cristileigh
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2009
- Messages
- 29
'94 Sea Ray Searayder 90hp Jet (3 cyl)
We purchased this boat and we didn't seem to have any problems the first 5 or 6 times we took the boat out. I was a little dissapointed in the power that this boat had, but it appeared that the boat was running ok at about 30 mph... a little slow to plane out...and on turns while pulling a tuber it seemed to lose power.
We went out to Possum Kingdom lake and the lake was really rough that day for a 14ft boat.. The boat was really eating up the gas and we had to stop at a marina on the lake to fill up. After filling up and running boat for about 5 minutes we lost 1000 RPM's and the boat would not plane out. We suspected it was spark plugs and replaced all three spark plugs and it did not help. We then suspected bad gas or water in the tank from the Marina.. We have run about 3 tanks of gasoline through the tank and checked fuel filter, and fuel lines...After reading all of these message boards and purchasing a Clymer shop manual... We started reading and looking for suspect problems. We replaced the ignition coils, spark plug wires, and spark plugs....No change in the loss of RPM's. We started looking for loose or faulty wires and found one suspect wire between the switch box and ignition coils and repaired and still no change.
Last night we did a compression test on the cylinders and this is what happened.
1st spark plug (top) reading was 135
2nd spark plug (middle) reading was 145
3rd spark plug (bottom) reading was 135
According to the Note in the Clymers manual it states
On 90 hp models, compression on the No. 1 cylinder is normally 5-10 psi less than the No. 2 cylinder. --- Ok between 1 & 2 it looks ok, but not betweeen 2 and 3 ---
It states in manual if it is 10+psi difference between 2 and 3 to add a tbl spoon of engine oil to suspect cylinder and re-test. We did this and the suspect #3 cylinder did shoot up to 145 psi... manual states that if this happens the rings are worn and must be replaced.
Ok here is my question--- Please please help...
We talked to a mechanic off of craigslist and he offered to replace the rings for $700.00 (ouch)
I researched online and found a rebuild kit for my engine rings, pistons, gaskets, bearings etc etc for $650.00 -- My husband is mechanical, just hasn't worked on boats before... and we feel that we could tackle this with my research and reading and his mechanical ability.
OR we could purchase a rebuilt engine with a warrant...
OR should we just consider this a loss??
Are we on the right track as far as the problem? What should we do? I don't have a lot of money to sink into this boat. I would really like the boat to run for my pleasure or to sell and get as much money back out of this boat as I can.
Thank for all your help!
Cristi
We purchased this boat and we didn't seem to have any problems the first 5 or 6 times we took the boat out. I was a little dissapointed in the power that this boat had, but it appeared that the boat was running ok at about 30 mph... a little slow to plane out...and on turns while pulling a tuber it seemed to lose power.
We went out to Possum Kingdom lake and the lake was really rough that day for a 14ft boat.. The boat was really eating up the gas and we had to stop at a marina on the lake to fill up. After filling up and running boat for about 5 minutes we lost 1000 RPM's and the boat would not plane out. We suspected it was spark plugs and replaced all three spark plugs and it did not help. We then suspected bad gas or water in the tank from the Marina.. We have run about 3 tanks of gasoline through the tank and checked fuel filter, and fuel lines...After reading all of these message boards and purchasing a Clymer shop manual... We started reading and looking for suspect problems. We replaced the ignition coils, spark plug wires, and spark plugs....No change in the loss of RPM's. We started looking for loose or faulty wires and found one suspect wire between the switch box and ignition coils and repaired and still no change.
Last night we did a compression test on the cylinders and this is what happened.
1st spark plug (top) reading was 135
2nd spark plug (middle) reading was 145
3rd spark plug (bottom) reading was 135
According to the Note in the Clymers manual it states
On 90 hp models, compression on the No. 1 cylinder is normally 5-10 psi less than the No. 2 cylinder. --- Ok between 1 & 2 it looks ok, but not betweeen 2 and 3 ---
It states in manual if it is 10+psi difference between 2 and 3 to add a tbl spoon of engine oil to suspect cylinder and re-test. We did this and the suspect #3 cylinder did shoot up to 145 psi... manual states that if this happens the rings are worn and must be replaced.
Ok here is my question--- Please please help...
We talked to a mechanic off of craigslist and he offered to replace the rings for $700.00 (ouch)
I researched online and found a rebuild kit for my engine rings, pistons, gaskets, bearings etc etc for $650.00 -- My husband is mechanical, just hasn't worked on boats before... and we feel that we could tackle this with my research and reading and his mechanical ability.
OR we could purchase a rebuilt engine with a warrant...
OR should we just consider this a loss??
Are we on the right track as far as the problem? What should we do? I don't have a lot of money to sink into this boat. I would really like the boat to run for my pleasure or to sell and get as much money back out of this boat as I can.
Thank for all your help!
Cristi