Any boating people in the house?
Discussion
Am looking for some advice on boats and wanted to save the time of joining a dedicated boat forum, fancy a 2000-2002 year bowrider with either a v6 or pref v8 inboard. Is there a boat equivilant to a HPI check, any makes to avoid? I know the v8 will be thirsty but this is purely a play thing and running costs arn't a problem. Cheers
poshboy said:
Is there a boat equivilant to a HPI check, any makes to avoid?
Nope! But sensible buyers get a survey done first (and it may be required for insurance).If you're going offshore - which I know nothing about - then you should get some training and stuff - but amazingly in these days of the Nanny State you can go and drown without permission.
Register on www.ybw.com and follow the links to the forum and there's guys there with as much expertise as you could dream about. And money and boats too. Primarily UK based too though some of them are in warmer climes.
Ok so after a week of looking round I went out an bought a 2002 Maxum 1800 bowrider, had a survey done and it got a pretty good report. It's been on windermere from what I can gather but stood on trailor for last year, been running and trim all working, gauges not so good but read that thay are pretty poor. Has a new battery and starter fitted, service will be done in January along with a damn good clean which I've started. I won't be using it until next year but have ordered the attachment to run the engine with the hose feeding water, what I need to know is how long is it same to run the engine this way for, will 15 min runs once a week be safe just to keep it all fresh and working? Will be properly drained afterwards as I can just jack the trailor up at the front and let the water out the stern.
Don't keep running it on a hose.
Firstly it does the impellor no good and you run the risk of flattening the hose every time you do. Never more than tickover to avoid doing this.
As a result you will never get it up to proper running temps so it is a futile exercise. The only reason for flush is exactly what it says, go in salt water and you want to flush that out. Don't bother if you are running in fresh water it does more harm than good.
Secondly in the winter you should drain the exchangers, block, exhausts down and by doing it you just fill them back up with water that can freeze.
As said if you are not using it then winterise it properly. Fogging oil down the inlets on the final run, pull the plugs and put a small amount of two stroke oil down the holes and turn it over by hand a few revolutions, drain down the block and exhausts by the blue taps, grease up everywhere, change the water separator and a spray all over with wd40 and you will be good to go when you want to use it.
Firstly it does the impellor no good and you run the risk of flattening the hose every time you do. Never more than tickover to avoid doing this.
As a result you will never get it up to proper running temps so it is a futile exercise. The only reason for flush is exactly what it says, go in salt water and you want to flush that out. Don't bother if you are running in fresh water it does more harm than good.
Secondly in the winter you should drain the exchangers, block, exhausts down and by doing it you just fill them back up with water that can freeze.
As said if you are not using it then winterise it properly. Fogging oil down the inlets on the final run, pull the plugs and put a small amount of two stroke oil down the holes and turn it over by hand a few revolutions, drain down the block and exhausts by the blue taps, grease up everywhere, change the water separator and a spray all over with wd40 and you will be good to go when you want to use it.
danyeates said:
poshboy said:
gauges not so good but read that thay are pretty poor..
I've yet to come across a sterndrive that has all the gauges working. Just another testament to how reliable the Yamaha outboards are in comparison! 
MOTORVATOR said:
Don't keep running it on a hose.
Firstly it does the impellor no good and you run the risk of flattening the hose every time you do. Never more than tickover to avoid doing this.
As a result you will never get it up to proper running temps so it is a futile exercise. The only reason for flush is exactly what it says, go in salt water and you want to flush that out. Don't bother if you are running in fresh water it does more harm than good.
Secondly in the winter you should drain the exchangers, block, exhausts down and by doing it you just fill them back up with water that can freeze.
As said if you are not using it then winterise it properly. Fogging oil down the inlets on the final run, pull the plugs and put a small amount of two stroke oil down the holes and turn it over by hand a few revolutions, drain down the block and exhausts by the blue taps, grease up everywhere, change the water separator and a spray all over with wd40 and you will be good to go when you want to use it.
Thanks for the advice, was just thinking it might do the engine good being regularly run as opposed to just stood for 4 months but will leave it now. The engine was started for me on Tuesday when buying and I have no drained will all five blue bungs and elevated the front to make sure any water is out. Engine will be getting a service so new plugs going in January so will follow rest of your guide then. Cheers guysFirstly it does the impellor no good and you run the risk of flattening the hose every time you do. Never more than tickover to avoid doing this.
As a result you will never get it up to proper running temps so it is a futile exercise. The only reason for flush is exactly what it says, go in salt water and you want to flush that out. Don't bother if you are running in fresh water it does more harm than good.
Secondly in the winter you should drain the exchangers, block, exhausts down and by doing it you just fill them back up with water that can freeze.
As said if you are not using it then winterise it properly. Fogging oil down the inlets on the final run, pull the plugs and put a small amount of two stroke oil down the holes and turn it over by hand a few revolutions, drain down the block and exhausts by the blue taps, grease up everywhere, change the water separator and a spray all over with wd40 and you will be good to go when you want to use it.
MOTORVATOR said:
danyeates said:
poshboy said:
gauges not so good but read that thay are pretty poor..
I've yet to come across a sterndrive that has all the gauges working. Just another testament to how reliable the Yamaha outboards are in comparison! Certainly good advice above re. winterising. Take note.
poshboy said:
Do I need to go that far with re winterising if the boat is being kept inside?
I'll go through it bit by bit so you understand the reasons then make your own mind up.Fogging oil down the inlets on the final run - this will coat up all the internal surfaces prior to combustion chamber to stop any surface rust forming.
Pull the plugs and put a small amount of two stroke oil down the holes and turn it over by hand a few revolutions - because you are running when you fog, the cylinders themselves and valve seats will tend to miss the treatment.
There is also the possibility as you shut down / stall it that a small amount of reversion occurs (exhaust water being drawn back due to cam overlap).
Proper marine two stroke oil has the unique ability to soak up any remaining water and keep it from forming a small rust spot.
Tests by Mercury years ago showed that a very small rust spot on the mating surface of a valve or seat turns very quickly into a spot hotter than the surface of the sun when running and is generally the reason for valve destruction.
Drain down the block and exhausts by the blue taps - Obviously to stop freezing.
Grease up everywhere - when a boat is used grease will deplete and a change in temperature or just immersion can cause water to be drawn back into the greased part, by greasing up you will displace all of this water and give a better storage environment.
Change the water separator - water separators do exactly what they say on tin and take any water from the fuel before it is dumped through the engine. You'll be surprised just how much they take out due to condensation forming on the inside of tanks etc. The problem is that they will rust from the inside if left and the resultant particles can get drawn into the fuel system when you can't be arsed to change when a nice day happens in February and all you want to do is get out on the water.
And a spray all over with wd40 - prevention is always better than cure, electrical terminals and even painted surfaces that have had the water displaced off them will last longer.
There are other things you should do to winterise and service fully such as storing the batteries, changing out the leg oil, check the impellor etc but the above was meant to show the basics that don't really cost much just a couple of hours of your time and will avoid the major problems.
One thing, if you have never owned a boat be ready for serious degradation of your investment in very short timescales. Your call.
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