Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

[Lyrikz]

Im very new to boats, but have been a mechanic for half my life. I have some boat questions.

I found a 2005 Glastron 205gx. Great price. It has two issues that i have concern. The hull has two spots where they
tagged a small rock and it dug into the fiberglass. Its not leaking, but its about a 1 inch wide gash.. In two places. Should that be a deal killer right there??

Second question is when he put it in reverse and was backing up, it just sounded odd. The engine sounded perfect but it just made a vibration vibrating growly noise in reverse.... Also when driving it would have a vibration to it that seemed to go away when you got up to speed.. The boat has 92 hours on it.. Looks very well taken care of and super clean.

Any thoughts/tips/suggestions??

 

[Lyrikz]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

Its a v8 5.0 penta.



Here is a pic of the side of the outboard. You see the nick on the lower right side, thats one of them im talking about.

See the scratches on the side, makes me wonder if he dug that into some rocks or something.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

The hull scratches wouldnt bother me, but the damage/ scuffs on the drive plus you saying it vibrates doesnt sound right- Prop looks good and I wonder if the shaft is out of balance due to a hit...

 

[Lyrikz]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

The hull scratches wouldnt bother me, but the damage/ scuffs on the drive plus you saying it vibrates doesnt sound right- Prop looks good and I wonder if the shaft is out of balance due to a hit...

The hull scratches are deep. One isnt, but hte other two are chunks of it missing. About an inch. You can see one in the picture.


IM assuming when you put a boat in reverse and back up it shouldnt make odd noises right?

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

My prop shaft has a slight bend in it and the boat has a vibration during slower speeds that clears up after speeding up. You can spin the prop by hand and watch the hub and see if it travels. Some shaft bends can't be detected by eye, but if it's causing vibration and/or noise I would bet you could see it. If that's even the cause. Either way, odd noises are not normal nope.

 

[jestor68]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

Make certain you move the shift lever far enough aft to fully engage reverse gear. If not fully engaged, you'll hear a grinding sound, as in the gears are not fully engaged. The shift cable may require adjustment if not fully engaging either forward or reverse gear(s).

 

[Lyrikz]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

Make certain you move the shift lever far enough aft to fully engage reverse gear. If not fully engaged, you'll hear a grinding sound, as in the gears are not fully engaged. The shift cable may require adjustment if not fully engaging either forward or reverse gear(s).

Ya, it was in reverse. Im going to have someone take a look at it. I have a guy that will charge me 100% to pull off the outboard and do an inspection on the boots and ujoints. He mentioned if it doesnt go back in smoothly it could be an engine alignment also.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

Gauges in fiberglass are fairly common. If there ain't one now there will be. They are easily fixed with Marine Tex (a two part marine epoxy) or fiberglass.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

You have some good advice here. Don't get your shorts in a wad over jell coat crazings. If they get so bad that water is coming into the bilge then worry about them. The boat mfgr can supply you with gell coat to fill the craze. Did it myself on a blue boat and you couldn't tell it even though I had several deep gouges that went into a couple layers of mat and I am not a glass mechanic....just a little common sense.

If the prop is stock; was on the engine when the LU was scratched up, then I wouldn't worry about the scratches. If it had a different prop then something MIGHT have been damaged. Checking runout on a prop shaft doesn't take a rocket scientist. Remove the prop and put something nice and solid on a concrete driveway or such and bring something like a steel ruler or the like right up to the shaft at the end, just before the threads. With the shifter in N, using your hand and lying along side the shaft, slowly rotate it while watching the distance between the marker and the shaft. If you can barely see movement (0.010" kind of measurement) find something else to worry about. If it wallers 0.500" then you have something to worry about.

Props can be the problem too. I have purchased a ss prop from a reputable prop shop and although it looked great, it was a piece of dung. Don't worry about the worst until it is upon you. Grin.

I had one I/O and lots of OB's. The I/O made noises the OB's didn't and I completely redid the I/O; every piece in the outdrive, engine and hull. "Don't fix what ain't broke".

HTH,
Mark

 

[Lyrikz]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

Welp, picked up a boat today. I got a glastron, but not the one i was asking about. I found this boat AS the guy was trading it in to a dealer. The thing is perfect. Its the 2005 glastron 195sx. It has the 5.0 v8 in a small boat. It goes.

Also, no funny noises/vibration at all from this. That guys boat was messed up. I will put some pictures up here in a few.


One quick question, im adding a second optima battery for when we are just floating. I have found a selector switch for it, anyone have a recommendations on the actual mounting kit for the boat?


Thanks again guys.

D

 

[ewenm]

Re: Purchasing a used glastron. Few questions

congrats. we just purchased an SX 175 (2005) VP 4 cylinder and absolutely love it, we down graded and couldn't be happier