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Ford sabre 160Hp naturally aspirated marine diesels

Discussion in 'Engines' started by dennismc, Feb 3, 2019.

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  1. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Any info out there on these, I believe the sabre line is actually a Perkins unit, the Ford prefix has me curious if it's a licensing deal or what, parts of course big concern.
  2. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    Sabre diesel took over the marinization of British Ford industrial engines from Lehman in the late eighties I believe. Sabre's are Perkins Marine engines and Perkins Engine Company was purchased by Caterpillar in the early 2000's. Cat now has Perkins motors branded as their 4.4 diesel in a couple of formats being a prime mover for a generator that has sold quite a few units the last ten yrs and one that yacht engineers can set their watch for front and rear main seal failures at 2,000 hrs.. In the past I've had naturally asperated Sabre's from the 90's and they were adequate for emergency generator duties or use as a night or "harbor" gen but they weren't anything that I would want to stack high hours on. Parts are expensive and problematic to source for the base Perkins much less the Sabre marinized attachments.
  3. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Excellent info, many thanks...
  4. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Also at slow speeds as a yacht main engine, they vibrate A LOT.
  5. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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