Albin 27 FC Trial

[kickinmule]

I am soon to be a first boat owner and that boat will be an Albin 27FC. I will be doing the pre purchase trial within a week with an experienced boatsman. What particular things should we be looking for. The target boat is a 1986 Albin 27FC with a LD 028 engine (3000 hours) Thanks

[Mark Deeser]

My hand was shaking when I moved my finger toward quick reply, there is no easy or quick answer to your question. Spend the bulk of your time at dock going thru all the systems, if it is supposed do something see if it does it. Have pen and paper and a camera, make many notes with photos. Tell owner you do not want the engine run for a minunium of 24 hours before test, listen to the sounds, record them and play back to someone familiar with diesels. One of you should be on dock to check exhaust for amount and color of smoke, also look for water stream. Before sea trail extersize all thru hulls, they need to work. A thermal temp monitor would be great to check for hot spots. Watch you gauges they can tell you a lot, spend two or three minutes at wot watching temp and oil pressure. When you get back to dock and shut the engine down let it set for five minutes or so and try a restart. I hope others will chime in with other suggestions. The hunt for the right boat is a great time, try to not fall in love, take your time and remain objective. Project boats can be good, but costs and labor will add up quickly. Have fun.

[tego]

Mule, Make sure you check when the timing belt was last changed. It should be done every 500 hours. If it's in a boat log, it's probably true, but if it is strictly word of mouth, be wary. In any event, if he doesn't have a maintenance log, get a diesel mechanic to check it out. Ben

[smacksman]

I like to check the previous owner, if possible. If he keeps himself clean and presentable and appears to look after himself then his house, car and boat will be looked after. If he appears to be honest with you while chatting about general things then thats a good sign.
Many people have no idea how an engine works and may honestly say that it is fine - it starts; it works; it stops - what else is there to know about it? Next week something can go wrong!
I like to start from first base with a new boat, no matter what the service record may say, and change oil, filters, raw water impeller, belts and cranking battery. Add clean fuel and air and it should go.