New boater!..outboard questions!??

[Frankls31]

HELP . . hoping to become a boat owner.

Hi, i'm hoping to become a first time boat owner and will be going to look at a boat tomorrow. It is a 1997 sea ray with merc 125 outboard. This boat is in immaculate condition inside and out and. What worries me is that the boat has sat in a garage for 4 years. I was told it has not been in the water since 2013. My concern is the outboard. The owner of the boats son which is the person selling the boat says that his father(owner of boat) had started up the engine once maybe twice a year. Is there anything i need to be concerned about with he boat sitting in a garage for 4 years? What do i look at? Should i stay away? Thanks for any advice

 

[ajgraz]

If it is true that the motor was started once or twice a year, that's great. Motors that sit around totally unused for years see problems like dried/cracked/shrunken seals, gummed up fuel passages, etc. I do wonder if it's got 4 year old fuel in it?

And if it's truly been in a garage, that's great too. UV is a killer of vinyl, rubber, plastics, gelcoat, etc., etc.

Best advice I can give is: get an on-the-water trial, and watch/follow the guy as he tows it to the ramp, as he launches, runs, retrieves, the whole she-bang. You'll learn a lot (in general and about that particular rig), and he can't hide nothin'!

 

[Frankls31]

Thanks for the response...another concern was that if they were not completely honest with starting the engine yearly and the outboard has sat for 3 to 4 years without running but was cared for properly before put away in garage could there be expensive issues from sitting so long

 

[eavega]

If it was put away correctly, there is no reason to believe that the motor won't start right up. Put away correctly means that the carbs were drained or at least had stabilized fuel run through them before being put away, cylinders were fogged, gearcase oil was changed, maybe even the moving parts were greased. Your best bet is to pull the plugs, check the engine compression. I don't know offhand what acceptable compression is on a merc, but generally you look for compression between 120-150 PSI, but more importantly you are looking for all the cylinders to be within 10% of each other. Also, get yourself a spark tester and test spark on all the holes. You should be able to jump a 7/16" air gap with a white or blue spark. If you get a good compression test and a good spark, then add some fresh fuel (or connect it to a portable tank if you can to insure you have fresh fuel) and try and start it up. If it doesn't start up, you are probably looking at a fuel related problem (carburetors, old fuel, or a combination thereof). That is remedied by a rebuild of the carbs, but you can adjust your offer accordingly. Other things to be concerned about would be the condition of the gearcase oil, and the condition of the impeller. Checking those would take some additional work (i.e. removing the lower unit and water pump housing) but ask when was the last time that maintenance was performed (Gear oil is an annual maintenance item, water pump impeller an every-other year maintenance item). In any case "sitting a couple of years in a garage" should not be a big concern if the motor was cared for before being put to sleep.

E

 

[SkaterRace]

As with all boat purchases you need to do a compression check and take the boat for a ride to see how it performs.

 

[ezmobee]

Outboards tolerate sitting pretty well. However, you may want to have the carbs gone through though because if there is a blockage it could lean out a cylinder and cause damage. Also change the lower unit lube.

 

[Starcraft5834]

agree with everything said... garage kept?? thats NOT a problem. stored in farmers field would be...... , do compression check, fluid changes.. could be a peach...

 

[GA_Boater]

Frankls31 Welcome to the forum.

Both threads you started have been merged. Please don't start more than one topic on the same question in different sections because advice becomes fragmented and virtually unusable. Thanks.

 

[garbageguy]

As others said, in the garage last 4 or 5 years is likely a good thing. But 1997 is longer ago than that. Look at the stickies regarding looking for signs of rot. Se if you can take an experienced boat owner with you on the sea trial.

 

[Frankls31]

Thanks for the advice...and sorry for the double post. I was worried i posted this under the wrong thread. So when I do arrive and the owner tells me he did run the motor yearly would it be okay for be to just throw muffs on it and hear it run or would you still suggest doing a compression test still. Sorry for all the questions but I have heard so many horror stories with used boats.

