Almost ready to pull trigger

[t mac]

Hello All. I had a sea trial today on a boat I am interested in. There were some things that I saw that I liked and some things I saw that I disliked. More on the good later. I have not purchased this boat yet and I am not going to unless I can get an idea of what the issue is.

The boat has a 4.3 I/O and it is suspiciously clean. I mean you could eat off of this thing. Once the boat was up to running temp. I noticed that one of the manifold/risers was hotter then the other. Signifigantly so. Like a difference of 40 or 50 degrees. Why would that be? If I need to replace then I will cross that bridge in negotiations. No smell of gas, no ping, no knock, accepted throtle with no issues at first but then it wouldnt rev over 3200 rpms. WOT would only get up to 3200. Moments before that it was stealy cruising WOT at 4800. Why might this be? Any thoughts would be great.

I am slightly mechanically inclined so fixing some things shouldnt be an issue.

Last. I just wanted to tell you all thankis for the warm welcome.

[spareparts]

have it checked out by a sterndrive mechanic(some outboard guys are lost on I/Os), including a compresion test. Those manifolds will feel different, don't know exactly why, but they always do(at least at lower speeds). but it could be an indication of teh manifolds needing replacement($$$$$)

[phatdaddy]

not a lot of experience i/o ,but i know raw water cooled risers are an issue & bellows on the outdrive. did it have a temp guage?

[t mac]

Temp guage read normal. To the best of my knowledge it worked which is to say that it heated with the motor and it stopped at about 170 which is where it stayed.

[nymack66]

It could be a fuel restriction or clog filter who knows? Question is why guess? Please do yourself a huge favor pay a mechanic to ride along with you for a test run, most good honest one will do a pre-inspection for under 150.00.
Any good honest seller will not mind you doing this ...
Good luck and keep us posted...

[phatdaddy]

if that motor is a v6, maybe the water cools one side and then goes to the other, so that is normal. i have very little exp with them. i never was a fan of running hot salt water through a car engine. some body who knows what they're talking about will be along..

[dboyd351]

The cooling passages in the risers can become clogged with rust as they get some age on them. Pulling them and cleaning the rust out may well solve the discrepancy as long as 1) the bolts aren't so rusted to the manifold that you can't get them off and 2) There isn't so much corrosion the risers need replacing.

That might not be what it is, but it sounds like a possible reason for what you are describing.

Having a mechanic check it out, as previously suggested, is certainly a wise decision, too.

[spareparts]

if this is the boat in the for sale section, it has one piece manifolds, the risers are made into it. They are not available any more, it will have to be changed to a two piece manifold/riser set up, not a big deal, just different. As far as the temps of the manifolds, I've had brand new engines run one manifold hotter than the other at lower engine speeds, usually with alpha set ups. The water pump doesn't create enough volume to completly fill each manifold before exiting, the water allways takes the path of less resistance, so one maniofld gets more water than the other. On bravo ste ups, the belt driven pump can flow more water at idle speed to fill to restriction both manifolds and risers. If the manifolds are getting unevenly hotter at high rpms, then there is a restriction. Also consider the age, around here in salt water, if the engine hasn't been flushed, figure manifolds every three to four years, if its been flushed regulary, then figure 6 to 8. The one piece manifolds haven't been around for some while, if you could determine how old the engine iks, it would help. Unless the engine was a new old stock, or the boat has been pickled for a number of years, I'd go ahead and figure on new manifolds and risers. About $800-$900 in parts, plus labor

[Bruce]

pay a mechanic to do a total assessment on the boat. If its a 2 piece riser/manifold setup, pay him to remove the riser to check it out to see if the gaskets indicate any water getting into the engine. This could be money pit waiting to happen, be smart on this.. You seriously do need a compression and leakdown test on this motor as well.. I've seen 4.3s run flawlessly but have the back two cylinders 50psi lower then the rest, thus needing some major work. Also the mechanic will check out the outdrive, bellows, etc, and see if the gearlube has any oil in it. If the bellows fail on this setup the boat sinks, be an informed buyer, Don't skimp now.

[Blue_Runner]

Sounds like you need to find a V20/V21 w/ an outboard....or bare hull & and hang an outboard on the back of it. No offense to the I/O guys!!!

:beer:

[Skools Out]

sounds like clogged risers as stated earlier you can clean them sometimes with a rust eater then reinstall.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Or it could be a sticking check ball if it has the spring loaded valves in the T-stat housing. As for teh drop in RPM's, was it only under load or did it still do it in neutral? And that boat has been for sale for quite awhile now MANY times. It's been listed here 3 or 4 times that I know of over the last few years. She's a nice looking boat, but I always thought it looked too clean as well.

[t mac]

Thanks for all of the valuable information. I will get a mechanic to look at it. The boat was in gear when it peaked at 3200. In neutral it would rev all the way to 4800.

