engine leaking and not sure if we should pull out- help

[MtB]

Yes good point. The bows of Liverpool boats are equally fugly regardless of the length!

[alan_fincher]

Yes good point. The bows of Liverpool boats are equally fugly regardless of the length!

 

You have been looking at that very weird looking frontal shot in the sales details!

 

I can only assume the distortion comes from lens on a very wide setting, but they have made it look almost wide-beam like!

[Ssscrudddy]

IMO at £40k there should be nothing wrong with the boat, except perhaps very minor stuff.
3 years ago I bought mine (same price), 57' Reeves built 2007 with 1350 engine hours. Only things wrong with it, knackered leisure batteries, but these are consumables & I am now of the opinion that it was most likely me who knackered them in the 1st 2 weeks of owning it. & a faulty RCD, which made me think my Inverter/charger was on its way out, & it took me 2 years & a new battery charger to discover it was the RCD.

Loads of other boats out there with nowt wrong with them if you have £40k. I would walk away & find something else.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Ssscrudddy

[blackrose]

If you do end up pulling out of the purchase don't think of the survey as wasted money. It may have saved you a lot of trouble and thousands of pounds. Also, don't forget to ask your surveyor about the possibility of a decent discount for a subsequent survey on another boat if/when you find one.

Edited February 16, 2016 by blackrose

[Stilllearning]

We sold a very nice Jonathan Wilson 57" trad with everything on your wish list, plus some more stuff, for about £34k, two years ago, so, as others have said, please walk away from this one, and look for something else.

[OldGoat]

Look at it this way -

 

It's a 'bitzer' - motor trade term

 

Plus point -

• You like it

 

Minus points

1. Broken engine
2. Has been stretched
3. Somebody's fiddled with the engine
4. Engine a bit too small for its new length
5. What else has been bodged?
6. Overpriced

 

Folks look at the fitout / layout, but aren't in a position to evaluate the build and design quality. That's difficult to explain. You need somebody who's prepared to look at the hidden details - that's not part of an ordinary survey.

 

Get your money back and run away fast-

PLEASE!

[blackrose]

Yes good point. The bows of Liverpool boats are equally fugly regardless of the length!

 

Although beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, at worst the bows of Liverpool boats could be described as "unremarkable". Indeed I'd say that they are better looking than the bows of many other canal boats. You do do tend towards exaggeration for dramatic effect Mike.

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by blackrose

[MtB]

Not really in the same league as say, HECTOR, is it though?!

 

 

 

 

Roger fuller boat

 

 

(courtesy of Granny Buttons' blog

http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2004/05/boat_of_the_wee.html )

Edited February 16, 2016 by Mike the Boilerman

[blackrose]

Not really in the same league as say, HECTOR, is it though?!

 

 

 

 

Roger fuller boat

 

 

(courtesy of Granny Buttons' blog

http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2004/05/boat_of_the_wee.html )

 

Indeed not, it's a completely different boat and it's not in the same league as a lot of other boats, but that doesn't mean it's "fugly" does it?

[MtB]

 

Indeed not, it's a completely different boat and it's not in the same league as a lot of other boats, but that doesn't mean it's "fugly" does it?

 

 

Yes it does! Fugliness is in the eye of the beholder, or something like that....

[blackrose]

 

 

Yes it does! Fugliness is in the eye of the beholder, or something like that....

 

Ok, that's your opinion, so I guess you must find most modern narrowboats fugly then? Personally I don't really see what makes the bows of a Liverpool boat any fuglier than some others. Here are a couple of Colecrafts which people on here seem to rave about. In terms of bow shape they all look much of a muchness to me, so I'm clearly missing something.

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by blackrose

[churchward]

It could be that the thermostat is busted and so disconnected and/or the engine has overheated and caused a head gasket failure and leaking water and oil from there or somewhere else pressure by the cooling system. Speculation of course bt as many others have said above unless there was a very compelling reason to buy this boat I would carry on looking.

 

A new Beta engine will be about £5k (or more) to buy and quite a lot to pay someone to get the old one out and fit the new. If the engine has overheated and blown a few things it could easily be beyond economical repair.

[bizzard]

The bows of L/Pool boats are nicer looking than those on many so called bespoke boats and they are built more accurately than many so called bespoke boats.

A couple of years ago I was blacking a so called bespoke boat, a very bespoke wide beam boat. Whilst blacking it I discovered that the swim tops were like a patch work quilt, welded up out of bits of off cuts and whilst painting it I found that one side used about a litre more blacking than the other, mmm I thought, funny, probably just me. Anyway two subsequent coats also used about a litre more paint on one side, mmmm! mmmm! very funny.

I measured the hulls length at gunnel level on both sides (twice) One side was 6'' longer than the other. Siting along the boat it was also visibly bent. A true Fyffes banana boat. The rudder siting and proportions were also to cock, it steered with vicious vibration. Bespoke boats, mmmm.

[blackrose]

Here's a (not inexpensive) Lambon Hull widebeam next to a Liverpool Boats widebeam.

 

Ok, the Lambon has an extra rubbing strake, but I think a bit more effort has been made on the overall shape of the LB bows - but then I am biased!.

