Marine engine surveys and diesel service, answered

A general marine survey covers hull, structure, electrical, plumbing and safety gear, and normally reports on machinery only as far as it is visible. An engine survey is the mechanical examination: compression on every cylinder, engine management data, load testing and laboratory fluid analysis. On a diesel powered boat they are two separate jobs, and the engine survey is where the largest hidden numbers turn up.

Yes. This is a mobile service with no walk in shop. Work happens at your slip, on a private lift or in the yard, across Sarasota and Manatee counties and further when a job calls for it.

It depends on the number of engines, their size and accessibility, whether a generator is included and where the boat is lying. Call with those details and you will get a straight figure rather than a range that means nothing.

I am Volvo Penta certified and spent six years at a Volvo dealer, and across 20 years I have worked on nearly every make of marine diesel, from small auxiliaries to yacht propulsion pairs and generators.

Sarasota and Manatee counties are the core service area, extending to Charlotte County and St. Petersburg. I have worked throughout Florida and travelled to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos for jobs that warranted it.

Call and describe what happened and what it is doing now. Emergency and dockside calls are taken outside posted hours. Shut down an engine that is overheating or alarming rather than restarting it repeatedly, because that turns small failures into large ones.

A general marine survey covers hull, structure, electrical, plumbing and safety equipment, and usually reports on machinery only as far as it is visible. An engine survey is a mechanical examination: compression on every cylinder, engine management data, load testing and fluid analysis. Buyers of diesel powered boats commonly commission both.

Before you close on a boat, before an insurance renewal on an older vessel, and any time an engine is expensive or complex enough that a failure would be a five figure event. It is also worth doing on any vessel that shows an obvious lack of maintenance.

Yes. Compression is read on every cylinder with the injectors out. A survey that skips this step is reporting on how an engine sounds, not on what condition it is in.

That is a large part of what it is for. The report documents condition with photographs, which gives you something specific to take back to the seller, and it lets you budget for the repairs and maintenance the engine actually needs.

Yes. The generator is inspected and load tested alongside the propulsion engines, and it is included in the same report.

Usually not. General marine surveys typically cover machinery as a visual overview and refer detailed engine diagnostics to a qualified mechanic. On a diesel powered boat the engine survey is a separate engagement, and it is the one that carries the largest numbers.

After you are under contract and before the inspection contingency expires, normally on the same day as the hull survey and sea trial. That way the boat is only hauled and run once.

Then it has paid for itself. You get the finding documented with a photograph and an honest estimate of what it takes to correct, which is what you take back into the negotiation or use to walk away.

I will tell you plainly what I find and what it would cost. If you would rather have the repair quoted by someone else afterwards, that is entirely reasonable and the report is written so any competent shop can work from it.

Yes. This is a mobile service. Most work is done dockside or in the yard where the vessel is hauled, across Sarasota and Manatee counties and further afield when the job calls for it.

I trained and certified with Volvo Penta and spent six years at a dealer, and I have worked on nearly every make of marine diesel over 20 years, from small auxiliaries to yacht propulsion pairs.

Follow the manufacturer interval by hours, and treat annual service as the floor even on a lightly used boat. Salt water, heat and long idle periods age these engines by the calendar as well as by the hour meter.

White smoke commonly points to unburned fuel or water entering the combustion chamber, which can mean an injector problem, a head gasket or a cracked component. It is worth diagnosing quickly because the cheap causes and the expensive causes look identical from the dock.