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4.2L D-Tronic-250 on Monterey 262 CR Year 2002

buddy13

New member
I recently sold my 20 foot cuddy cabin.

I am now looking at upgrading to a larger boat 24-27 feet with more space in the cabin and also the ability to cross the 60 mile distance from Malta (Where I live) to Sicily and spend 3-4 nights on it in relative comfort :).

Yesterday I went off to see a Monterey 262 CR, fitted with a 4.2L Mercruiser D-Tronic-250, which I believe is just a rebadged VM Motori Engine both 2002 YOM. It is coupled to a Bravo III Duoprop Sterndrive. I am quite taken with the boat, space on board, condition & general build quality.

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and quite handy with a spanner. I generally tend to do all maintenance and modifications myself, but must admit my experience is limited to outboards & car engines mostly. Can you tell me if there are any known issues with this boat/engine/drive combination. I like trolling at 3-4 knots, but I have read that this particular engine & perhaps larger Turbo Diesels in general do not like to be worked at light loads for longer periods of time (say 4 hours) because of engine glazing. How do you go about this? Does it mean that trolling would become impossible?

Will I be making a huge step in the wrong direction by going from my 4 stroke Yamaha outboard to this? Here where I live, outboard powered cruisers larger than 24 feet are quite modern (say 2012 and newer).But if so, I would not mind waiting for a slightly more expensive/smaller boat with a 200-250hp Outboard.

Working on my boat is a hobby, but I do not want it to become too much of a chore. My time is limited after all.

Thanks for any advice in advance!
 
You shouldn't have any problems with this combination and you'll love the B3. Having the two propellers gives you better steering at low speed (and high speed), quicker plane, and better fuel economy. This is just me, but I think that you'll be slightly underpowered at 250. I always want more. I have 350 hp and I wish I had 50 more ha ha. People who have this engine seem to like it pretty well. Keep your fuel clean and change the oil twice a year and it should live longer than you! 99.999 percent of problems with diesel comes from dirty or contaminated fuel.
If the choice is a Yamaha or a Mercruiser Bravo 3, then I would not even give the outboard a moment's consideration.
The low speed thing, I don't know. I suppose that might be an issue if that's the only way you run it but if you are doing a mix of high RPM and low speed, then it should be OK. My trolling solution is a small "kicker" outboard of 18 hp that will happily run all day for 4 gallons of petrol mix. It is also my "get me home" engine in case the 454 takes a dump. Big engines shouldn't be run at idle for long periods only because they are not generating enough heat to be efficient.
I think you'll rapidly tire of trying to fish with a express cruiser format, but I guess that is your call.
 
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Thanks for your valued reply :).

If you have any tips on what to look for it would be very appreciated.

Yes, with 250hp I don't expect it to fly, but then if it would happily cruise at 23knots with 4-5 people on board I'd be happy.
 
If you have any tips on what to look for it would be very appreciated.
Leaks.
For a boat like this you should hire a marine surveyor. They will go over every system and give you a written report. Honestly, the seller should be doing this for you to assure you that everything is in good condition. However this is a negotiating point as you can make it a condition of the sale that it passes or you will buy if the seller takes off the costs of any repairs. Buy with your brain, not your heart.
I don't know if there are any small boat marine surveyors in Malta but it's worth it to find out.

UPDATE: here you go!
https://www.maltayachtsurveys.com/pre-purchase-surveys.html
 
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Leaks.
For a boat like this you should hire a marine surveyor. They will go over every system and give you a written report. Honestly, the seller should be doing this for you to assure you that everything is in good condition. However this is a negotiating point as you can make it a condition of the sale that it passes or you will buy if the seller takes off the costs of any repairs. Buy with your brain, not your heart.
I don't know if there are any small boat marine surveyors in Malta but it's worth it to find out.

UPDATE: here you go!
https://www.maltayachtsurveys.com/pre-purchase-surveys.html

Thanks a lot for your advice. I will do that.

In the meantime I have turned down the boat in question as there were too many unknowns and the seller was not being completely honest.

There are others which look very interesting, but in this size range, you normally tend to find gas (Petrol) powered boats mainly. I would rather have a Diesel inboard to be honest.
 
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