Volvo Penta AD31-L

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hg2016

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Good afternoon all,
I'm currently looking at a 1994 boat with twin AD31-L engines on outdrives.
Can anybody give me advice on these engines. What they are like performance and reliability wise. How they compare to a KAD 32 etc.
Any advice will be greatly received.
 
hg2016 said:
Good afternoon all,
I'm currently looking at a 1994 boat with twin AD31-L engines on outdrives.
Can anybody give me advice on these engines. What they are like performance and reliability wise. How they compare to a KAD 32 etc.
Any advice will be greatly received.
Click to expand...

The same base unit engine without the supercharger , if it’s propped at the limit you may find it struggles to get on the plane , other than that a great engine if it’s been looked after , the 32 will give more low down torque as it uses the supercharger .
 
volvopaul said:
The same base unit engine without the supercharger , if it’s propped at the limit you may find it struggles to get on the plane , other than that a great engine if it’s been looked after , the 32 will give more low down torque as it uses the supercharger .
Click to expand...

Hello Volvopaul,
I'm rather a novice at this as I'm still searching for my first boat. could you explain what you mean by 'propped at the limit'. Also, what HP would you expect a pair of these engines to produce.
 
Yep, a little underpowered by todays standards but it was a popular boat back in the day and they sold plenty of them before the KAD32 (170hp) was available in 1998. Targa 28 is a well built boat with a practical layout and great sea keeping.

Providing you don't load the boat with loads of people, cruising kit, fuel and water and keep the bottom clean it should get on the plane OK and cruise at an acceptable speed (high 20's knots I'd have thought).

What colour is it? I ask because some people are a bit sniffy about green hulled ones.
 
hg2016 said:
Hello Volvopaul,
I'm rather a novice at this as I'm still searching for my first boat. could you explain what you mean by 'propped at the limit'. Also, what HP would you expect a pair of these engines to produce.
Click to expand...

I’m not sure what the exact hp of the L version is , and I doubt Fairline would fit the L version as this is a de rated version , the P version is 150 hp and was the last of the production run , it would be best to get the details from the broker or seller .

Th last Targa 29 with these engines in was a real disappointment and failed its survey as it would only attain about 10 knots as there was a problem with 1 engine .

As ever it’s always best to have a survey on the structure and a sea trial with an engineer to inspect the engines and drives for faults then a sea trial to check its performance and any overheat issues.
 
volvopaul said:
I’m not sure what the exact hp of the L version is , and I doubt Fairline would fit the L version as this is a de rated version , the P version is 150 hp and was the last of the production run , it would be best to get the details from the broker or seller .
Click to expand...

I was a little surprised too by the post above, I thought they were all 150hp.

Incidentally, not having superchargers is one (or two) less things to go wrong and they are expensive to replace.
 
petem said:
Yep, a little underpowered by todays standards but it was a popular boat back in the day and they sold plenty of them before the KAD32 (170hp) was available in 1998. Targa 28 is a well built boat with a practical layout and great sea keeping.
The hull is blue, but after receiving email from the broker they say that the hull was re gel coated and it had a major refit in july 2017
http://www.boats.co.uk/boats-for-sale/fairline-targa-28-513

Providing you don't load the boat with loads of people, cruising kit, fuel and water and keep the bottom clean it should get on the plane OK and cruise at an acceptable speed (high 20's knots I'd have thought).

What colour is it? I ask because some people are a bit sniffy about green hulled ones.
Click to expand...
 
petem said:
Yep, a little underpowered by todays standards but it was a popular boat back in the day and they sold plenty of them before the KAD32 (170hp) was available in 1998. Targa 28 is a well built boat with a practical layout and great sea keeping.

Providing you don't load the boat with loads of people, cruising kit, fuel and water and keep the bottom clean it should get on the plane OK and cruise at an acceptable speed (high 20's knots I'd have thought).

What colour is it? I ask because some people are a bit sniffy about green hulled ones.
Click to expand...
The hull is blue, but after receiving email from the broker they say that the hull was re gel coated and it had a major refit in july 2017
http://www.boats.co.uk/boats-for-sal...e-targa-28-513
 
volvopaul said:
I’m not sure what the exact hp of the L version is , and I doubt Fairline would fit the L version as this is a de rated version , the P version is 150 hp and was the last of the production run , it would be best to get the details from the broker or seller .

Th last Targa 29 with these engines in was a real disappointment and failed its survey as it would only attain about 10 knots as there was a problem with 1 engine .

As ever it’s always best to have a survey on the structure and a sea trial with an engineer to inspect the engines and drives for faults then a sea trial to check its performance and any overheat issues.
Click to expand...

The adv for the boat definitely says AD31-L and after a good few looks I can see it does say 130 hp
 
petem said:
With twin 130's it will struggle to get on the plane. Would make a nice River or perhaps estuary boat through.

I'd try and find another £6-7k and get a 29 with Kad32's.
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Stone the Crows petem, I'm struggling to scrape together the £39k. That would clean me out and clean out my berthing stash and probably my golf clubs. The golf membership went 2 years ago. But I do agree with you on the kad32 engines. It would be a steal for that.
 
petem said:
Sealine S28 perhaps? I'm told that some people like them :)!
Click to expand...

Tell you the truth, I like em all really. There is something about a fairline though. Even a 1994 boat doesn't look too dated today. Bottom line is, they are out of my price range. Get something else a bit newer and smaller with a single engine? Or lose another season trying to get some more £ together. I've already been looking for 2 seasons.
 
AD31-L and AD31-P are the same base engine with different outputs (pump settings?).

AD31-L produces 130hp at 3800rpm.
AD31-P produces 150hp at 3900rpm

A Sealine S28 is also a good option in this size range, so I've heard.

:)
.
 
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