A free Word template for a marine engine survey report: engine records, visual inspection, cold start, readings under load, oil analysis and conclusions, with example findings graded A, B and C.
Download the Word template.DOCXA marine engine survey report records the condition of a boat's engines and gearboxes: their records, what you saw in the engine room, how they started and ran under load, and what the oil analysis found. Buyers use it to price engine work into the deal, and owners to plan it.
Download the template in Word, or read on for what goes in each section, with example wording and example findings.
The engines and the boat they're in. Copy the details from the engine plates, since the listing and the owner's records are often wrong.
Port engine Volvo Penta D6-370, serial 2001234567, rated 272 kW at 3,500 RPM, 1,420 hours. Starboard engine Volvo Penta D6-370, serial 2001234568, 1,436 hours. ZF 63A gearboxes.
What you did and what you didn't open up. An engine survey is usually non-invasive, so say whether compression tests, a borescope or oil analysis were part of it.
Both engines were inspected cold, started from cold in the surveyor's presence, run at the dock and under load during a 1-hour sea trial. Oil samples were taken from both engines and both gearboxes for laboratory analysis. No engine was opened.
Every recommendation once, grouped by grade, with the finding it comes from. Buyers often negotiate from this list, so make each item priceable.
What the records say about how the engines have been looked after. Gaps in the service history are a finding in their own right.
The findings from the engine room, engine by engine. Follow the same order on each engine so the reader can compare them.
How the engines start, run and behave under load. The key figure is whether each engine reaches its rated RPM at full throttle, since one that falls short is overloaded, overpropped or tired.
Port engine reached 3,480 RPM at full throttle against a rated 3,500. Starboard engine reached 3,320 RPM, with light grey smoke under full load and boost 0.3 bar lower than port.
The laboratory results, or a note that they are to follow. Oil analysis shows wear metals and coolant or fuel in the oil that you can't see at the dock.
Starboard engine oil shows elevated sodium and potassium, which the laboratory reports as consistent with coolant in the oil. The aftercooler and oil cooler should be pressure tested.
Your view on each engine in a few sentences, and what you recommend before purchase or before use.
Your statement, name, qualifications and signature. For engine surveys, say what manufacturer training or certification you hold.
Each finding says what the system is, where it is, what was found and what should be done, with a grade for how urgent it is. These are written the way Axsail writes them from what the surveyor says on board.
Hose cover cracked and soft, with salt weeping at the clamp.
Recommendation: Replace the exhaust hose and double clamp it before the vessel is next underway.
Rubber cracked and the mount sagged by about 5 mm compared with the others.
Recommendation: Replace all four mounts on the port engine and check the shaft alignment.
Salt crust below the pump's weep hole, showing a leaking shaft seal.
Recommendation: Overhaul the pump, fitting new seals and impeller.
Oil film in the intake pipe after the turbocharger.
Recommendation: Check the turbocharger shaft play and the crankcase breather. Review with the oil analysis and boost readings.
Water and dark sediment in the separator bowl.
Recommendation: Drain the bowl, replace the element and sample the tank for water and diesel bug.
Belt glazed and cracked across the ribs.
Recommendation: Replace the belt and carry a spare.
On twin installations, the most useful thing in the report is often the comparison. One engine running 15 °C hotter, making less boost or falling 150 RPM short of the other at full throttle tells the reader more than either figure alone. Keep the readings for both engines in the same table, side by side.
Laboratory results usually take a few days, often longer than the buyer's survey deadline allows. Issue the report with the oil analysis marked as to follow, and send it as an addendum. Tell your client on the day which results would change your conclusions.
For how the engine survey fits into a purchase, see pre-purchase yacht survey. For what an engine survey adds to the cost, see boat survey cost.
The engine records, a visual inspection of each engine and gearbox, a cold start, running at the dock and under load, readings at several engine speeds, and usually oil analysis. Compression tests and a borescope are extra and need to be agreed beforehand.
Usually not in depth. A general surveyor checks the installation and watches the engines on the sea trial. On motor yachts and boats with large diesels, buyers book a separate engine surveyor or a manufacturer's technician, and send oil samples.
A diesel should reach the full-throttle RPM range its manufacturer specifies with the boat loaded normally. Falling short means the engine is overloaded, from a wrong propeller, a fouled hull or lost power, and running it that way shortens its life.
Yes. Download it, add your logo and terms, and use it for your own surveys. No sign-up.
Dictate as you inspect. Axsail builds the findings and the report for your signature
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