Kingfisher Rd26 Engine

[Sade]

Hi all....hope you're enjoying this glorious weather!

 

I've found a couple of threads about Kingfisher engines and just wondered if any of you out there can give us some further advice. We're looking at a boat with a Kingfisher RD26 which seems a slightly rarer engine, more specifically a hard one if things should go wrong. have any of you got experience of this engine and can you give us any advice.....would you go for it or would you avoid because of the difficulty of sourcing parts etc?

 

Sorry if this sounds naive, a boat we (may have) found seems to tick all the boxes so we're now getting down to the nitty gritty hahaha!

 

Mainly the husbands job but I want to get a bit hands on if I can and would appreciate ANY input you all have...........

 

thank you as always

[MtB]

Well if you want a modern engine with all parts available off the shelf, keep on looking.

 

Kingfishers are just crossing over into vintage engine teritory, and parts availability appears to be pot luck. It's never a good sign when an owners' club exists!

 

http://www.kingfisherdieselengines.org/

 

MtB

[Sade]

Well if you want a modern engine with all parts available off the shelf, keep on looking.

 

Kingfishers are just crossing over into vintage engine teritory, and parts availability appears to be pot luck. It's never a good sign when an owners' club exists!

 

http://www.kingfisherdieselengines.org/

 

MtB

Thanks Mike....point taken.....it did look lovely though

[George Kennedy]

My advice would be to avoid. You will have difficulty in finding spare parts, my water pump went and I spent £600 getting Tony Redshaw building a Jabsco conversion. Great job but the following year the gearbox sprung a leak so fed up with hearing air being sucked through teeth I swapped the whole lot for a beta38 and PRM150 gearbox. The KD26 is a great engine but unfortunately was built in China, I believe that it is still built there but no-one imports the parts any more. If the boat ticks all the boxes that's great but put some money aside for an engine replacement!

My advice would be that before you buy any boat you should ring RCR and ask them about how they would support your engine / gearbox.

[Sade]

My advice would be to avoid. You will have difficulty in finding spare parts, my water pump went and I spent £600 getting Tony Redshaw building a Jabsco conversion. Great job but the following year the gearbox sprung a leak so fed up with hearing air being sucked through teeth I swapped the whole lot for a beta38 and PRM150 gearbox. The KD26 is a great engine but unfortunately was built in China, I believe that it is still built there but no-one imports the parts any more. If the boat ticks all the boxes that's great but put some money aside for an engine replacement!

My advice would be that before you buy any boat you should ring RCR and ask them about how they would support your engine / gearbox.

Great advice, thank you ....all taken on board and we were just saying the same yesterday...that if we end up having to pay for replacement parts in £000's then we may as well put a newer engine in to start with.....at least we have a real idea of our perfect nb now

"My advice would be that before you buy any boat you should ring RCR and ask them about how they would support your engine / gearbox."

 

Forgive my ignorance, but not sure who or what RCR are....could you give more details or tell me what it's an abbreviation for?

[Sade]

No worries....think I've found it River Canal Rescue (right?) hehe

[richardf]

New engine on ebay currently http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARINE-ENGINE-KINGFISHER-KD26-FUZHOU-295CE-24HP-MARINISED-WITH-GEARBOX-NEW-BOXED-/370846639444?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_Boat_Engines_EngineParts_SM&hash=item56582ea554

[George Kennedy]

The pictures on ebay reminded me of something. If you do buy a boat with that engine, there is a small cup on the water pump which you should regularly fill with water pump grease to save wear. Most people don't know about it so the inevitable happens. The same engine was also imported and marinised by Ajay trading in Southampton. He still has some spares and last time I spoke to him a brand new engine that he would only sell as a unit rather than break for spares.

[nb Innisfree]

We had the 3cyl version, lasted about 1000hrs before it kicked the bucket, I think it had suffered bore rusting during storage, shame really as they are basically rugged engines, it was capable of cruising at 425 rpm tickover and had a gearbox which engaged drive smoothly and went from forward to reverse equally smoothly . Much more room in the engine bay with its LPWS4 replacement but its PRM 150 was more clunky.

[Sade]

The pictures on ebay reminded me of something. If you do buy a boat with that engine, there is a small cup on the water pump which you should regularly fill with water pump grease to save wear. Most people don't know about it so the inevitable happens. The same engine was also imported and marinised by Ajay trading in Southampton. He still has some spares and last time I spoke to him a brand new engine that he would only sell as a unit rather than break for spares.

Thanks for this George....it all helps in our decision. The fact that the boat has a Geko diesel genny already fitted is swaying us too though. We are weighing up the pros and cons on this one and still not saying no completely as we know there will be compromises on whatever boat we decide on.

We had the 3cyl version, lasted about 1000hrs before it kicked the bucket, I think it had suffered bore rusting during storage, shame really as they are basically rugged engines, it was capable of cruising at 425 rpm tickover and had a gearbox which engaged drive smoothly and went from forward to reverse equally smoothly . Much more room in the engine bay with its LPWS4 replacement but its PRM 150 was more clunky.

Thanks for the info - much appreciated

[MtB]

He still has some spares and last time I spoke to him a brand new engine that he would only sell as a unit rather than break for spares.

 

Is that the one currently for sale on ebay?

 

 

MtB

[George Kennedy]

 

Is that the one currently for sale on ebay?

