Routine Maintenence Items???

[Jdubb16]

I will be ordering my boat soon - Chaparral SSi210 with the Volvo 5.0, 270 hp engine. It will be primarily running in brackish and saltwalter (Chesapeake Bay area - Virginia Beach). It will be dry docked. What things am I going to have to do after every trip or weekend out. I know I will need ot scrub the boat down, but what about fluching the engine. I have read about 'salt-away' , but the searches did not bring up a lot of info.

I would like to do as much preventive maintenance as possible to increase the life of the boat in my environment.

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Routine Maintenence Items???

I use salt away and flush thoroughly after dunking in the ocean. The stuff seems to work very well.


Your owner's manual will tell you all you need to know. I suspect it'll recommend flushing with fresh water after every salt water use. It will never hurt to do this, even if the manual does not recommend it. As far as I know, all VP gas engines come with a hose fitting for very simple and painless engine flushing. Using saltaway in conjunction with that fitting would be an excellent practice.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Routine Maintenence Items???

Jon, If you flush the engine after every saltwater use, the block and manifolds will be like you kept it on a lake. Make sure you get all the salt off the boat, dashboard and engine block and pan as well. There is a lot of plain steel on those sterndrives. You want to spray the sheet metal with Boeshield or some other waxy oil (Corrosion Guard is another name)

Keep the steering rod greased, and hit the zerk grease fittings twice a year.