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| 120hp ford lehman questions |
| Author |
Message |
    
scot wagner
New member
Username: scotwagner
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2008
| | Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 02:17 am: | 
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I'm looking at buying a 1984 Hudson Force 50 sailboat with a 1984 120hp Ford Lehman. She has roughly 3,000 hrs. I'm completely unfamiliar with these engines so ANY input is helpful. Are they a workhorse or a bundle o' problems? It is my understanding they are tractor engines modified for marine use. Any unbiased opinions out there? Thanks in advance, Scot |
Fred Frog
Member
Username: lilypad
Post Number: 28
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 09:45 am: |
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There are no unbiased opinions, only people with different experiences. But, having said that, the 120 Lehman is a wonderful workhorse. Many trawlers from the 60's thru 80's used the venerable 120 Lehman. They were also used in heavy trucks but were found to be ill suited for that type of use. The constant change in load wasn't good for that design. A boat has a constant load very similar to a tractor so it is a very good match.
These engines are fairly simple and heavily built as on would expect a tractor engine to be. 3,000 hours is pretty young for an engine which can be expected to get 10,000 before overhaul.
They are susceptable to overheat. You must keep the cooling system clean and in good repair. I don't mean they overheat often, I mean when they do, they blow head gaskets and develop cracks. The heat exchanger and oil coolers deserve regular maintenance. Be sure to open the petcock on top of the exhaust manifold to "burp" the air out when you refill with good antifreeze.
The 84 model will have an inline injector pump that uses a separate oil supply which needs to be changed regularly. Most of my friends and I change our pump oil every 50 hours, and engine oil at 100 hours or the factory recommended 200 hours. The pump takes less than a quart of oil, but it keeps that expensive piece of equipment working properly.
Clean fuel is a given for any diesel. Smoking, hard starting and poor running are symptoms of dirty fuel. Typically a Racor type filter is inline before the engine mounted CAV filters. I use 10 micron filters in mine which is probably just right for these engines. The engine mounted filters are 10 micron also so the factory thinks that is enough too. Some folks have bought conversions to put 2 micron filters on the engine mounted filter base. That probably doesn't hurt, but I don't believe the tolerances in these engines are tight enough to make a difference.
If the engine in the boat you're looking at has received decent care it has a long life ahead of it.
K |
greg lilienthal
Member
Username: glilienthal
Post Number: 24
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 10:31 am: |
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