I have actually been looking for an I/O for no other reason then I know how to work on them. The OB is a bit intimidation to me. That said I would love to be talked into one. I am sure I could handle the basics on an OB.

I will just get a book. "Outboards for Dummies". I am sure it exists. I have not made a final decision yet but I would really like to be on the water this summer.

[THEFERMANATOR]

If the one you're looking at doesn't pan out, there is this one up by me.

http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/2168388835.html

[Blue_Runner]

I feel you on that T Mac. Never owned an I/O so like you and outboards - I don't know the first thing about diagnosing a problem with an I/O. I know they have their good points - fuel economy, cost, etc. I would love to say outboards are easier to work on but I doubt you could say that about the new generation of OB on the market today. The older generation of outboards are a different story tho in my opinion.

[dboyd351]

I have actually been looking for an I/O for no other reason then I know how to work on them. The OB is a bit intimidation to me. That said I would love to be talked into one. I am sure I could handle the basics on an OB.

I will just get a book. "Outboards for Dummies". I am sure it exists. I have not made a final decision yet but I would really like to be on the water this summer.

You might find a community college offering a course on outboard maintenance and repair. I live in a rural area and our local community college offers such a course. As Blue Runner stated, the older outboards, like the carbureted 2 strokes, are pretty straightforward. The newer fuel injected 4 strokes are a different ball of wax.

[t mac]

I have set up an appointment with a mechanic to do an inspection. He is charging $90 per hour. Does this sound like a fair charge? I am not exactly sure what the going rate for this is. Either way it is next week. So either I will be posting pics next week or I will still be on the hunt. Lets hope its pics. Not falling in love and not gonna do anything stupid.

[spareparts]

$90 per is pretty cheap, especially for Florida, the dealers around here charge $110 and up, I charge $85 per

[THEFERMANATOR]

$90/hr aint bad for somebody in FL to work on an I/O. Most shops around where I am charge 50% more to work on one as they hate working on them. Outboards are a walk in the park compared to working on an I/O for the most part. Just make sure he knows what he's doing as we have ALOT of fly by nights that say they know and all they end up doing is taking your money and giving you nothing.

[t mac]

Thanks again for all of your help. New word from the owner of the boat I was interested is not good at all. Whatever was going on that day with the motor and non reving issues was bigger then I thought. Turns out there is now water in 5 of 6 cylinders. The salty kind. Not sure how it happened but that is a deal breaker. I will continue searching. I wish Bob (the owner/seller) the best and I hope he gets her back to where she belongs and finds a good home for her.

Since then I have found another boat. I hope this doesnt get me banned. Its not a v20 nor is it a wellcraft. I am looking at a 1985 regal 21ff with a yamaha 2000 from 1995. Newly rebuilt. Its a walk around cuddy deal. Do you guys know anything about those Regals. I could not find to much about them on the web. Unfortunately they dont have the same following that wellcraft does.

Thanks again

[THEFERMANATOR]

Thanks again for all of your help. New word from the owner of the boat I was interested is not good at all. Whatever was going on that day with the motor and non reving issues was bigger then I thought. Turns out there is now water in 5 of 6 cylinders. The salty kind. Not sure how it happened but that is a deal breaker. I will continue searching. I wish Bob (the owner/seller) the best and I hope he gets her back to where she belongs and finds a good home for her.

Since then I have found another boat. I hope this doesnt get me banned. Its not a v20 nor is it a wellcraft. I am looking at a 1985 regal 21ff with a yamaha 2000 from 1995. Newly rebuilt. Its a walk around cuddy deal. Do you guys know anything about those Regals. I could not find to much about them on the web. Unfortunately they dont have the same following that wellcraft does.

Thanks again

Sounds like teh risers are shot and got her hot to me. Just be thankful it happened BEFORE you bought it. As for teh REGAL, I wouldn't rate it very highly for fishing, but they make a good cruiser type boat. What exactly are you after in a boat?

[macojoe]

I know a couple of Reagl owners and they no longer are!!
keep looking

[Destroyer]

I have the same opinion as everyone else that's commented. I'm not a Regal fan. Hell, I even had a 21 footer a while back that I took in trade. Sold it in less than a month. To me they are just like Bayliners. Cheaply made. Keep looking. :head:

[t mac]

What I am looking for in a boat is a little of everything. My family loves the outdoors and we love the water. Also exploring is fun. So in short we will cruise, we will fish, we will tube for my young ones and also camp. Topping the list would be fishing and cruising looking for something to get us into trouble. We are really excited about getting something we can call our own where as before with the boat club we were limited. Since we are not rich (yet) finding something in our budget that fits our demands is a bit challenging. Correct me if I am wrong but it seems that the v20 with a cuddy will just about handle everything we want with relative ease.

Thanks Again

[spareparts]

sounds liek you're looking for a V :nice: