What to check...New Boat Owner

[dieseldogpi]

Hey everyone. I am a VERY new boat owner. Just picked up a 1988 Celebrity 180 VBR w/ mercruiser I/O 120hp 4 cylinder motor. The boat is in ok shape, I need to do some interior work, but other than that nothing major. The motor never had an overhaul and i want to tune it up to get it running perfectly for next season. What should I be checking? Plugs and wires are a given, water pump? Battery obviously, I want to do the 2 battery setup. Anything on the outdrive (alpha 1 outdrive)? Any direction would be appreciated. Thanks for your help.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

Welcome aboard !

For the outdrive;

If you don't know how old the outdrive bellows are or if they are over 5-6 years old thay should be near the top of your list as they have the potential to do a lot of collateral damage on failure.

Its the same for your outdrive water pump impeller with a 2 year replacement frequency.

Gear lub annually & note the color
If the gear lube looks milky thats a sign water is entering the drive (a pressure test will lead you to the problem area)


Pressure testing the out drive would also be a great preventative measure. ( if you are changing the impeller do the pressure test last )

For the engine-- you may want to add the following to your list.

Distrutor cap & rotor
Fuel filer/ water seperator (Commonly looks like a car oil filter )
Fall motor oil change & fuel stabilizer
I am not very familiar with your engine cooling system but be sure you winterize (( drained or treated with antifreeze )) properly. Freezing and cracking of expensive engine parts takes the fun out of things.

Browse the stickies as they are called ( Posts always on top of the merc IO section ) for lots of invaluable Maintenance info.

The experts here may have more to add -- but hopefully that will get you started in the right direction.

 

[Grub54891]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

I alway's try to pressure/ vacume test the drive before splitting them to save splitting them again if there is a problem. Much easier in my opinion. Also I retest after putting it back together just to make shure it was assembled correctly.
Grub

 

[dieseldogpi]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

Awesome responses, thanks guys. My goal is to use this thread as a checklist for me to research further. What does pressure testing the outdrive involve? What do you mean by "splitting"? Sorry, very new to this.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

"Splitting" the outdrive simply means separating the upper half from the lower half. It is done in order to replace the water pump/impeller in the drive itself, which feeds the water to the engine/exhaust manifolds. The drive is drained of lubricant (about 1 qt), then there are 5-6 bolts which hold the upper half to the lower half. Parts are replaced, and everything is reinstalled in reverse. Pick up a service manual for you boat, as it will pay for itself many times over for routine maintenance.

Pressure testing is an extra step which involved using a pressure gauge and air fitting attached to the threaded vent hole in the drive. The drive is pressurized to a low psi with an air compressor and allowed to sit for a few hours to see if any air escaped. If none escapes, the seals are good, and you fill it back up with lubricant.

 

[Don S]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

I think you will find a lot of information in this link. http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=288430

If it was my boat, here is what I would do.

What I would replace
Engine Oil & filter
Water separating Fuel filter, check contents of old filter.
Fuel pump filter if equipped.
Spark plugs, cap, rotor, points, condenser.
Raw water pump impeller kit.
Gear lube in drive.
Ujoint and shift cable bellows (they can sink the boat)


What I would check
With drive off, check the alignment. Yes, you need your own alignment bar.
Lube coupler splines when installing drive
Fuel leaks, Water leaks, basically check all clamps
Carb fuel filter in inlet fitting if equipped.
Engine idle rpm and idle mixture adjustments
Remove prop and grease splines
Check prop for dings and bends.
Point dwell (If it’s a point ign. System)
Ignition timing and advance timing
Throttle and shift cable adjustment and movement
Gimbal bearing and ujoints for smoothness.
Confirm bilge pump works and that it has an automatic float switch.
Load test battery
ALL battery cables for corrosion and tightness (NO wing nuts, use a wrench with regular nuts) Both ends of the cable.
Steering, can you turn it, does it go the right way?
Coil and plug wires. If ends aren’t shiny, replace them.
Over temp and low oil pressure alarms, do they work?
On the water, confirm you are reaching the proper WOT rpm, if to low and you are lugging the engine, the engine will be damaged.

 

[achris]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

And you are going to need these:-

Download and save them... They are going to be your new best friends...

Engine manual -> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1TAvwZ3TjhfUVREOHFDUGZRR1NDelg5blYybmNRdw
Drive manual -> https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1TAvwZ3TjhfOVRUNEk0anBUR3lQYTkwcUh5RElUQQ

Assuming the engine/drive is the same vintage as the hull (not always the case, have a look at my boat in my signature line. If I posted that I had a 1972 Bertram with a 4.3MPI engine, that would just make people's heads hurt... ).

In future, to make life easy for us, please post the serial numbers of the engine and/or drive, depending on what information you are looking for. The locations of the serial numbers is in the manuals I've given you the links for.

Cheers and good luck.

Chris........

 

[dieseldogpi]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

Wow, awesome, info, thanks guys. Going forward I will be more specific with serial numbers. I literally just got the boat this weekend and I am trying to plan out the next couple of weekends of working on it. I haven't even taken the crappy tarp that the previous owner had on it yet, I have a new universal boat cover on order. Once I have that handy, I will pull everything off, clean her up, take some pictures to post, and start checking things off my list. Thanks for the manuals and all the help. Look forward to learning from you all.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: What to check...New Boat Owner

I just got a new (to me) boat, as well.

I would check everything. . .

Initially, I made a list of about 30 things to check/fix. As I go through the boat, the list is getting longer.

It may be best to get the maintenance manual for your particular engine and outdrive.

You will also want to go through the boat's electronics, lighting, etc.

Then there is structural inspection and any 'corrections/repairs' . . .

Post any issues you find with pics, as needed, and you will get lots of input.