New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

300zxman57 · Jan 24, 2011

Hey everyone, got a used 3.0 lx bayliner capri 1854. after it being sold to me as a used boat that runs, had to replace starter, battery and a few things to get it started, finally did and then after title issues found the original owner and finally got it in the water.. Very happy.. but now realizing it needs more work want to get some of your opinions..

1. steering is manual, no PS, but is sort of stiff... it looks like i should be replacing my cables and or greasing the out drive, is there a chance i would have to replace parts on the outdrive if its not the cable? how much work is that? And how easy is it going to be to turn the while going pretty slow without power steering??

2. it stalls when switching gears.. besides the normal things i read, could this also be a dirty carb? the boat had been sitting for like 4 years and no gas was left in the tank.

3. oil is pretty dirty, would like to run some oil cleaner through it the first couple of oi l changes and clean things up a bit.. Its this suggested ? if so what type of oil cleaner do you guys use?

4. floor is BAD, for a boat thats not worth that much, is it a bad idea to just lay a new piece of wood on top screw it down rug it and use the boat till the engine dies? I dont want to do this , but some friends have suggested it.

5. is putting on a electric fuel pump going to help with the stalling issues and easier starts and idling?

6. outdrive is corroded in multiple places, the zincs were pretty bad, and guessing it started eating the out drive.. can i wirebrush, primer and paint again? marine shop said yes, i have read no elsewhere.

7. temp gauge never moved above 100 degrees, does this mean it needs to be replaced or that the lake water kept it cool?

fat fanny · Jan 25, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

I'm sure you are going to learn allot here if you decide to proceed with making this rig ship shape. 1st off is to get yourself a MERC service manual for your engine and drive (someone with links to them will be along soon) If it were me I wuld get all the mechanicals in good order 1st I would say that a carb rebuild is 1st this could help your shifting stall issue, then onto checking your O/D alignment and condition of the gimbal bearing, and all bellows also which at this time since the drive is off to pressure test it for leak's after servicing the lower end impellar and water pump parts, After that a standard compression test along with a complete tune up ignition parts,plugs, wires,cap, rotor and oil change. All the particulars such as timing procedure for the est ignition and carb rebuild are in the service manuals and are the best way to learn the proper proceedure especially if you do it yourself. As for the deck start taking pictures and explain your delema on the resto forum here the guys over there are very informative and may tell you some of the things you may not want to here. All in all when and if you get the manuals and jump into the resto forum start reading!!! good luck and welcome aboard there are 100's of years of experience here and @ your disposal

proshadetree · Jan 25, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

If you take care of that 3.0 it will run a long time. PO must have been one of those boater wannabes. As stated before give it a good tune up. Make sure you have fresh gas. SEAFOAM the gas and run it. I have seen this stuff clear out a lot of carb issues. Worst case you still build the carb but it cleans up easier. Change that oil its the life blood of the engine. As far as rot check out the restore section of the forum. and pics help a bunch. Welcome to I boats man.

JoLin · Jan 25, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

The 'bad floor' would be my biggest concern. How is it 'bad'? Is it soft? If that's the case, I'd also suspect transom and stringer problems. I'd get somebody knowledgable to go over the hull before I spent another dime on it. Tap tests and moisture meter.

The rest is all (relatively) minor stuff. Hull problems can quickly make this boat not worth the effort unless you have the time and expertise to restore it. It doesn't sound as though you do, tho.

My .02

Bondo · Jan 25, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

300zxman57 said:
Hey everyone, got a used 3.0 lx bayliner capri 1854. after it being sold to me as a used boat that runs, had to replace starter, battery and a few things to get it started, finally did and then after title issues found the original owner and finally got it in the water.. Very happy.. but now realizing it needs more work want to get some of your opinions..

1. steering is manual, no PS, but is sort of stiff... it looks like i should be replacing my cables and or greasing the out drive, is there a chance i would have to replace parts on the outdrive if its not the cable? how much work is that? And how easy is it going to be to turn the while going pretty slow without power steering??

