Common Azure Problems?

[tonetonitony]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

I have a 2007 AZ-220 with a Merc 5.0 L MPI, Alpha Drive, and around 50 hours on the engine. I love this boat, a lot of fun, but having a few issues. Interesting enough I bumped into another Azure owner and the list of issues if very similar. Speedometer dead, getting water in the boat, and not getting on plane quickly. Anyone have any comments on these topics?

- Speedometer was delivered DOA from Azure. Dealer installed a second cheep plastic one and that one is dead also. What is the deal?
- Getting unexplained water in the bilge. Boat was drained completely before going out, boated for about three hours, and had about 10 gallons in the boat. Not rain or waves on a calm sunny day. Yes, I understand that most boats will get a bit of water in them but this is too much. Became alarmed when I opened the ski locker and there was 4? of water in there.
- When I pull back on the throttle too quickly from wide open to idle the engine dies. This has happened many times and should never happen with a fuel injected engine. Dealer suggested that I am going too far and trying to put it into reverse. Not the case, never even comes out of forward when I pull back.
- Boat struggles to get on plane especially with people in the back of the boat. Put 6 on board and it takes some time. Any suggestions. Still using the stock prop but thinking of changing it out.

Frustrated I can't find anyone from Azure to talk to because they keep sending me to the dealer.

Thanks,

Willie ?G?

Also have a 2007 AZ220. I honestly love the boat but hate the company. I can shed some light on a couple of your issues....I've had them to.

You are 100% correct when u said Azure will not deal with you and kick u back to the dealer. I have some warrantee work im trying to get covered now and they just wont do it...stress cracks in top hull by cleats, port/stbd.

Gauges....very chincy wire harness. I had an issue with temp gauge, after replacement it still didnt work. Finally I had 2 convince them it must be the incorrect pin setting..which it was. The manual labor that puts these boats together probably dont speak english.

Hole shot....I have the bravo 3 so its better but this boat is absolutely heavy in the back. If i have more than 6 people riding someones got to go up forward....and water sports makes it mandatory for someone to weigh the bow down.

Water leakage....depth sounder, Bingo! There is actually a tech memo from azure that dealers are supposed to install a new gasket/seal around this transducer to fix a known leak.

Engine....I've had the engine die on me while winterizing on land, wicked it alittle too much.

Enjoy your boat and pray no one ever has to go through azure to get warranty work done.

 

[willieG]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Welcome to the 2010 boating season

If you did not hear, it is official that Azure is out of business. I don't know if there is a 2010 product line. Your boat warrantee is useless. I am especially disappointed because I purchased my at the boat show where Azure extended my warrantee to 5 years, bow to stern. There is hope that Azure will be purchased and the warrantee honored. It would be the responsible thing to do. I would like to thank the Basa?s Marine ad Reed?s Marine for their assistance in these troubled times. They are both located close the Chain of Lakes in Northern Illinois. My dealer that gave me bad advice on my purchase is out of business. Wonder why.

This is the recap:
If you buy an Azure 240 (formally known as the Azure 220 Sport Deck)
1. Absolutely get the Bravo 3 outdrive. The Alpha outdrive is an awful choice and you will regret it
2. Strong recommend the 350 Mag or bigger engine (5.0L MPI minimum)
3. Trim tabs help
4. Change the stock aluminum prop

After talking to the dealers they recommend the Mercury Quicksilver Aluminum 4-blade: 48-834852A45 Rotation - Right Diameter - 14 1/2 Pitch ? 18. It can be purchased on-line or contact Basa?s Marine @ (630) 739-2272‎ that was kind enough to give me the advice. If someone tries this prop before I do please post the results.

On a final note they do say that water leaks on an Azure are uncommon. I don?t agree but they did say the one issue they did know about the water was coming in through the front anchor hatch. I believe I get water in my boat only when under power. I will be closing off the front hatch for a few trial runs to see if the water issue disappears. There is also a vent in the bow that I will be taping off for the trial run. I am going to place towels all around my boat to use as water sensors. The wet towel points to the leak. If they are all dry and still get water in the bottom of the boat then it is the transom where the outdrive meets. My boat is stored inside, all the time, when not in use. I drain my boat on the launch ramp at a 40 degree angle to get all the water out before I head out. Always comes back with water in the bottom. My mechanic pulled the outdrive this fall and inspected the bellows and there are no leaks.

