I bought a super clean 99 Sea Ray 185 from a farmer in Indiana and found out later that the intake and block were cracked. Didn't realize that you have to drain the oil to really check it. The dipstick showed clean oil even with the cracked block. Luckily even though I am not a mechanic, I found out that the 4.3 engine is shockingly easy to work on, (as easy as replacing a very heavy light bulb). I was able to fix it myself with about $1000.00 in parts and hours of CZcams videos. I opened it up, replaced the intake with a used one, replaced the cylinder heads with reman ones, new water pump and head gaskets, and and repaired the engine valley crack with a cold metal stitching kit. I carry a removable transom trolling motor with me to get me back home in case of emergency.
I run my boats year round in the bay (outboards) through freezing weather and the key is regular maintenance. It doesn’t take long to do the standard stuff and do it more regularly than you would a car. I change my fluids twice a year, plugs annually water pumps annually. Check bearing buddies regularly and grease all fittings at least once a year on the rigging.
Yep, Welcome to the world of recreational boating! It's always helpful to accept the idea that a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. A lot of self inflicted pain can be avoided by almost ritualizing the maintenance for the boat AND the trailer. Make some checklists for each phase of your outing and expect things to pop up especially during your first few trips on your new to you boat. The best thing to have onboard is a paddle and extra orange life jacket. Not for paddling, but to attach the life jacket to the end so people can see you can waving. The only other nugget I can offer is when things go sideways, Don't react in panic. A cool head always prevails! I'm on boat #4 BTW.
Biggest lesson for any older used boat trailer... replace tires and hubs right away. For the boat, don't go far from the dock on its first voyage while your checking it out. Never a guarantee with a boat though... most are made cheaply, even the expensive ones.
Sounds like you didn’t water test the boat nor do any maintenance work before taking the boat out. … this is a nearly 30 yr old boat what did you expect ?
bought my first boat last fall (01 bayliner capri 1950 classic 3.0 merc) didnt water test it, but it was "lake ready". the first time on the water.. the carb had problems wouldnt come off idle without choking the motor out, lower shift cable wouldnt let the thing shift.. and needed a bunch of small things just fixed all around.. lesson learned dont buy a boat without water testing it.. i felt like i did how ever get a fairly decent deal on the boat only paid $2700. this year i put all new bellows gimbal bearing water pump ujoints everything was preventive other then the gimbal it was very noisy. just had it out on the water yesterday after the repairs all seems great... luckily im an auto mechanic so i dont have to pay for labor.. so that helps a ton.
Sounds like a typical boat experience. If those wheel bearings are not sealed they last about a year if your lucky/ depending on how much you use it. I had both wheels fall off after the wheel bearings went out ( not on the same trip though). I ended up buying a new axle with nice sealed bearings. I have rebuilt my boats engine three times now in the last ten years due to over heating and seizing. I had the trailer fall off the hitch on my truck while going 40mph over a bump ( I forgot to lock it in place, the chains saved it). I had my trolling motor and engine starter motor go bad in the same trip. the carbs need to be cleaned every year or it won't start and idle after a long winter. I always bring a ton of tools with me and they have come in handy pretty much every time i take the boat out. It is insane how much boats break. I spent way more time working on my boat than using it. I have replaced every single electronic on the engine and on the console. The starter has been replaced 4 times. The cheap starters last about 5 minutes. My 4 batteries have been replaced many times. I finally got a trickle charger which has kept the batteries good for a long time now. There is a lot to learn about boating and the boat you use before things start going slightly smooth. At least for me thats how it was. I learn everything the hard way. I learn what not to do, instead of what to do. I screw things up a lot. Plus older boats are just going to break a lot. there is no way around it.
Oh boy that was a terrible first day boating. My son bought a 1983 16 ft Slyvan a few years ago. After he was done with it I decided to buy it. Having a boat will be fun right?? Well the motor about fell off the back so after installing a new transom and painting the boat myself one winter, installing a new trailer light kit (which mice ate the wires off a week after I installed it) new tires and wheel bearings I have an expensive boat that’s not worth anything. But hey it runs…..for now. 😂
First mistake you bought a used boat second mistake you used your stimulus check to help buy it. Third mistake you made a CZcams video about the first two things.
The best piece of advice I ever got was “Don’t ever buy an I/O” either straight inboard or outboard only.
I bought a super clean 99 Sea Ray 185 from a farmer in Indiana and found out later that the intake and block were cracked. Didn't realize that you have to drain the oil to really check it. The dipstick showed clean oil even with the cracked block. Luckily even though I am not a mechanic, I found out that the 4.3 engine is shockingly easy to work on, (as easy as replacing a very heavy light bulb). I was able to fix it myself with about $1000.00 in parts and hours of CZcams videos. I opened it up, replaced the intake with a used one, replaced the cylinder heads with reman ones, new water pump and head gaskets, and and repaired the engine valley crack with a cold metal stitching kit. I carry a removable transom trolling motor with me to get me back home in case of emergency.
In the end you have a really nice dependable clean boat. Congrats!
I really still can’t believe all of this happened. I love the boat now, but I really questioned our life choices after that day. 😂
I run my boats year round in the bay (outboards) through freezing weather and the key is regular maintenance. It doesn’t take long to do the standard stuff and do it more regularly than you would a car. I change my fluids twice a year, plugs annually water pumps annually. Check bearing buddies regularly and grease all fittings at least once a year on the rigging.
