Re: Need advise fast, purchased a 1988 90hp mariner
Well, It looks seemingly decent on the outside but as they always say Dont judge a book by the cover, its whats inside that really matters. IF it were mine and I said IF, First of all get a compretssion test, Make sure first you turn the motor over a few times BY HAND to make sure is feels smooth and dosent snag up anywhere, and if all is well you may ask the owner if you may check for spark. If he is not willing to let you check that for consideration of his asking price, I'd most certainly pass on the deal as it sounds fishy to me. I bought a 135 merc tower about 3 years ago on the back of an old waterlogged runabout. I was offered the boat and all for $500 for it and was just going to get the motor off it and haul the rest to the landfill and keep the trailer as well. This motor had not been run in 1.5 years. As I asked the owner if I may check it for spark, he seemed to get a little aggervated with me and said fine $300 and just get it out of here that he didnt have all day to fool with it and had other things to do. Long story short, I jumped quick at the $200 discount to get it out of there. But alas, after getting it home I found wires rotted, no spark on ANY cylinder, mice nests, cracked block, no compression, and a bad lower unit. Only thing on my salvage find that was worth anything was the top cover, wraparound, and the bottom cowling, and I think I kept the coils. Other than that the rest was nothing more than a trailerable paperweight....Moral is, Check it real good, and if the owner feels uneasy about testing certain things like spark and compression, or substantially lowers the price a great deal, WALK AWAY!!! IMHO, things that are too good to be true.....usually are - Bob