Looking forward to hearing your comments,

Matt (AKA WillieG)

 

[TomV]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Welcome to the 2010 boating season


This is the recap:
If you buy an Azure 240 (formally known as the Azure 220 Sport Deck)
1. Absolutely get the Bravo 3 outdrive. The Alpha outdrive is an awful choice and you will regret it
2. Strong recommend the 350 Mag or bigger engine (5.0L MPI minimum)
3. Trim tabs help
4. Change the stock aluminum prop

After talking to the dealers they recommend the Mercury Quicksilver Aluminum 4-blade: 48-834852A45 Rotation - Right Diameter - 14 1/2 Pitch ? 18. It can be purchased on-line or contact Basa?s Marine @ (630) 739-2272‎ that was kind enough to give me the advice. If someone tries this prop before I do please post the results.



Matt (AKA WillieG)

Good to see a forum on Azure. Real useful info, thanks!
I own a 2007 AZ228 with the 350mag and Bravo 3.
It is basically the 240 layout but shorter by about 2 ft.
Very nice boat, I've had it since early 2007, starting on the fourth season.
Only problems have been with the bilge pump. Float switch sticking ON, and the problem with getting on plane with 5 or more in the boat without anyone in the bow seats. I added smart tabs, and they help, but are probably not large enough to completely compensate for the heavy stern. This being a 22 foot hull and a heavy 350mag engine, keeps the stern lower in the water.
Once on plane, it will take off up to about 54 mph.

It has the stock aluminum props, and I have thought about putting SS props on it, and looks like an investment of about $700 to $800.00 per prop. If I knew it would be a good improvement, it would be an easier thing to do. Any suggestions?

 

[Fox River Runner]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

We own a 2007 AZ 220 with the 5.0 mpi Aplha drive. We enjoy the boat, but we did have an issue with the getting up on plane. I replaced the 3 blade stock aluminum with a 4 blade 14 1/2 x 18 pitch aluminum. What a difference. We had it out for the first time since the prop change last weekend, I was able to get on plane with 8 adults on board. We had two in the bow and 6 in the cockpit. Us bigger guys were in the back, & it got on plane with out any of us having to move to the bow. I may have lost a few mph's on the top end but I could not really tell, the speedo has never really worked that well. We enjoy the boat & hope someone picks up the Azure line.
I still think it's a good boat & would still recommend it.

 

[Murphy'sLaw]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Azure 258...I took a 2008 Azure 258 out for a test drive. Very nice boat. Had some water in the hull - maybe an inch or two. Being a boating novice, not sure if that is normal, but I we were only on the boat for 20 - 30 minutes. It wasn't enough for the bilge pump to run and someone else did test drive it this week but seemed a bit odd. Any thoughts you could share would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[azure 258]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Mine keeps a little water in it about all of the time but never enough to even make the pump come on. It will drain out when I pull the plug. Mine is just from things like the cooler draining, people getting in and out of the water, ect. They may not have had the plug out in a while?

 

[TomV]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Same here, my 07 AZ228 usually has an inch or 2 of water in the bilge, not enough to cycle the pump, and if it does the pump can't suck it all out.
I think this is normal as long as it doesn't take on any more water.
I keep mine in the water most of the time, so I can't drain it out of the plug very often.

 

[Murphy'sLaw]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

thanks for the help. I'm going to try and check it out again tomorrow. I'm hoping to be a boat owner soon!

 

[Dale Day]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

I see a few posts about azure boats having water in the hull. I have a 2008 238 bow rider. I just love this boat. It is the only boat that I have ever owned so I am a newbe to boating but wanted to let you know where the water is coming in. I have the same problem but it is easy to resolve. The water is leaking around the hose that goes out to the side exhaust. The side pipes are oval and that leaves half of the hose clamp loose. You can tighten the hose clamps and helps alot.

 

[Mcsle]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

I just bought a 2006 AZ200, with swim platform and 5.0 (230HP) Alpha drive.

I've had same "hole shot" problem discussed in this thread. I bought a "Turbo" 14" 20 degree 4 blade stainless prop from a local Dealer. It did help, but the hole shot is still terrible. 4 average size people in the cockpit need to move forward to get on plane. The dealer did call Turbo to see about swapping for a 14x18x4, but I'd had the prop for a month, so no luck. I do get 4450 RPM at wide open throttle, so that's within specs. I saw one posting about a hydrafoil not doing the job - has anyone had any better luck with that? Are tabs my only choice at this point?

