Chrysler 318 Engine Hours/Life Span

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:57 pm

here's another question from someone who's at work waiting until 3pm so i can escape the office and head to the boat.

i saw an ad for a trojan with 318s in the for sale section, and it said they had (if i recall correctly) about 2500 hours. my question is this, if the engine has been 'normally' taken care of, what would one expect to get out of their 318s?

i've had my f 32 since february of this year. it had about 968 on each engine when i got it, and i now have just over 1020. the guy i bought it from said he had the oil changed last fall, and i changed it again myself in july (i'm planning on changing it twice a year on a july/january oil change schedule...better safe than sorry with high hours, i think.)

anyhoos...thoughts or answers based on experience?

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:03 pm

One hour shorter than when it fails.

Seriously the way boat engines are used they can run for several thousand hours.... the 318 is a very solid engine.
Both mine have 1400+ and show no signs of anything to be concerned about.
IMO they last even longer if used at 3000 rpm rather than 1200rpm.

koviak · Post by **koviak** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:27 pm

Tuck, I had a 1971 Luhrs with a original 318 that I ran to 4300 hours before it died (fwc). Also just sold a 1976 Luhrs 28 with a 1500 (original) 318 and it looked and ran like a top. Taken care of these engines are bullet proof, Chrysler industrial marine had it right when they built these.

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:32 pm

Years ago my Father purchased an old Silverton that was ran as a fishing charter boat for over 10 years. Other than numerous valve jobs, the engines, not including bolt ons, were all original and ran fine and had over 5000 hours on them.
The bottom ends were a bit noisy so we ran Lucas oil treatment in them and they quieted right down.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:10 am

coolies. i had no idea they were that good of an engine.

i feel better now. was a little nervous when i broke 1000 a couple of weeks ago.

aaronbocknek · Post by **aaronbocknek** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:18 am

Jerry wrote:Years ago my Father purchased an old Silverton that was ran as a fishing charter boat for over 10 years. Other than numerous valve jobs, the engines, not including bolt ons, were all original and ran fine and had over 5000 hours on them.
The bottom ends were a bit noisy so we ran Lucas oil treatment in them and they quieted right down.

is lucas oil treatment better than stp oil treatment? my 233 mercs have around 1048 on them.

aaron in baltimore

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:31 am

aaronbocknek wrote:
Jerry wrote:Years ago my Father purchased an old Silverton that was ran as a fishing charter boat for over 10 years. Other than numerous valve jobs, the engines, not including bolt ons, were all original and ran fine and had over 5000 hours on them.
The bottom ends were a bit noisy so we ran Lucas oil treatment in them and they quieted right down.
is lucas oil treatment better than stp oil treatment? my 233 mercs have around 1048 on them.

aaron in baltimore

All I can tell you is just what we experienced with these 318's and the Lucas. I have heard good and bad about all oil additives but decided to try anyways. I ran 1.5 qts of Lucas per engine and you would not believe that difference. They both did not sound like the same engines.
We continued to run the Lucas for another 4 years and about an additional 1000 hours until Dad sold the boat. The only repairs that I ended up doing is water and fuel pumps. Pretty good for engines with that many hours on them.