instuctional course in marine diesel basics

bill j

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OVERDUE
I am lacking in knowledge of marine diesel engines and have been researching instructional courses. The Mack Boring course in Union, NJ will not be offered this year. I have found a four-day, two part course in marine diesel basics at the Anaapolis School of Seamanship. Has anyone taken this course and was it worthwhile? Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated - thanks - Bill
 
I have no comment on the course in Annapolis. What I will tell you is that I have taken two courses at Mack Boring and my opinion is that unless the course is engine specific it may give you a general understanding of how things work, but not on our engines. Our engines are more computerized and if you ever had to do real in depth work on them you would not have the tools or equipment to do it. I found the Mac Boring class useful because it gave me an understanding of how our engines worked and how to do periodic maintenance. Is Mack Boring offering classes in their Massachusetts facility? If they are you may consider taking a class up there.
 
bill j":325rnpbd said:
I am lacking in knowledge of marine diesel engines and have been researching instructional courses. The Mack Boring course in Union, NJ will not be offered this year. I have found a four-day, two part course in marine diesel basics at the Anaapolis School of Seamanship. Has anyone taken this course and was it worthwhile? Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated - thanks - Bill

Not sure if this will help at all, but Orange Coast College in Southern California offers the Diesel Mechanic in a Day class on a regular basis. http://www.occsailing.com/seamanship_courses/marine_maintenance/marine_diesel/mechanic_in_a_day. It would be a long way to travel for a one day class, but if you have other reasons to travel to California it might be worth incorporating into your trip.

I would also be interested in hearing about other classes which cover diesel engine maintenance.
 
I am signed up for the Orange Coast College class in october.... only 6 in each class and each will have an engine to work on. Will report back on its content and worth.
 
Captain Steve":310zfrlg said:
I am signed up for the Orange Coast College class in october.... only 6 in each class and each will have an engine to work on. Will report back on its content and worth.

Great! Will definitely be interested to hear if you think this is worthwhile. I'm thinking of taking this course early next year.
 
I wanted to sign up for that OCC class in October too (gave me a chance to visit our youngest) but class was full. So now I'm signed up for November 😎

Thanks for the info.

Jeff
 
I've taken both the basic week and the advanced week at Mack Boring's union NJ facility, taught by their guru Larry Berlin. Each course was specific to your model of diesel, so the classes fill fast. Before taking the courses, I ordered the 'service manual' , the parts manual, and the engine install manuals for my particular engines. (far different from the tiny little book you get with your boat...) those books were invaluable as they even tell you what size wrench goes on the various fittings. (Then i haunted used tool depots til i had a complete set of what might be needed, including the 36mm deep drive socket for the p-shaft nut...) the parts manual was invaluable as they had 'blowup diagrams' to show how to assemble or disassemble a particular thing . (in my case, a freshwater feed pump and the impeeler for the r aw water pump, and the thermostat block, and the heat exchanger...) If you can't get into a course, get these books! then join boatdiesel.com ($35 a year) which has a yanmar board where you can ask questions about any kind of yanmar and get knowledgeable answers from excellent people. i needed to replace a whole propshaft on my yan, and redo the coupling from gearbox to p-shaft, and boatdiesel got me thru this project without any previous major - deconstruction experience and saved me about $4 grand and a summer on the hard. i might add that when i call to order a yanmar part, i have the parts manual in front of me so that i get the right part...

:lol:
 
I'm signed up for OCC class in December. 😀
 
dialtone":1859i2o8 said:
I'm signed up for OCC class in December. 😀

Once you've taken the course, could you post a review back here?
 
I just took the Marine Basics and Marine Level 2 in Annapolis. Not knowing a whole lot about diesel engines, the 2 courses looked like it was for me. I was VERY satisfied with the courses given. I feel as though I have a much better understanding of the diesel engine and that I can perform basic maintenance on them. Scott Segal who owns AR Marine Diesel Service instructs both courses. VERY knowledgeable. The schools number is 410-263-7757 and their website is www.Annapolisschoolofseamanship.com
 
I took the basic class several years ago (through Annapolis School of Seamanship) and it was great. It taught me everything I needed to know to maintain the Yanmar on our sailboat. I'm retaking the basic and advanced this fall to help with maintenance and troubleshooting on the Volvo and genset.
 
Smokeyham":11ueeyyw said:
dialtone":11ueeyyw said:
I'm signed up for OCC class in December. 😀

Once you've taken the course, could you post a review back here?

Finished this course yesterday. What a great course! The instructor, Josh has been a marine mechanic for 30 years. We covered all the systems encountered in our boats. What was great is the classroom has all the pieces that go into the diesel power plants. Razor filters, heat exchangers, impellers and water pumps fuel pump etc that you could hold and play with. We then went a on field trip into the repair bldg. Got to look at various engines in repair for a variety of ills. We learned how to diagnose fuel problems, air problems and electrical issues. Each time he explained the top ten things he looks for when called to a vessel to repair. These diagnostics tips were the very valuable. He talked about life cycle of various parts and what to replace when!

We then worked on a Myanmar 3 cal engine... set the valve lash, R&R a water pump and impeller, changed injectors, bleed the system and troubleshot electrical problems. We got it running!

This was well worth the money. I brought the manual for my Cummins engine and he explained everything I questioned. PM me for any other info.
 
Just thought I would throw in another option I just learned of, which might be especially interesting to those in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

List Marine in Sausalito, CA (https://www.listmarine.com/) has a Marine Diesel 101 course that was recommended on TrawlerForum.com.

I haven't had any experience with List Marine, but if anyone knows anything about this course I would be interested in hearing your feedback.

Gordon
 
Is anyone aware of a similar Diesel Maintenance course that is available in the PNW (Washington State)?
 
Thanks for both the Connecticut and Pacific Northwest Options.
 
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