I did experience taking on a lot of water on one occasion. I can't prove it, but I think this is what happened--- The bilge pump was operating, but poorly. When I tried to get on plane with #1000 of people on board, the boat wallowed for so long I think I took water thru the scupper drains. The scuppers draining the engine compartment and floor hatch drip edges gravity feed to holes in the hull that are very close to the water line. There are rubber flaps on the exit holes, but I don't know if there are check valves. Probably not. The inboard ends of those hoses are well above the water line, but not when the transom is submerged with the nose up 40 degrees wallowing. I now have a brand new bilge pump.

 

[mcastles]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Hi

Great to have some common Azure owners to talk with. I bought a 2007 AZ 220 with the 5.0 MPI and alpha 1 (with trim tabs) this summer with 85 hrs. It is a great boat with lots of nice details, however, it does sit low in the water and has planing problems. As you probably know, the 220 is very similar to the Crownline sport deck, and therefore, you can get a lot of information by going to the Crownline users forum; thousands of posts on many problems. I have found it to be a very good resource of info.

As for the hole shot, I am still experimenting with props. It came with a 14x19 pitch 3 blade alum, which was horrible. I went to the alpha 4, 14x20 pitch as was better, but still a lot of prop slippage, rpms around 5200 (too high), but better hole shot. Next in line was the ELE SS 14x21x4 from Powertech. Significantly better over the Alpha 4, but I think I was a little over pitched since the rpms were in the 4700 range (very good) but speed around 45 mph, which was a prop slip of about 25%, which is too high. Next in line is the Power tech OFS 15x19 SS. This is a big wheel 15.25", so should have very good grip, with the drop back to 19" pitch should put me in the optimum range and eliminate slip, which is killing the hole shot.

There are number of excellent resources out there. Ben at PropMD is very knowledgable and great to work with. He will exhange props, assuming no damage, straight up until you get the one that works best. So highly recommend calling him.

The other excellent resource is Marcus Clemens at Powertech. They actually make their own SS props in LA and provide outstanding customer service. You can start by going to their website and filling out the info request form regarding the performance of your boat and what you want to accomplish. They will respond back, probably will take several days given the time of year with a proposal for improving performance. They are really knowledgable.

So what have I learned about the AZ 220 in the past 3 months. It does have poor hole shot, mostly because of the hull design that makes it squatty in the water. As a result, propping the boat is extremely important. This sport deck design has unusual prop slip and therefore requires a little more digging to get it to hook up. Yes, the 5.0 MPI may be a little under powered for the boat, but adding a larger motor and bravo 3 will add hundreds of pounds to an already stern heavy boat. So the benefits may not be so obvious.

From talking to the prop guys, it almost expected that these types of sport decks will need trim tabs. I know from my own experience so far (ELE SS 4 blade), that with the drive trimmed down and trim tabs I can pull a 150 lb skier right on to plane and stay there at about 20 mph, even with 25% prop slip. Adding more HPs will not help, it is more about getting the right prop geometry. So I hope the OFS will give more bite and get down to about 12-15% slip, which is ideal.

Sorry for the longwinded post, but I hope you find this useful. In the end, what I have figured out, is propping a boat is a little like chasing a ghost, you have to try and retry, each time getting a better. However, there is not doubt that this boat needs a 4 blade SS.

I will post my finding when I get the OFS 15 on there next week

 

[BeamerDog]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Just bought a 2009 AZ278 about two weeks ago (09 but a brand new boat). I do not see a lot of posts on the 278s. Does anyone have any experiences / items to look out for on this size BR? So far I have been loving it. Previous boat was a Four Winns Cuddy and the Azure is a MUCH smoother ride.

I am constantly getting great comments from onlookers about the boat. One of my neighbors wants to trade in his Cobalt for one after seeing mine (I already told him the Azure is nice... but it is not a Cobalt..have to be realiztic here )

 

[LonLB]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

...

 

[NEAZ238]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Before I found my waterleak my 06 AZ238 would have 1-2 gallons of water in the boat every few hours of boating. I searched for weeks trying to find the leak. A day before taking my boat in to let the dealer find the leak I placed dry rags all around the engine on the hull. After 30 min. on the water, only the rag at the very bottom of the boat was wet. I assumed the leak could only be coming from the transom. That evening backing my trailered boat into storage I noticed the reflection from the chrome drain plate on the exterior of the hull under the anchor storage. I took the plate off and found that when the drain hole was drilled at the factory it was drilled too far back on the vertical bulkhead in the anchor compartment. Everytime the boat traveled at slow speed or decelerated quickly water would back up into this drain hole and run right into the boat hull !! I siliconed a plastic tube into this drilled hole so the pass through is only to the anchor storage as originally intended.
The bottom of my boat has been completely dry ever since !

