Almost ready to pull trigger

[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!!!

[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]

Originally Posted by t mac

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.