2. it stalls when switching gears.. besides the normal things i read, could this also be a dirty carb? the boat had been sitting for like 4 years and no gas was left in the tank.

3. oil is pretty dirty, would like to run some oil cleaner through it the first couple of oi l changes and clean things up a bit.. Its this suggested ? if so what type of oil cleaner do you guys use?

4. floor is BAD, for a boat thats not worth that much, is it a bad idea to just lay a new piece of wood on top screw it down rug it and use the boat till the engine dies? I dont want to do this , but some friends have suggested it.

5. is putting on a electric fuel pump going to help with the stalling issues and easier starts and idling?

6. outdrive is corroded in multiple places, the zincs were pretty bad, and guessing it started eating the out drive.. can i wirebrush, primer and paint again? marine shop said yes, i have read no elsewhere.

7. temp gauge never moved above 100 degrees, does this mean it needs to be replaced or that the lake water kept it cool?

Ayuh,... Welcome Aboard,....

#1,... It should turn Very easily at low speeds, 'n at hi-speeds...
#2,... It ain't the carb, it's the Lower Shift Cable that's dragging,...
Replace it...
#3,... Fresh oil is the Best oil cleaner....
#4,... The odds are the transom is also Rotten, that'll cause problems...
#5,... No...
#6,... Sure, Go for it...
#7,... That's probably a stuck open T-stat, change it...

Don S · Jan 25, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

1. steering is manual, no PS, but is sort of stiff... it looks like i should be replacing my cables and or greasing the out drive, is there a chance i would have to replace parts on the outdrive if its not the cable? how much work is that? And how easy is it going to be to turn the while going pretty slow without power steering??

The most common cause of stiff steering in that new a boat is corrosion between the SS cable end, and the aluminum tube that the cable runs through when attached to the transom shield. Remove the cable from the tube, clean it out and relube and it may work perfectly.

2. it stalls when switching gears.. besides the normal things i read, could this also be a dirty carb? the boat had been sitting for like 4 years and no gas was left in the tank.

Most likely caused by a faulty lower shift cable, very common problem. It's part of the shift interrupt system, to understand how it works, read this.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=1930449#post1930449

3. oil is pretty dirty, would like to run some oil cleaner through it the first couple of oi l changes and clean things up a bit.. Its this suggested ? if so what type of oil cleaner do you guys use?

New oil & filter.

4. floor is BAD, for a boat thats not worth that much, is it a bad idea to just lay a new piece of wood on top screw it down rug it and use the boat till the engine dies? I dont want to do this , but some friends have suggested it.

Best to post this problem over in the Boat Restoration, Building, and Hull Repair forum. There is lots of info on such repairs.

5. is putting on a electric fuel pump going to help with the stalling issues and easier starts and idling?

Probably not, water in the fuel may be part of the problem. Adding a water seperating fuel filter is one thing you should look into. The 3.0L engine did not come with one.

6. outdrive is corroded in multiple places, the zincs were pretty bad, and guessing it started eating the out drive.. can i wirebrush, primer and paint again? marine shop said yes, i have read no elsewhere.

Sure you can, I always cleaned and painted my Alpha with RustOLeum spray paint.

7. temp gauge never moved above 100 degrees, does this mean it needs to be replaced or that the lake water kept it cool?

If the thermostat doesn't cure it, it may be a bad sender, gauge, or wiring. Troublshooting will be required.

Two things you WILL need for your repairs are service manuals for your engine and drive. Download them from the links below.

Engine = http://www.4shared.com/document/B3wzU5Iz/Service_Manual_13.html
Drive = http://www.4shared.com/document/dPQUcyn_/Service_Manual_14.html

I would also suggest you only post one problem per post, or the post will be so confusing after a while that you will never find anything in it.

300zxman57 · Feb 1, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

Wow guys thanks so much for the great advice, and info.. im definitly looking into the things suggested.. I read about the lower shift cable, and saw some rust on that boot..

