Potential 28te buyer engine question

[harry1]

I'm presently looking at a 28te with a 310 Peninsular, around 800 hours, 1997. After a nice chat with the peninsular factory I was looking for some user input. Is this a good motor, I presently own a yanmar. Do they last, are people happy with them and there power, parts availability etc. I like the boat and this is my only uncertainty. May see you at an Owners Rendevous if all goes well. Thanks for the input all.

[Legacy]

There's a little can of worms you opened on this board!

I had a Peninsular in my 1994 Albin and put 1100 hours on it with frequent 50 mile runs to the tuna grounds. Not a speed demon but I could cruise at 17 knots and wide open around 21. Besides regular maintenance, I had only a few starting hiccups that were easily solved with the installation of a switch that, as I understand it, synchronized the glow plugs. (I'm obviously not a mechanic) I also updated the battery bank. When I sold her, I replaced all seals, belts, gaskets, fluids and filters before I sold her but that was she needed. The engine always chugged away, very little smoke and very good on fuel. I'd watch for corrosion and proper replacement of the pencil zincs in the coolant tank. Pressure check that system. I would probably get another Peninsular, especially the newer ones. Because the rumor mill exaggerates everything, I did have some trouble selling my Albin because of the Peninsular. Overall, I had a great experience, and bought another Albin. Good luck and get a great surveyor.

[RicM]

Harry:

The Peninsular engines got a bad rep for cracked blocks for a couple of years production. If I remember correctly the alloy used was a little too fragile and some of the block walls a little too thin. This was corrected but it has hurt the resale value of any boat with that brand stuck on it. Get the serial number off the block and check with the company. The present owners are known for excellent customer service. If it checks out OK, raise a stink and offer 20% less than the asking. If you can buy it right it's worth the slight risk. It ain't a Yanmar though. If you use the "Search" function at the top of this page you will find many discussions on this topic with more details.

[jcollins]

The good news is that it's a Peninsular.
As others have said. The rumor mill has degraded these engines. That's good for a buyer.
I own one and many do here as well. I heard all the bad stories when I purchased. All of them rumor as far as I know. It's a little louder than the Yanmar and it does have a hot starting issue around your year with the clum relay. 75.00 fix from Peninsular. I have 830 hours and no problems.
Take care of it and it will last. As RicM mentioned, search the site on Peninsular. There is quite a bit of information here.

By the way, welcome to the board! See you on the water.

[RobS]

Last year I was considering a 1998 28TE with the Peninsular. I gave the s/n to Matt at Peninsular Engines and learned it was manufactured Oct 2nd 1997. He explained that from 1996-1998 the GM block was drilled slightly out of spec and has resulted in a few cases of cracked blocks. In most cases this was the result of running the engine too hard, overloaded, too high an RPM, etc. It's too old of an engine to have GM offer a credit of any type at this point. Some have gone as far as 800-900 hrs before having the problem, some sooner, etc., most likely a result of how it was ran.

They have seen 8-10 cracked blocks in this era during which about 100 engines were built.

There is no repair to the cracked block if it occurs. If this occurs a new long block is approx. $6,500 and, if you ship the damaged engine to them, for a total of approx. $9,000 they will swap all components over to the new long block, run it on the dyno, paint it, etc. and send it back to be installed. Or a new Peninsular complete is $15,000. The only thing not included in these figures is the cost to pull the engine and install the new one.

I never got out on the 1998 boat but I was on a '94 repowered in 2002 and a 2002 with original power and they both performed quite well, not loud, not as quiet as the Yanmar but quiter than the Cummins.

Boatdiesel.com is another good source for info and well worth the price of admission. Best of Luck.

Overall, IMO, for the right price it should not be a deal breaker.

[Gary J]

We owned a 95 28 TE with a 300 hp Peninsular. We ran the boat for four years and put about 500 hours on it. We had no trouble with it other than the occasional problem bleeding all air out of the fuel lines when changing filters. I'm sure it was just me. The only other slight issue was it would crank for more than a few seconds at start up, but it always started. At the time I thought it was the best engine offered for the boat and we were very pleased with it.

Currently we have a 2004 TE with the 315 Yanmar. The Yanmar is quieter and smoother, but I think it is probably quieter and smoother than all the other brands too.

I think it should be a good engine for you if it checks out and was properly maintained.

