Small Project just got a lot bigger....new and need help - 88 procraft

88procraft

Recruit
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
2
Let me start by saying I'm new to the forum and very new to boating in general. I was lucky enough to get a great promotion this year and decided to finally get myself a used bass boat to get into tournament fishing with my little brother. I decided against a new boat for several reasons, mainly making sure the hobby was one I would be sticking with for a while before investing too much money into it.

I've been in forums for all sorts of other things, so I'm aware that this initial post will likely draw some criticism from a few people. I'll make it easy and get most of the bashing out of the way so hopefully I can start finding good places to research and organize my upcoming project. Before it has to be pointed out, the situation I'm in is my own fault because of my lack of knowledge and for not taking the boat to a mechanic to have it tested first. I know absolutely nothing about boats, but it's time to start learning.

About 3 weeks ago, after looking on Craigslist for a few weeks and narrowing down my list of potential used boats I bought an 88 model Procraft bass boat with a v6 150hp Mercury XR2 motor. I met with the guy twice and he ran it for me in a tub of water and it seemed to run fine. We also went out on the local lake twice and aside from the foot throttle coming loose from the floor, everything went great. I went out fishing a total of 4 times. The first two trips went well. The boat seemed to run strong (ran at about 50-55 mph with me and my brother in the boat). On the 4th trip, the boat had an extremely hard time getting on plane (not sure if that's the right way to say it) after the first hour and for the rest of the day. When we pulled it out of the water, there was quite a bit of water coming out from a drain in the bottom of the boat that wasn't plugged and I attributed this to all the extra water weight going to the back of the boat. I looked into the drain and learned it was for the live well and bought a plug that fit into it.

The next time out we didn't have the same trouble getting up to speed, but it still took longer than the first two trips and was maxing out at around 45mph. This was Friday, as we were pre-fishing for a tournament we had signed up for yesterday. We tried to fill the live well up for the first time and couldn't get water into the wells. We docked it and pulled the plug I had put in and we were able to fill the live wells with the controls on board the boat.

We put in the water the next day (yesterday) and filled the live well and put about 4 lbs of fish in it after the first two hours. When we began running to the next fishing spot, it literally would not get on plane so I had my brother step over to the front of the boat, which got the nose down and got us up to 45mph. The next time we tried to move on the water I had my brother move to the front again to get up to speed and about the time the nose came down, we heard a pretty disgusting noise from the motor and it shut down and wouldn't start. I had to be towed in to the marina and after getting the boat back to the house I found two decent sized holes and some metal pieces in what I assume is the engine block.

From what I've been able to research in the past day, rebuilding a motor is usually a pain and can often lead up to a lot more repair time and costs than the initial 2-3k you'll spend rebuilding the motor (if that can even be done with the holes I mentioned above). I had already planned on putting new flooring in the boat, redoing the carpeting, putting a new fish finder on it, and putting new paint and gel coat on it.

I've seen a few places that try to sell you kits to rebuild the motor yourself, but I'm extremely wary of going this route because I don't want to be ripped off again. I don't know anything about small engines or boats, but I consider myself fairly intelligent and willing/able to learn how to do things myself. I've also found a couple of places that sell rebuilt motors and one place has the exact same year/model motor that I blew for around 3k.

I'm pretty disgusted right now and I'm kicking myself pretty hard. I'm not going to rush out to spend another 3k and I plan on putting the boat in my garage and slowly doing all the work I can myself to have it ready for next spring. Any advice on good places for information and/or recommendations as to what route I should take with the motor would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Aaron.
 

goboating

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
104
Re: Small Project just got a lot bigger....new and need help - 88 procraft

The reason I am telling you about these people, is because I have done business with them and would do so again. www.smalloutboards.com. They sell anywhere from 5HP-250HP and ship anywhere. I bought a 15HP evinrude from them and I love it. At least take a look, it might help you out.
 

TD_Maker

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
564
Re: Small Project just got a lot bigger....new and need help - 88 procraft

Procraft. I am so sorry to hear about your problems. Losing a great motor like that is really depresssing, especially since you just purchased the boat. Stay away from any "Kits" to rebuild your engine. It sounds like you had a major failure which will require a new powerhead (since the old one had a couple of holes in it, right?) You are facing a decision that most of us had to make at one time or the other...... Rebuild or Replace? For what its worth, it sure sounds like it was oil related failure. Did the old motor have oil injection, or did you mix the oil yourself? Cpould you have over revved the motor at any point?

If you want to keep the boat, I would look seriously at another used motor like "goboating" said. Especially since you have so much other work to complete on the boat anyway. Another option would be is to have a new powerhead put on your motor and go from there. NOTHING is going to be inexpensive.

Again, Dude I am sorry for you.
 

goboating

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Feb 7, 2011
Messages
104
Re: Small Project just got a lot bigger....new and need help - 88 procraft

:mad::mad::eek: I was wondering..are you posting on the engine forums? Maybe someone there might have a solution, or be able to give some help.
 

88procraft

Recruit
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
2
Re: Small Project just got a lot bigger....new and need help - 88 procraft

Thanks for all the advice guys. I think I've decided to go ahead and get a quote from one of the reputible local mechanics in my area before making a final decision. I've already found a couple of replacements from the sites you guys mentioned here and it looks like I can get the same motor or similar for around $3k.

The motor did require a fuel mix and I was extremely cautious to ensure I added a 50:1 mix the 5-6 times I filled it up. I'm pretty positive that the mix didn't have anything do to with it. Despite my obvious lack of knowledge about small engines, something tells me that simply filling the live wells shouldn't have prevented me from being able to get on plane without having my brother moving to the front of the boat. I suspect there was something fairly seriously wrong with the motor when I bought it, but I didn't know enough or use diligence to know for sure what I was getting.

It's a bummer that my tournament fishing season ended the same day it began, but it was really late in the season anyways. This will just give me a chance to fix everything I wanted to fix and put my own personal touch on the boat and be ready for spring. Thanks again for all the advice guys.
 

HopinImFloatin

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
136
Re: Small Project just got a lot bigger....new and need help - 88 procraft

I may be way off, but ill still ask.Since you said your had to have your brother go to the front of the boat to achieve plane, im assuming the bow was high. Were you using the trim to bring the bow down. If not and it was trimmed up its possible that it began to cavitate at speed and overrevved. Saying that you are very new to boating i guess this could be easily overlooked and would hate to see it happen again with a new motor. Thinking out loud i guess
 
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