Thinking about buying a 2008 R25

[bryant]

I am looking at buying a 2008 R25 and have some concerns about things that have popped up on the survey.
1. The engine is a 150HP Cummins and I have discovered that there may be issues with this engine, parts/repair in that nobody wants to work on them. Other than the engine being a combination of Cummins and French engine, not sure who made what.
2. The fuel gauge does not work. The current owner told me he checked out the gauge and it is fine which leaves the fuel sender. He told me it is almost impossible to get to the fuel sender with out cutting a hole in the deck of the cabin. Not sure if that is true.
3 When we took the boat it rode great but I notice the along with the fuel gauge not working the depth gauge was very erratic.
Any advice you can provided would be greatly appreciated since I don't want to bub a new boat with issues that are difficult to fix or very expensive.
Thanks
Bryant

 

[BB marine]

I can touch base on couple of questions but not fully answer because I have not worked on or boarded an 2008 R25. There are many that frequently post on TugNuts that own that model. There are two tank designs used R25 that I'm aware of.

(1) download/file.php?id=23

( 2) gallery2.php?g2_itemId=65951

You will see the location of the sending unit in both links. I would guess the tank in link (1) would be the tank used in the boat you are looking at. Access should be available based on the requirements and recommendations of ABYC.

H-33.3. DEFINITIONS
a. Accessible - Capable of being reached for inspection, removal or maintenance without removal of
permanent boat structure.

Ranger Tugs are NMMA certified so should be compliant.

The surveyor should be able to locate and advise all issues found. Most surveyors will give a comprehensive report on findings. Did he do a full evaluation on the engine? I would suspect oil samples taken, engine and transmission. If not I would have a comprehensive evaluation done by a Cummins certified technician. A call to Mercruiser customer service may provide you information. Or the surveyor should be able to find a service. That is what they do. The issues found during the survey should be used in the final offer of the cost of the boat.

Many Tugs and Cuts use the Airmar P79 transducer. The install is done 2 different ways glued directly to the hull or a cup filled with propylene glycol is used. In either case the first check is to confirm if the installation is still in tact.

Here is installation guidelines used. Inspect the installation and troubleshoot. If all appears good I would suspect a bad transducer. Most of the time it is a installation issue or in the case of the fluid cup the fluid level is low.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... g75bhwkOcj

Most of my post is not boat specific but may help steer you in the right direction. good luck with your purchase.

 

[Salty7]

Bryant I suggest you call Tony Athens at Seaboard Marine in Oxnard, CA for some honest answers about the Cummins. Make sure you have the exact model number. Cummins usually has a plate on or near the side of the timing chain cover with model and serial number engraved. Tony is a big Cummins distributor and very familiar with all their engines, phone is 805-382-6287. I know little to nothing about the small 150 HP engine. I have lots of experience with their larger engines and that experience has all been good. Mine were reliable, the parts were readily available and they had service centers with marine mechanics any time I needed one. Make sure you get specific model information and check with Tony. I thought the engine you were looking at was a 6B that they cut down to a 4B, I remember hearing about injector problems at one point with the smaller engine but heard they fixed that years ago. The 6B engines were one of the best ever built, I don't know why a 4B wouldn't be just as good, if that is what it is.

 

[bryant]

Thanks, a lot of good information I can check out

 

[NorthernFocus]

We're six seasons into a 2009 R25 with the 150 "Cummins" engine. Someone already spoke to the fuel gauge and transducer so I'll only comment about the engine.

First, drop using the name Cummins and 90 percent of your problems will go away. It is a Mercruiser Engine. They still produce/market the exact same engine. Here is a link to their website advertising same:

https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/engines/diesel/mercury-diesel/20l-tier-3/

As far as I have gathered Cummins basically licensed their name for a while and that was about it. The electronics(ECM and helm display) are Mercuiser, the engine repair manual and operating manual are from Mercruiser, and all of the parts come from Mercruiser. There is nary a Cummins part on the engine. The engine core is built by an Italian engine manufacturer. It is the same basic engine used in the Jeep Liberty that was sold in the European market and is in hundreds of thousands of delivery trucks, farm trucks, etc, in Europe. The fuel system components are from Bosch which is the top of the line name in fuel injection systems. The liquid cooled manifolds etc necessary for marine duty are from Mercruiser. Again, IT'S NOT A CUMMINS ENGINE. Save yourself a lot of frustration and don't bother going to a Cummins shop. If you find someone who works on Mercuiser diesels they can work on the engine. Tell them you have a 2.0 liter Mercruiser Diesel and you will be good to go.