 

 

MtB

Hi Mike,

the seller that I mentioned trades on ebay as ajaysales so I think that it must be a different one on currently.

[Rufford]

The kingfishers are a lovely engine, I have the 36hp one and I love listening to it chatter away. Spares are available and Compo at Baddersley Wharf has a complete 26hp engine available for the right money if you want to buy it for spares. However I've never had a problem with mine, I've run it low on water and it still works fine. The only issue with them is that they do not have glow plugs so often people will over crank the stater motor in winter and burn the stater motor out. However just be aware and you will be ok!

I should probably also add that I've not had the air filter on mine for well over 12 months now, my mate lost it and it sounds better with out...really should put some tights over the inlet tho! Also if you run them out of diesel be aware that there is a small inline filter in the fuel hose leading up to the lift pump, this one caught me out good and proper!

[Sade]

The kingfishers are a lovely engine, I have the 36hp one and I love listening to it chatter away. Spares are available and Compo at Baddersley Wharf has a complete 26hp engine available for the right money if you want to buy it for spares. However I've never had a problem with mine, I've run it low on water and it still works fine. The only issue with them is that they do not have glow plugs so often people will over crank the stater motor in winter and burn the stater motor out. However just be aware and you will be ok!

I should probably also add that I've not had the air filter on mine for well over 12 months now, my mate lost it and it sounds better with out...really should put some tights over the inlet tho! Also if you run them out of diesel be aware that there is a small inline filter in the fuel hose leading up to the lift pump, this one caught me out good and proper!

Excellent Rufford!! Thank you for that....the boat is still available and we're less worried about the engine now but always good to get experienced opinions

[Rufford]

I really wouldnt be worried about the Kingfishers, I think they are a fantastic engine, built like brick shit houses and they look nice and sound nice. Parts are available (not too easily) however the bits that go can be replaced or repaired, most have jabsco pumps (new pump from jabsco is around £180), the starter motor can be rewound (around £100/200 however just keep an eye on it and only use it in small bursts of 10/20 seconds and you will be fine, if you see smoke give it a moment to rest!) And get yourself a blow torch to heat up the air inlet manifold in winter and you will be fine (altho in all fairness once I had cleaned out the in hose filter mine started all of last winter with no heat, granted I did have to use the decompressors once or twice).

 

Just beware that while the Kingfisher isnt a 'vintage' enginebut it also isnt an Isuzi or Beta engine and that it is best to keep that engine for movement and charge your batteries off a generator.

 

Somewhere I have the KD36/KD26 installation manuals and also user/servicing manuals - but they mainly contain commonsense stuff, regular oil change etc etc. If you do run out of diesel they can be a bit of a nightmare to bleed, just be aware to clean the in hose filter going into the lift pump, there is also a primer/plunger on the lift pump - slack off the little bolt on the side of the lift pump, bleed up to the pump, then to the top of the filter and then to the injectors and make sure all bolts are done up and the primer/plunger screwed back 'home' once it has been bled. Better still just dont run out of diesel!

I do know of one chap who had seized his KD26 (no oil), my mate stripped it down and dribbled oil down the cylinders and with the help of a 6ft bar eventually got the pistons moving again and the engine running. It used a bit of oil after that but it did run and ran ok until the chap forgot to check the oil again...

[Sade]

I really wouldnt be worried about the Kingfishers, I think they are a fantastic engine, built like brick shit houses and they look nice and sound nice. Parts are available (not too easily) however the bits that go can be replaced or repaired, most have jabsco pumps (new pump from jabsco is around £180), the starter motor can be rewound (around £100/200 however just keep an eye on it and only use it in small bursts of 10/20 seconds and you will be fine, if you see smoke give it a moment to rest!) And get yourself a blow torch to heat up the air inlet manifold in winter and you will be fine (altho in all fairness once I had cleaned out the in hose filter mine started all of last winter with no heat, granted I did have to use the decompressors once or twice).

 

Just beware that while the Kingfisher isnt a 'vintage' enginebut it also isnt an Isuzi or Beta engine and that it is best to keep that engine for movement and charge your batteries off a generator.

 

Somewhere I have the KD36/KD26 installation manuals and also user/servicing manuals - but they mainly contain commonsense stuff, regular oil change etc etc. If you do run out of diesel they can be a bit of a nightmare to bleed, just be aware to clean the in hose filter going into the lift pump, there is also a primer/plunger on the lift pump - slack off the little bolt on the side of the lift pump, bleed up to the pump, then to the top of the filter and then to the injectors and make sure all bolts are done up and the primer/plunger screwed back 'home' once it has been bled. Better still just dont run out of diesel!

 

I do know of one chap who had seized his KD26 (no oil), my mate stripped it down and dribbled oil down the cylinders and with the help of a 6ft bar eventually got the pistons moving again and the engine running. It used a bit of oil after that but it did run and ran ok until the chap forgot to check the oil again...

Thanks so much for taking the time to type all this advice....I will definitely be keeping this thread! The boat we are looking at already has a generator installed so charging batteries shouldn't be a problem. Dean is going on a diesel engine course - he's pretty nifty with car petrol engines and even though he's had a diesel engine van for about 8 years, he's never really had to get involved in servicing etc. At this rate, I think I might end up knowing more about maintenance of a diesel engine before he does! Hahahaa! Cheers, much appreciated!