Engine Room

Spring Cleaning for Your Engine Room: What You Need To Do

By Peter Janssen on April 4, 2017 Cruising Life, Engine Room

A clean engine room is a dead giveaway about the owner’s care of his boat; it’s evidence that he does care, that he knows what he’s doing, that he plans ahead and takes care of things before they need taking care of. The converse: A dirty engine room is, well, simply not part of a boat you want any part of. Aside from all that (and my ungrammatical sentences), a clean engine room not only will help in keeping your boat running, but it also will preserve (and possibly enhance) the overall value of the boat. It certainly will boost…

Volvo Launches New Joystick for Twin Inboard Boats with Shafts, Wins Innovation Award

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2017 Cruising Life, Engine Room

We all know about Volvo’s revolutionary IPS pod drives, and how they make docking and controlling a boat easy, and actually fun. But now Volvo is going one step further, introducing its new Volvo Penta Joystick for Inboard system, also controlled by a joystick, that makes docking and boat control just as easy for conventional twin shaft-driven inboard boats. The Joystick for Inboards is indeed new and different: It just won a prestigious Innovation Award at the Miami International Boat Show. The new system has the first joystick for twin inboard shaft installations with integrated rudder, engine and bow thruster…

Cat C7.1 Diesels: No Smoke, No Noise, but More Torque and Faster Acceleration

By Peter Janssen on February 6, 2017 Engine Room

Cat has just introduced new engines for recreational power boats from 25 to 60 feet – most of the power cruising market – with a lot of advantages in a relatively small footprint. The C7.1 engines are in-line 6-cylinder, four-stroke diesels that are turbocharged and after-cooled, and they come in 406-, 456- and 507-hp versions. The engines’ advanced common rail fuel system delivers optimum combustion and low emissions; they are quiet because of reduced combustion through advanced electronic controls. They also are smokeless, both when starting and underway. With a superior power-to-weight ratio, the C7.1 engines have a swift response…

Volvo Penta IPS 15: Lighter, More Efficient, More Maneuverable

By Peter Janssen on February 1, 2017 Engine Room

I tested the very first Volvo IPS drive back in 2005, when the engine company put two of their pod drives in a Tiara 38 to see how they would work on a recreational boat. Pods, of course, had been used for years on commercial ships, but this was the first on an American production boat. With two Volvo engineers, I cruised from Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie, up to St. Ignace, Michigan, next to the Mackinaw Bridge at the top of Lake Huron. The test, of course, was a home run. At the helm, we turned a joystick to…

How To Set Up Your Instruments To Measure Fuel Flow

By Peter Janssen on December 8, 2016 Engine Room, Maintenance

Here’s one of the best videos or explanations of any kind that I’ve seen about how to set up your engine instruments to monitor fuel flow. This video is from a Ranger Tug 27 with a Volvo engine display and a Garmin chartplotter, but it gives you a good idea of what to look for no matter what kind of boat or engine you have. Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV9KFcPanVI

New, More Precise, Electronically-Controlled Power Steering from Twin Disc

By Peter Janssen on December 2, 2016 Engine Room

Twin Disc’s new E-STEER power steering should make steering easier, less tiring and more precise on cruising powerboats. This state-of-the-art control connects the helm electronically to hydraulic-powered rudders, and reacts immediately to changes in speed with adaptive resistance. As speed increases, the helm becomes finer and more agile; Twin Disc says it’s like driving a luxury car. When you throttle back, the wheel is light and highly responsive. Adaptive resistance makes driving easier since the wheel doesn’t react to every single rudder movement. Driving becomes smooth and vibration-free; it’s easier to hold a steady course, particularly in a choppy sea.…

Three New, Easy-to-Use Portable Outboards from Honda

By Peter Janssen on November 23, 2016 Engine Room

If you need a new outboard for your dink, inflatable or small RIB, take a look at Honda’s new 4-, 5- and 6-hp portables. Each one weighs about 60 pounds, and they come with 15” or 20” shafts. Honda is hardly new to the outboard market; they’ve been making outboards since the ‘60s. These newest models are carbureted four-stroke engines with overhead valves. They all have a 1.5L onboard gas tank, but the 5- and 6-hp models also offer a connection to an external tank. They all have a tiller handle that swings all the way up, and all the…

How To Change a Fuel Filter on a Diesel Engine, Video

By Peter Janssen on November 15, 2016 Engine Room, Maintenance

Do you remember the falling feeling in the pit of your stomach when the tach for your diesel engine suddenly shows the rpms falling, or surging and falling, or just acting erratically? Not a good time, on any boat. Problems with dirty fuel, water in fuel, whatever. You don’t want to be there. Protect yourself and your diesel by periodically changing the fuel filter, before there’s a problem. Here’s a good look at how to do just that: https://youtu.be/e2VCNPCKQrA

Volvo’s New Key Fob: Power Up Your Boat from 100 Yards Away

By Peter Janssen on November 7, 2016 Engine Room

Volvo is continuing to make boating easier. At the Fort Lauderdale show the Swedish company introduced its 8-liter diesel engine and its matched IPS pod drive to the United States market for the first time. They are designed primarily for cruising boats in the 30- to 45-foot range (we wrote about these a few months ago). Also new is Volvo’s key fob for powering up your boat before you even climb on board; indeed, you can be standing as far as 100 yards away. You can use the remote key fob to switch on the battery, turn on the deck…

A More Efficient Pod Drive

By Peter Janssen on September 11, 2016 Engine Room

ABB, the Swiss power company, is launching a new Azipod drive unit that it says can be 10 percent more fuel-efficient. Built, for now, for commercial shipping, the new pod improves efficiency by introducing a nozzle with plates that direct water flow from the propeller to reduce turbulence and create thrust. ABB says the system is 20 percent more efficient than shaft drives, and 10 percent more efficient that its existing pods. ABB has tested the new pods in labs and says they provide a higher pull thrust at lower speeds. In addition, their 360-degree maneuverability and fuel efficiency make…

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