Peugeot Diesel

[mgfraser]

Hi Everyone,

I am contemplating purchasing a sailboat with a Peugeot 4 cylinder marine (65HP) diesel engine.

I am going to be looking at the boat this weekend so I do not know what types of spares, etc it may have.

Am I bonkers for buying a boat with a strange engine in North America. Will I be able to get spares in North America or would I probably have to import them from France? Is that relatively easy?

Does it make much difference to a marine mechanic what diesel engine he works on?

etc. etc.

Many Thanks,

Malcolm

[never monday]

Malcom,
It just depends...don't you hate hearing that.
You might be able to source parts from Canada. I think it might be a marinized Peugot by Vetus, in that case they are in Baltimore.
Some mechanics might shake their head and walk away, knowing they are empty on Peugot knowledge. Some others might look at it and say, hey that's a Bosch fuel system and a jabsco pump...no problem. Others might say they can fix anything and usualy can't.
Just my $.02

There are quite a few of those engines in service. I have not owned one in a boat, but have worked on the automotive versions, and found them finicky. They leak worse than a detroit diesels. If you need parts for the basic engine, good luck, but if the engine is in good repair, and maintenance has been good, this should probably not be a deciding factor in purchasing the boat. Unless, of course, it is a motor sailor that will be relying heavily on the engine.
Almost forgot, two other points. The peugeot engines are very loud, and they are a car engine as opposed to an industrial engine, so running for long periods of time at a set RPM is not what they were designed for.
Ford Lehman was also one of the companies that marinized these engines. These parts can often also be hard to find.