Man vs. Caterpillar Diesel Engines

8 out of 10 owners prefer Cats!
With previous generations of engines in my opinion Cats were much easier to look after.
However it would be wrong for me to give uninformed opinion on these engines.
Surely there must be someone here who can answer this very sensible question.

K1W1 isn't this an area you specialise in?

Hi,

Yes Reverend it is an area where I have great expertise as you well know .

If I were offered a 3412 developing 1550 HP I would be looking at another brand of engine or a CAT with a few more cylinders and a larger bore and stroke.

10 yrs ago I have had a lot of experiences with a pair of 3412E's rated at 1350 HP, the most enjoyable experience was when I didn't have to deal with that boat anymore

CAT's have my support for the most part as they are generally easy to work on as the Reverend says, they have good parts availability worldwide and they are very reliable with the exceptions being the highest output ones and the CAT C9 in all configurations and arrangements.

Cat's or Manns

I have had the pleasure of running cats, cummins, and manns......
If you want to reach deep in your pockets each time you need maintenance go for the manns. If you like availibility of parts and reliable power go for cats.

I would also take a look at the new cummins.

There has been a great deal of performance changes to engines over the past few years due to the addition of electronic engine controls.

Best advice overall.... "Get the biggest bang for the buck".

MAN CR vs CAT ACERT

I have been wondering about Man vs CAT for a while. Didn't MAN develop common rail technology? How are their CR engines comparing to the CAT ACERT ie: sound levels, vibration, smoke and efficiency. Lastly, are Non-ACERT engines any more or less reliable, see above list, than the ACERT engines.

Hi,

Here is a bit about the history of CR Injection

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_rail#History


MAN didn't develop it at the outset but they certainly are using it with solenoid controlled injectors from what I have just read online.

CAT has the ADEM 4 ECU these days which is a pretty smart piece of kit.

Karshar- Can you still buy a new 3412 E out there in Dubai?

Why are you looking for engines more suited for high speed motoryachts to install in a 145' wooden yacht?
I imagine it will be a displacement hull, correct?

K1W1;

Can you expand on the problems with the C9? I have a pair I put in service in 2005. Only have 350 hours and now out of warranty. What should I anticipate or what are the weak points?

Thank you,

I have used 2 Cats (one of them 32 Acert I am still using and have around 500 hrs) and I have used 3 M.A.N's. (non of them common rail). I had more problems with Cats compared to M.A.N., but everytime I had a problem with Cat's there was good service. Service levels of M.A.N. was also very high in Turkey.

Hi,

JTS- You have a PM that will hopefully answer your questions.