Seller knew what was up
@allcore5172 hard to say for sure. It sounded great until we actually started getting up onto plane with it.
Yep, Welcome to the world of recreational boating! It's always helpful to accept the idea that a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. A lot of self inflicted pain can be avoided by almost ritualizing the maintenance for the boat AND the trailer. Make some checklists for each phase of your outing and expect things to pop up especially during your first few trips on your new to you boat. The best thing to have onboard is a paddle and extra orange life jacket. Not for paddling, but to attach the life jacket to the end so people can see you can waving. The only other nugget I can offer is when things go sideways, Don't react in panic. A cool head always prevails! I'm on boat #4 BTW.
@1crustyoldmsgtretired870 very good advice. Luckily things have generally gone much smoother since this first day.
@@CKPowersports That's good to hear, Thanks!
Biggest lesson for any older used boat trailer... replace tires and hubs right away. For the boat, don't go far from the dock on its first voyage while your checking it out. Never a guarantee with a boat though... most are made cheaply, even the expensive ones.
Sounds like you didn’t water test the boat nor do any maintenance work before taking the boat out. … this is a nearly 30 yr old boat what did you expect ?
My uncle just bought a boat took it out got two miles this weekend and caught fire
@@andrewbrowning-gm7nd dang. Was it totaled?
bought my first boat last fall (01 bayliner capri 1950 classic 3.0 merc) didnt water test it, but it was "lake ready". the first time on the water.. the carb had problems wouldnt come off idle without choking the motor out, lower shift cable wouldnt let the thing shift.. and needed a bunch of small things just fixed all around.. lesson learned dont buy a boat without water testing it.. i felt like i did how ever get a fairly decent deal on the boat only paid $2700. this year i put all new bellows gimbal bearing water pump ujoints everything was preventive other then the gimbal it was very noisy. just had it out on the water yesterday after the repairs all seems great... luckily im an auto mechanic so i dont have to pay for labor.. so that helps a ton.
@@briansfixinstuff yeah. I didn't test mine the first time either. If I ever buy a different one, I'll definitely test it first.
@@CKPowersports and if they hesitate at all something is fishy..
@@briansfixinstuff absolutely
Sounds like a typical boat experience. If those wheel bearings are not sealed they last about a year if your lucky/ depending on how much you use it. I had both wheels fall off after the wheel bearings went out ( not on the same trip though). I ended up buying a new axle with nice sealed bearings. I have rebuilt my boats engine three times now in the last ten years due to over heating and seizing. I had the trailer fall off the hitch on my truck while going 40mph over a bump ( I forgot to lock it in place, the chains saved it). I had my trolling motor and engine starter motor go bad in the same trip. the carbs need to be cleaned every year or it won't start and idle after a long winter. I always bring a ton of tools with me and they have come in handy pretty much every time i take the boat out. It is insane how much boats break. I spent way more time working on my boat than using it. I have replaced every single electronic on the engine and on the console. The starter has been replaced 4 times. The cheap starters last about 5 minutes. My 4 batteries have been replaced many times. I finally got a trickle charger which has kept the batteries good for a long time now. There is a lot to learn about boating and the boat you use before things start going slightly smooth. At least for me thats how it was. I learn everything the hard way. I learn what not to do, instead of what to do. I screw things up a lot. Plus older boats are just going to break a lot. there is no way around it.
@slayinbass2396 yeah, I definitely don't trust this boat enough to go very far away with it. Luckily we have a lake like 15 minutes from our house.
Oh boy that was a terrible first day boating.
My son bought a 1983 16 ft Slyvan a few years ago. After he was done with it I decided to buy it.
Having a boat will be fun right??
Well the motor about fell off the back so after installing a new transom and painting the boat myself one winter, installing a new trailer light kit (which mice ate the wires off a week after I installed it) new tires and wheel bearings I have an expensive boat that’s not worth anything. But hey it runs…..for now. 😂
@@teweller I feel your pain. I think I'll probably die still owning this boat
Welcome to boating! Whatever can go wrong will go wrong….. normally all at once to give you the worst day ever.
That's definitely the truth. Luckily it's been pretty trouble free since though. (Currently knocking on wood)
I got a 2011 Malibu 23 lsv I’ll sell you. You will never have a problem with
@craigmolson1407 that sounds like a nice one. Maybe someday I'll upgrade
You DO know what boat means….. right? Break Out Another Thousand…. 🤨🤨🤨. Glad you’re having fun with it now! 👏👏
@soopr38 oh yeah... I've definitely heard that one before
Sounds like what I'm going true right now 1994 5.0 Omc four winns 😂
@@raylopez9153 I hope you get it figured out. It's no fun
BOAT means BREAK OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND.
@@phillipmatthews8341 or a couple more thousand
He bought the boat without test driving it
@@j_rainsgoat3929 yeah. It was like march when I bought it.
I have two words for you. Preventative maintenance.
Break
Out
Another
Thousand
BOAT
@@ronniebotteron9924 or a couple thousand...
My experience is only offer 33% of asking price on boats and you'll only go half broke.
Good advice
First mistake you bought a used boat second mistake you used your stimulus check to help buy it. Third mistake you made a CZcams video about the first two things.
Should I have financed a brand new boat instead?