1990 Maxum 1800 w/ Force 90- First boat and a lot of questions

[BMW91]

Hello,

I recently bought my first boat. I'm new to boating and I have, well... a lot of questions. It was kind of an impulse buy. I found a boat on craigslist and bought it the same day. The interior needs to be redone, and the deck has to be replaced, engine runs etc. I believe I got a good deal. I paid $500 cash for the boat and trailer. Got clear titles for both in hand. I'm mechanically inclined so I'm prepared to do all the work myself. I've seen some trailers go for more than that with no papers, so I figured why not.

Anyway, to the point. I've been digging on the internet all day trying to find an owners manual for the boat with no luck. Can anybody point me in the right direction? I believe just having my hands on the manual would answer half the questions I got haha

I'm getting ready to pick the boat up sometime this week. The engine is on an angle, not straight down. It looks like raising and lowering it works on hydraulics. Is there any way I should secure the engine from hitting the ground while on my way home, or just leave it the way it is?

Engine; From what I've read on the internet, the Force 90 is a four-stroke engine. What is up with the "oil injection"? I've seen that phrase around the net and I can't figure out why a four-stroke would need oil injected into it... Can somebody please explain that?

I got a chance to learn a little bit about the cooling of those engines. The idea of using water to cool them is still pretty "new" to me. I figured they would just be equipped with a radiator like cars and most motorcycles. Doesn't that kind of cooling dramatically shorten the life of the engine (especially on salt water)?

I guess that is it for now... I'm gonna try posting a few pictures of the boat. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Jake

 

[BMW91]

Re: 1990 Maxum 1800 w/ Force 90- First boat and a lot of questions

I attached all the pictures below.

What is that hole on the picture for? It's located in the back of the boat at the very bottom. Some kind of a drainage hole?

The hydraulics are shown on one of the pics. I suppose that's what's used to tilt the engine. At least that's what it looks like.

 

[tombekarc]

Re: 1990 Maxum 1800 w/ Force 90- First boat and a lot of questions

I hope you answered the tilt question before you trailorerd the boat home. Always trailer the boat withthe engine in the highest position. The trim control is on the throttle, operated by a thumb button. If it doesn't work well and you know you have power, sometimes if you give the hydraulic pump a whack with a wrench it helps it to work (I kid you not).

The hole in the back of the boat is the drain for the bilge. You need to make sure that you have your plug in before putting the boat in the water or you will slowly sink.

I am not sure that your 90 is four stroke. My 1991 Force 90 is 2 stroke, I have to put in mix (50 to 1).

Oil injection (VRO) is when the motor has a pump that mixes the oil for you. That way you just have to put in straight fuel and fill the mix oil tank (not the engine oil). Some people swear that VRO is evil and always fails. But others say that is BS.

My suggestion is to put minimal $ into the boat. Just put enough $ and effort into cleaning it and making it sea-worthy. It is your starter boat and you will never make it pristine (trust me, I have the exact same boat, 1 year newer). The cost of all of the renovations will keep adding up and before you are even done you will be shopping for your next boat. At that point, you will want to sell it and you won't get your investment back or a great trade value - I am pretty sure that the book value on that boat is under $1000 in good working order.

 

[floatfan]

Re: 1990 Maxum 1800 w/ Force 90- First boat and a lot of questions

Anyway, to the point. I've been digging on the internet all day trying to find an owners manual for the boat with no luck. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

Jake,
I called US Marine (company who made Maxum until they discontinued them a couple of years ago) 3 months back and they gave sent me via email an owners manual and parts list for my boat. I'm sure they will for yours too.

360-435-8957
boathelp@usmboats.com

 

[BMW91]

Re: 1990 Maxum 1800 w/ Force 90- First boat and a lot of questions

Hello,

I got the engine in the highest position before I brought it home Had no problem raising it either. The switch was right next to the ignition in my case.

I'm 60% done with the restoration and I sure learned a lot about the boat while taking it apart. The engine is in fact a two-stroke and I'll have to mix oil with gas which is not a problem.

The boat did not come with a plug so I'll have to buy one that will work, but I suppose that will be fairly easy.

My goal is to not go over $1000 with everything for the boat and so far I'm doing pretty good staying below that amount. To be honest I'm not even close yet and this project is beginning to look like a boat again.

Floatfan,

Thank you very much for the info! I'm gonna send them an email right now. A manual would be very nice to have just in case. No such thing as too much information. The parts-list will be especially useful.

Anyway I got a 4 day weekend and plenty of time I'm hoping to have the new deck all ready to be glassed, and all the radio/ vhf wiring done by Monday night so I can get into the engine to change the impeller etc. Muffs are on their way from PA so next weekend I might actually get it running.