As I said above we're six seasons into this engine and have put over 1000 hours on it. Haven't had any issues finding parts. Certainly no more so than some of the Yanmar owners on here complain about. There are multiple on-line suppliers of Mercruiser parts. Any time I've ordered parts that are the most typical failures like oil sending units, fuel system components, belts, etc, they are in stock. Haven't ever had to order any engine core overhaul type parts like rods, bearings, etc, so can't speak to that.

Oh, by the way, in case I forgot to mention above, IT'S NOT A CUMMINS ENGINE. :shock:

 

[TexasEye]

My notebooks are full of great information from y'all.

Thanks for taking the time to support our fleet.

I have a 25, love her, She performs as advertised, a pain in the butt to do some maintenance, but overall a great vessel. Perfect for a couple to cruise. I have the baby Yanmar...perfect powerplant for this boat. (110hp)

My fuel gauge has always hung on the full peg for a couple of hours and then seems to fall off to an accurate reading. I have NEVER seen a fuel gauge I would trust...My consumption log uses three power settings and is extremely accurate. I do have some issues with getting the tank full, seems like she has to be burped for the last 3 gallons, which I think is common for larger tanks (Rock the boat). Never ran her near empty, seems we always have 20 or so gallons as reserve.

Sometimes I wish they wouldn't even put fuel gauges on boats!

 

[scross]

We love our 2009 R25 Classic. Had it 4.5 years now and plan to keep it another 5 years or so. We have the Yanmar 4BY2 150hp engine with Garmin navigation, radar and autopilot.
The larger cabin compared to the R25SC was very important to us. It’s halfway between the R27 Classic and the R25SC in size. We don’t fish so the smaller cockpit was an acceptable compromise.
The boat is perfect for trailering and extended cruising. We can go up to 10 days between marinas.
Managing fuel is easy. The gauge goes about 20 gallons before starting to drop. But watching the fuel consumption rate on the Yanmar gauge from a full tank tells us what we have used and how much is left. Lots of places to refuel in the PNW from Olympia to Desolation Sound.
After all this time I do not regret anything about our purchase. The six months of research for the right years (2009-2010), right engine (Yanmar 4BY2) and looking at 5 different boats before offering on Our Journey really paid off for us!
My advise is to be patient, do your research, get a good survey (boat and engine) and you will be happy with your decision!

 

[BB marine]

Unfortunately most fuel gauges work poorly because the boat manufacturer doesn't calibrate them properly. The calibration that is done is the tank is filled, the tank capacity is entered and filled is entered. The engine gauge uses the information entered and reads the different resistance readings in 4 or 5 increments. My gauge was calibrated this way when I took delivery of the boat. At some points it was 20 to 30 gallons off. I posted a procedure I came up with for calibrating the sending unit. My experience since doing this is within 3 gallons of actual except when the tank is completely full the first increment is off by 6 gallons. I really don't care when I have that much fuel it is when I am 1/2 tank or lower that it matters. I use the Garmin/Volvo fuel burn for my fuel use and fuel left. I have the gauge which now is accurate for a comparison.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=10780&hilit=+fuel+sender#p74140

Heres a photo of Garmin to fuel gauge comparisons. This scene shot was taken after a short trip. When comparing the Garmin to the fuel sender reading it was .8 gallon off



When I worked on boats one of the biggest complaints boat owners had was why is my fuel gauge inaccurate. The common reply was boat fuel gauges are never accurate. Reply "The auto industry has acurate gauges" When I was rigging a new boat for delivery I added calibrating the fuel gauge into my rigging procedure. This seemed to reduce the fuel gauge complaint.

Is an acute fuel gauge necessary with the addition of the Garmin and engine fuel burn data? Not really, but its on board so I want it to work. Would it be a deal breaker if I was buying a boat that the gauge did not work? No.

 

[Captain Steve]

I own a 2009 R25 with a Cummings diesel. Love it and thanks for all the info

 

[knotflying]

You mention that the depth gauge was erratic. Was it going blank or was it flashing the last depth. Sometimes in shallow water turbulence causes the numbers to flash at the last reading. Check your frequency. In shallower waters you want to use the. Higher frequency , 200. Also try lowering your gain. A lower gain is better for a rocky bottom.