Gary J
Amber J, 28TE
Sarasota, Fl

[jcollins]

The only other slight issue was it would crank for more than a few seconds at start up, but it always started.

Mine does the same thing.

[Denis]

John, "Afterglow", have you checked all the glow plugs to make sure they are all working? If you have a couple that are burned out, the engine will be harder to start. You can easily test them with a test light or volt meter. Denis
To back up what the others have said, I have the Peninsular in my boat and I am completly happy with it, I could not ask for more. To be honest, my only concern is the trouble I may have with re-sale. It seems like the brokers hear something bad about an engine and without looking into the details they condem the whole line. In that way they are just like realtors. I would not hesitate to own another boat with a Peninsular.
Denis

[Pitou]

It seems like the brokers hear something bad about an engine and without looking into the details they condem the whole line. In that way they are just like realtors. Denis

Off thread, but ..........
Be sure to throw carpenters into that group too! Remember guys, there are the good, the bad and the ugly in all professions. Seek out the best for whatever the product or service you are seeking.

Kevin S
Realtor, Broker, Sales Manager

[jcollins]

John, "Afterglow", have you checked all the glow plugs to make sure they are all working? If you have a couple that are burned out, the engine will be harder to start. You can easily test them with a test light or volt meter. Denis
To back up what the others have said, I have the Peninsular in my boat and I am completly happy with it, I could not ask for more. To be honest, my only concern is the trouble I may have with re-sale. It seems like the brokers hear something bad about an engine and without looking into the details they condem the whole line. In that way they are just like realtors. I would not hesitate to own another boat with a Peninsular.
Denis

No. That is on the spring launch list. I'll probably be posting a plea for help and understanding when I'm ready. I'm not a DIYr but haven't been able to find a good diesel mechanic around here yet. I did just purchase Peter Compton's book on diesel engines. (light reading for the winter)

[DougSea]

It seems like the brokers hear something bad about an engine and without looking into the details they condem the whole line. In that way they are just like realtors. Denis

Off thread, but ..........
Be sure to throw carpenters into that group too! Remember guys, there are the good, the bad and the ugly in all professions. Seek out the best for whatever the product or service you are seeking.

Kevin S
Realtor, Broker, Sales Manager

Hey, I'm a Consultant - I believe I'm more evil than Realtors, Boat Brokers, Carpenters - pretty much any profession but Lawyer (and you know how bad they are!)

But seriously, Kevin's post should remind all of us on this VERY friendly board that picking on a "group" isn't a great idea (and I doubt that was really what Denis intended), but if you have a bad experience with an individual (<> Yacht Sales???) go ahead!!

[Denis]

I didn't mean to offend anyone, it was not my intent at all. Sorry

[jcollins]

I didn't mean to offend anyone, it was not my intent at all. Sorry

Thant's o.k. Denis. Don't beat yourself up.
We need a troublemaker around here since Tomcat Rio left.

[tom&shan]

Ok - here is my first question - I saw a boat with the following listing:

Engine(s): Yanmar Diesel Engine(s) HP: 315 Engine Model: 6LPA-DTP

Yet when I check the Yanmar site the DTP is rated at 260 hp. So I think the broker is confused, anyway, my question is - Is having a lower horsepower engine a problem with the Albin TE 28 ?

Second question - the engine has 900 hours on it - any ideas on how many hours you get out of these engines if well taken care of?

Cheers,
Tom

[Cape Codder]

Tom,
Interesting question on the life expectancy of the Yanmar.

Last fall, I thought perhaps I had the wrong prop. becasue I could not get up into the maximum rpm range. So I talked to Yanmar distributor(Mack Boring) in Chicago.
Turns out that I have the prop most everyone else does for the Yanmar 315, a 19" x 19".
Now we really believe that it's the tachometer that is maladjusted.

In my discussion with the technician at Mack Boring, he cautioned me about "over-propping" the Yanmar, that it would really shorten engine life.
Plus frequent oil changes are a must (every 150 hours max). And if you only do 75 hours a season, change it at the end.
He claimed that there were several of these Yanmars in Florida used in charter boats that have EXCEEDED 10,000 HOURS and were still going strong, and had never had anything done to them but the recommended maintenance!!
I hope he's right!
Diesels love to run and hate to sit idle. I will never use my Yarmar like a charter. But if I get 5,000 hours.........by then, I'll be and old man!!