What did I get into?????

Hello ~

I purchased a Bayliner Capri 1770 85hp L-Drive from a guy about a month and a half ago. The boat is in excellent shape, with the exception of the seats. I have to replace some of the marine vinyl... not a big deal.

At the time, I had no idea what an L-Drive was/is. But the boat was a good deal, so I brought it home, and started to read up on this stuff, rather than the other way around.

Took it out on the water for the first time, and the motor started, ran great, then slowly died. It over-heated, and my brother in law (who is an UNBELIEVABLY FUSSY mechanic) is rebuilding the motor for me. Since this is kind of a process, I have had some time to look at bayliner forums, etc.

Now, I'm thinking I should dump the boat. I haven't even used it for more than 5 minutes. But after reading all that I have, I'm guessing I should get out of it.

Does this make sense? The boat is in excellent shape, floor is solid, the carpeting even looks like new. Now the boat will have a rebuilt powerhead in it... What else is there to go wrong? I understand that the Force/L-Drive is a poor setup, but if the motor is rebuilt, and the lower unit functions well......

Any input at all would be appreciated. I feel I was an idiot before I bought the boat... Now, I'm just an educated idiot.

Re: What did I get into?????

Well - if the L unit is messed up and you overheated/trashed the motor id just get a new outboard.

The boat sounds like its in good shape, im wondering why the heat sensor/warning busser didn't go off on you. Its under the dash - wire runs to the engine, if your water pump/impellor fails and the block overheats its supposed to make a horn sound that warns you to shut off the engine.

Was water mist spraying out of the port on the back of the engine? Did you see steam? When it 'slowly stopped' did it sieze up? was it to hot to touch?
its to late now but you should replace the water impellor on any outboard engine you buy (along with the gear oil) just as a precautionary measure.

The impellor is easy to replace.

I just destroyed my L unit forward gear - all the other parts are good.
I have a replacement unit coming so all my old parts are sitting in a bucket, i have a 1984 Force 85 - if you need parts for your L unit i may be able to help you.

Good luck
-Mark

Re: What did I get into?????

Outboard won't work on a boat with L-drive setup so going to a different motor is out of the question. No not a good setup, but if you got a good deal and it will have a new powerhead, maybe run it while you save for something else. I would test the temp sensor though, sensor is on the block above the spark plug it should have a tan or orange wire coming out of it. You should be able to short the wire to the block (with the ignition on) and the buzzer should sound, if it doesn't check to make sure the buzzer works, should be like mrix said right under the dash, you can pull it out and touch the leads to the battery to see if it works. Not a setup I would research and then buy, but now that you have it keep up on the maintenance and take care of it.

Re: What did I get into?????

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Well, when it slowly quit -- it actually was over-heating (apparently). As soon as it stopped running, the odor was quite strong -- smell of something getting WAY hot.

I had the impeller replaced as soon as I got the boat (heard that was the thing to do, along with the gear oil) Turns out, there's a hose that goes from the l-drive to the motor that was broken - not completely, but close - and I didn't see it.

The warning buzzer's wire was off... makes you think the guy that had the boat before knew something was up... however, why didn't the motor over-heat when he had it? It just doesn't make sense.

Anyway... The powerhead is being RE-powered, and the guy that's doing it is EXTREMELY sharp. It's my no-brother good-in-law, but the guy is very meticulous, almost to the point of driving me up a wall. But he's got a good heart, and wants to help (Fairly obvious that I need all the help I can get.)

I guess I should keep the boat for awhile then. At least until boating season starts up again next year, then unload it.