according to specs until port engine began smoking upon acceleration. Afer about 12-1500 rpms, once on a plane, both engines appeared to perform fine. The port side loss of power kept getting worse gradually until the starboard engine would no longer help get the boat up on a plane. When the aftercoolers were inspected, there was evidence of salt in the starboard but not the port side engine.

    My question is: Does it make sense that both engines would fail at the same time due to leaks in the aftercoolers and would the failure occur so suddenly

    without warning? Am I the only one who´s aftercoolers have caused this much damage after only 1700 hours?

    The mechanic even suggested that since I keep the boat on a lift, that maybe that´s contributed to this internal rust issue. Kind of makes me question his knowledge of marine engines."

    Another knowledgeable member posted:
    "Why did you ignore the maintenance schedule to clean and test the aftercooler core at 1000 hrs??

    Often leaks are caused by leaking seals on water tubes and adapters and not the core itself. These seals would get replaced during the 1000 hr aftercooler maintenance
    ."

    Original poster responded:
    "Simply unaware. Not having had engines that required dis-assembly to this extent for maintenance. Believe me, had I been informed this could happen, I would have gladly had it checked, although 1000 hours seems early to me to have to take apart an engine and check for leaks that you would have no other way to know about."

    My preliminary conclusion is that, if CAT's owners manual (I don't have one so I can't say that it's 100% fact) suggests to only check the aftercoolers at 1000hrs, it creates two problems:
    1. 1000hrs in recreational usage is super long time. For seasonal boaters that put 50-100hrs it translates to over 10 years of operation. At this point, going by recommendations of other brands, it's almost a guaranty that your coolers are tossed.
    2. Just checking aftercoolers? Again, I don't have the CATs book in front of me, so I don't see the exact wording. But, going on what I'm reading from different sources it's very misleading. The example I just posted above shows how aftercoolers were inspected, but not serviced, so it's only a matter of a short time frame until one is faced with a catastrophical engine failure.

    I'm also concluding for myself that if similar (3 years or so) interval is used for full and proper service, there should be great chance for those aftercoolers last much much longer and one would see the failure symptoms during the regular service. All of this should translate into saving the engines live and of course $ for the owner.