 

[jasonlowrey]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

RE: NEAZ238

I to have a water problem in my 2007 AZ220. Is the drain plate you are talking about on the bow of the boat? Can you give me more info on how to correct this problem?

 

[Boatnme]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Have you tried the 15 prop. How does it work?

Hi

Great to have some common Azure owners to talk with. I bought a 2007 AZ 220 with the 5.0 MPI and alpha 1 (with trim tabs) this summer with 85 hrs. It is a great boat with lots of nice details, however, it does sit low in the water and has planing problems. As you probably know, the 220 is very similar to the Crownline sport deck, and therefore, you can get a lot of information by going to the Crownline users forum; thousands of posts on many problems. I have found it to be a very good resource of info.

As for the hole shot, I am still experimenting with props. It came with a 14x19 pitch 3 blade alum, which was horrible. I went to the alpha 4, 14x20 pitch as was better, but still a lot of prop slippage, rpms around 5200 (too high), but better hole shot. Next in line was the ELE SS 14x21x4 from Powertech. Significantly better over the Alpha 4, but I think I was a little over pitched since the rpms were in the 4700 range (very good) but speed around 45 mph, which was a prop slip of about 25%, which is too high. Next in line is the Power tech OFS 15x19 SS. This is a big wheel 15.25", so should have very good grip, with the drop back to 19" pitch should put me in the optimum range and eliminate slip, which is killing the hole shot.

There are number of excellent resources out there. Ben at PropMD is very knowledgable and great to work with. He will exhange props, assuming no damage, straight up until you get the one that works best. So highly recommend calling him.

The other excellent resource is Marcus Clemens at Powertech. They actually make their own SS props in LA and provide outstanding customer service. You can start by going to their website and filling out the info request form regarding the performance of your boat and what you want to accomplish. They will respond back, probably will take several days given the time of year with a proposal for improving performance. They are really knowledgable.

So what have I learned about the AZ 220 in the past 3 months. It does have poor hole shot, mostly because of the hull design that makes it squatty in the water. As a result, propping the boat is extremely important. This sport deck design has unusual prop slip and therefore requires a little more digging to get it to hook up. Yes, the 5.0 MPI may be a little under powered for the boat, but adding a larger motor and bravo 3 will add hundreds of pounds to an already stern heavy boat. So the benefits may not be so obvious.

From talking to the prop guys, it almost expected that these types of sport decks will need trim tabs. I know from my own experience so far (ELE SS 4 blade), that with the drive trimmed down and trim tabs I can pull a 150 lb skier right on to plane and stay there at about 20 mph, even with 25% prop slip. Adding more HPs will not help, it is more about getting the right prop geometry. So I hope the OFS will give more bite and get down to about 12-15% slip, which is ideal.

Sorry for the longwinded post, but I hope you find this useful. In the end, what I have figured out, is propping a boat is a little like chasing a ghost, you have to try and retry, each time getting a better. However, there is not doubt that this boat needs a 4 blade SS.

I will post my finding when I get the OFS 15 on there next week

 

[Lazure]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

Just Purchased 2006 AZ220. Happy with boat overall. Have minor water problem in bilge too. Interesting comment about anchor drain but also noticed engine cooling system drain valve (handle at front of engine, drain at bottom front of engine) has a slow leak but adds up over time. Tried to tighten but appears stripped.

Also experiencing faulty gauges & will take earlier advice to check harness connections.

Thanks to all for tips, nice to find this forum!!

 

[Funcounselor]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

I own a 2004 24 Azure. It has the vovlo motor w/duo propo out drive. For some reason the boat leans to the right. I have drained the water tank and still cannot figure out why this is so. When sitting still it leans right and even on plane it leans right. The batteries are located on the left. The cooler is also on the left. I would appreciate any advice i could get! Also, as far as water coming in, i had this problem too. It turned out to be up front in the anchor locker. There is a metal drain in there made to drain the front locker but when idling water pours in it. There is no flap or anything to protect water from coming in!

 

[Funcounselor]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

As far as fixing the front drain, I just filled it w/ marine tex and never had a bit of water since! Hoipe this helps!Q

 

[WakeSnake]

Re: Common Azure Problems?

I've read the posts and taken some advice. I just bought a 2007 AZ200 with the 5.7L and duoprop. No tabs on it yet. I will be taking it out for the first time this weekend. Thanks to all who added comments to this thread. I do have a question for those familiar with the 5.7L Volvo engine. Should I be running premium fuel in it or is regular ok? Anything else I should know about this engine? Thanks