 

[Sprig]

So many points to cover I won't even try other than a couple. Yes start the engine and do a compression check. Do not buy the boat without putting it in the water and driving it. At least a half hour sea test.
My concern is the fuel in the main tank. Any fuel that has been sitting in the tank for 4 years is baaaad. Even if fuel stabilizer was used it is bad gas.The tank needs to be drained. If they have been starting it with an auxiliary portable tank with fresh gas your good, but not with old gas in the main tank.
It more than likely needs the carbs cleaned and rebuilt. One last thing the trailer tires probably need replacing. You should generally replace trailer tires 2 to 3 tears. It is not that the tread wears out but rather that the rubber deteriorates due to environmental factors. UV is the major trailer tire killer but other environmental factors play a part. Being inside away from uv rays is good. If there are any cracks on the sides of those tires , being 4 plus years old the need to be replaced. One last thing the rubber water impeller needs to be replaced. Won't go into the reasons why but if it has been sitting mostly for 4 years , replace it. This is just a couple things of concern but there are dozens and dozens more.

 

[Frankls31]

Hi guys, went to take a look at a 1997 searay. Has a 1997 mercury 125 hp outboard. I wanted to hear it run before purchasing but of course the battery was dead. Hooked up a quick trickle charge as well as plugged in the fuel line and pumped the bulb. Was about a gallon of non ethanol fuel he had left in it. Now i dont think we waited long enough for battery to charge bc it tried to turn over maybe for a second. So now the owner of the boat told me he winterized it a little over 4 years ago. Disconnected the fuel line (bc we had to reconnect) and its sat in heated garage ever since. My question is could there be any major problems when trying to get this outboard to start and run again?? The owners son (which knows nothing about boats) told be hed knock off about $500 bucks to just have me take it and deal with it myself.

 

[ezmobee]

I'm not sure how this question is different than the one you already asked about the outboard being in storage.

Sticking a battery on a trickle charger for a few minutes definitely won't be enough to start it. Outboards need good RPM to fire. Most will not even think about firing until they hit a certain RPM. They won't just lump over and fire like a car might. I still wouldn't buy this boat without hearing the motor run. Take the battery out of your car or something.

 

[Frankls31]

Also id like to know how much you would think it would cost to get it running again..what is necessary thanks. He did take great care of the boat so i was hoping maybe its a simple fix

 

[Frankls31]

I apologize but now i face the decision to buy the boat without knowing if the motor will run. I would hate spend the money and then wind up with having to buy a new outboard. Just curious if someone takes care of an outboard and lets it sit would it just be a simple fix to get it running

 

[ajgraz]

Other than a $10 garage sale find, no way in hell I'd buy an outboard without AT LEAST running it on muffs. As others have said, all you need is muffs, a hose, and a charged battery (like from your car).

And even if it runs in the driveway, doesn't mean it won't have issues under load (i.e., pushing a boat on the water). In addition, even though everything may be shined up right now, how do you know the hull is seaworthy? How do you know the trailer doesn't need all kinds of work?

As I see it...

At your current level of knowledge about that boat/motor/trailer, IMO it is worth about -$500; in other words, if he'd GIVE YOU $500 to haul it off right now, may be worthwhile.

If you can at least get it to run on muffs, it's worth maybe $500. Minus the $500 the owner knocked off for you hauling off his shiny (but potentially junk) hull and trailer, and now you're breaking even, ha, ha!

Only with a sea trial (including the towing back and forth to the ramp) will you get an inkling of what kind of shape everything is in. And there could still be hidden problems, of course.

If there truly isn't to be a sea trial, and given the level of experience it seems that you have, I'd honestly say to keep looking. Guess it depends on your tolerance for risk!

 

[ezmobee]

I understand wanting to avoid joyriders and tire kickers but there's no excuse for someone not willing to make a successful sea trial a condition of sale (meaning you agree on a price and agree to hand over payment if the sea trial is satisfactory) unless they are hiding something or are really really dumb.