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by blackrose

[ditchcrawler]

Look at it this way -

 

It's a 'bitzer' - motor trade term

 

Plus point -

• You like it

 

Minus points

1. Broken engine
2. Has been stretched
3. Somebody's fiddled with the engine
4. Engine a bit too small for its new length
5. What else has been bodged?
6. Overpriced

 

Folks look at the fitout / layout, but aren't in a position to evaluate the build and design quality. That's difficult to explain. You need somebody who's prepared to look at the hidden details - that's not part of an ordinary survey.

 

Get your money back and run away fast-

PLEASE!

I find point 3 the most worrying, someone disconnected the temperature alarm to try to hide the problem.

[Anna_Licorice]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for all the comments so far. It's been really helpful.

 

We have got some more information today. It turns out that some work was done on the engine before it was put up for sale. Looks like the head has been replaced and the work is still under warranty with a highly recommended nautical engineer. He isn't sure why the cable was disconnected but suspects human error. He is going to take a look at it tomorrow after the boat has been taken for a run to get the engine up to temperature.

 

We are still very nervous and are taking on board comments on the thread but are waiting to see what happens before making a decision on proceeding.

[Alan de Enfield]

I'd be very reluctant to take the word of a "Highly recommended nautical engineer" if he had done work that resulted in your surveyor seeing oil and water 'squirting / leaking / oozing' out of the engine, AFTER the work had been done.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Alan de Enfield

[Loafer]

Singing:

 

Walk away, walk away, walk away

walk away, walk away, walk awayyyyy-ay

walk away walk away walk away,

walk away-ay, walk a-wayyy!

 

(To the tune of a well-known football supporter's song)

Edited February 16, 2016 by Loafer

[bizzard]

He could be a naughtycal engineer.

[Alan de Enfield]

Singing:

 

Walk away, walk away, walk away

walk away, walk away, walk awayyyyy-ay

walk away walk away walk away,

walk away-ay, walk a-wayyy!

 

(To the tune of a well-known football supporter's song)

 

Or - it could be 'you'll never walk alone' because :

Everywhere you go

You will always have an engineer

and a bank manager in tow

[Jess--]

It turns out that some work was done on the engine before it was put up for sale. Looks like the head has been replaced and the work is still under warranty with a highly recommended nautical engineer.

 

All depends on what the recommendation was for, for example I can recommend mechanics that are able to bodge a car engine quickly so that is sounds / looks ok to sell the car (before it dies completely) or different mechanics that will rebuild it to near enough as-new

[OldGoat]

A parallel comment from the horsey fraternity -

No Hoof, no Horse.

Same he but this time in the engine department is the Hoof.

The engine's small for the size of boat, is probably lashed up - one wonders why it's being sold without a proper engine repair.

If 'twere £20K - the mebe OK, but top dollar's being asked - hoping to seduce someone with a pretty interior.

Don't let your heart rule your head.

 

Edit:

I couldn't get the boat's details up wi Adobe and IE11 - but I've now perservered and honestly I just can't ee any magic in it.

OK fll width double bed - but a pain ti get in and out of it. I asssume it'll be a liveaboard (??) - if not that cruising could be a pain if you 'work the boat' as we do.

The outside looks very tired.

 

So, pretty please - why is it special??

 

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by OldGoat

[Anna_Licorice]

 

 

So, pretty please - why is it special??

 

 

We liked it because it was reverse layout. We liked a cruiser stern. And we assumed she had a good hull, and engine (hence the price seemed reasonable with other boats we were looking at the same time).

I say 'like', we aren't in love with her. We won't be heartbroken if we walk away. We will just be a little lighter in the pocket. We don't want to be taken for a ride, however, the surveyor seemed to think the hull was good and the stretch was one of the best he'd seen. He said the engine may have had some work done and when he turned it on out of the water, oil and water came out - this could have been residue that hadn't burnt away due to not being run since the work was completed. Or it could mean something badly wrong. We definitely want to pull out if it all starts looking dodgy (or dodgier).

 

But at the moment we have a story about the engine that seems to make sense. We are still waiting for the written survey.

 

The seller obviously knew that the engine needed fixing- so he got it fixed before selling. He wasn't living on board leading up to the sale so he may have missed the engine leaking. Unless he started the boat and opened the engine lid he wouldn't have seen it- would he?

Sure, he should have. And other things have been neglected, too. Which I kind of put down to his lack of maintenance. But then some people must buy boats and then a couple of years later realise it's not for them- and their handyman skills aren't up to scratch, so they get it blacked/serviced and move on. We felt that the boat had that look about her. But we thought we could look after her in the future.

 

We do not plan to live aboard and were thinking of moving the bed to give access to the bow doors.

[IanM]

Unless he started the boat and opened the engine lid he wouldn't have seen it- would he?

 

We regularly do that with ours to check for any problems.

[blackrose]

I wouldn't say you should necessarily walk away, however I would bargain hard on the price and insist that the vendor gets the engine (and anything else) sorted out to the satisfaction of your surveyor before you proceed.