I got it out on the water again 2 days ago to try and test other things, ran great, except it stalls all the time when idling.. hard to dock it.. its very tricky.. also with the hard steering.

Also i was cleaning the gear lube cap and the little plastic piece inside broke off , i cleaned it to hard, so i put some tape on it. After this ride i saw some lube leaking out into the bilge.. From what i read this could be a pressure problem or water in the outdrive.

When i got home and checked, the oil was right upto the cap and there was a little what looked like brown oil at the top of it. ( previous oil was brown, new oil is blue).

1. Do you think that brown liquid was old oil or is water in the out drive pushing the oil up and out of the top of the cap that had tape on it.. ???
2. What else should i be changing when i do the lower shift cable?
3. what do i lube on the outdrive to help the steering problem?
4. i cant get out the rusted bolt on the steering mechanism, i popped out the cotter pin, but cant get out the bolt.. Have tried torch and PB blaster so far.. still worken on it... any advice?

Don S · Feb 2, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

Also i was cleaning the gear lube cap and the little plastic piece inside broke off ,

Get a new cap, that thing you broke off is a check valve that keeps the oil from leaking out when it's hot. It also should be filled that full.

As far as brown oil, that could be the color of the oil which may be the wrong gear lube, the Mercruiser Hi Performance is a bluish green in color. It could still be an ok gear lube, but the word brown doesn't describe it. Is it a clear brown like oil, or a milky brown like chocolate milk. if milky it would indicate water. Time to pull the drive and check the bellows for water.
If you are going to replace the cable, I would suggest you replace the bellows at at the same time, if there is water in it, you will also need a gimbal bearing, ujoints, input shaft seal on the drive and possibly a new yoke that the seal rides on.

300zxman57 · Feb 3, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

Don S said:
As far as brown oil, that could be the color of the oil which may be the wrong gear lube, the Mercruiser Hi Performance is a bluish green in color. It could still be an ok gear lube, but the word brown doesn't describe it. Is it a clear brown like oil, or a milky brown like chocolate milk. if milky it would indicate water. Time to pull the drive and check the bellows for water.

Well all of the oil wasnt brown, just like a thin string around the outside edge of the top of the bottle. I would say closer to the milk brown, but only a little bit around the edge was on the top of the oil, and i cant see any more of it once i cleaned the thin line of the very top..

The rest is that bluish green color. like the stuff i replaced The old oil was black brown.

I might have been that old oil?

you said

If you are going to replace the cable, I would suggest you replace the bellows at at the same time, if there is water in it, you will also need a gimbal bearing, ujoints, input shaft seal on the drive and possibly a new yoke that the seal rides on.

Is it a good idea to replace all of the parts even if there is NO water in the bellows?

proshadetree · Feb 3, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

If she is out of the water let it sit a few days. Pull the lower plug. Do you have water? If I pulled the drive and I did not put new bellows in it I would replace for insurance.

Joshua Nichols · Feb 3, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

If ya drag the outdrive off might as well replace all bellows, gasket and bearing.. If you have water in there. there is a chance the rust on the shaft ate up the seal... Ruined the u joints.. Water is the enemy, rust is it's evil girlfriend

300zxman57 · Feb 6, 2011

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

Thanks guys,

i really appreciate the info,

Once i get the drive off, ill probably be posting more questions..

thanks!

starbuckkimbuck · Jul 4, 2012

Re: New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

Most likely caused by a faulty lower shift cable, very common problem. It's part of the shift interrupt system, to understand how it works, read this.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=1930449#post1930449

New to the forum.. probably asking the question in to wrong place. but here it goes. after getting my boat out of storage I noticed that the throttle seems stiffer that usual. Is there a way to lubricate it. My wife ran into a problem with the boat not shifting out of reverse (of course i was out of town for work). The took it in and they replaced the cable for a few hundred dollars to fix the problem.

New owner of 1995 bayliner 1854 capri, couple of questions

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