01 Sunsetter Questions

[hethj7]

Hijack (sorry OP)

Just a suggestion, but looking at your first pic, you should hit everything with a mist of WD-40 (except pulleys and belt of course). It will slow that rust and make everything shine nicely, you'll be surprised. Let it soak in over the winter. My engine was pretty rough when I got the boat but keeping it dressed up annually with WD-40 made a world of difference.

Hijack off

Right on, thanks for the tip!

[85 Barefoot]

Probably not getting in the water. I'll try to shut it down for an extended period of time and restart as it is cooling off. Good Idea. All other suggestions are definitely things I'll be doing.

I dno't think there is any way you're going to be able to create a vapor lock situation in November. Secondly, even if you did, that doesn't mean its a boat you should avoid. Vapor lock is not indicative of a problem or neglected engine. IF you have a vapor-lock-prone engine you may need to work on a solution but don't let it scare you away.

[boardjnky4]

Not gonna sweat it then, thanks

[boardjnky4]

Test Drove the boat today

- Water pump was leaking badly. boat was still staying pretty cool, but it crept up to 170* after a full throttle run then idling

- Prop had a ding in it and was vibrating the whole boat

- v-drive packing nut was dripping too much (thanks to the guy who uploaded pics and explained it!

- radio wasnt working. it worked last time i saw the boat...weird.

- either we couldnt figure out the perfect pass or it doesnt work. its an older model with just 2 buttons

- trailer lights werent working

theyre going to take a look at everything on monday in their shop and get back to me

[Steve B.]

I didn't re-read all the prior posts...Is it at a dealer?

If it is, maybe you could get them to throw in some kind of warranty, even if it's a minimal one?

Well, let us know how you go on this one.

Steve B.

[hethj7]

Hmm, while none of those problems are the end of the world, I'd be a little hesitant of doing business with a dealer that let a boat out for a test drive with a water pump leaking badly and a prop dinged up enough to cause vibration. I would think these two items would be fixed prior to getting the boat out with customers, or at the very least, they'd be disclosed by the dealer prior to a test drive (maybe that was done??).

If you believe the vibration is from the prop ding, I would also have the dealer mic the shaft and make sure it isn't bent. They could fix the prop, but you could still be left with vibration if the shaft is bent.

[boardjnky4]

It's at a dealer. He admitted the boat has not been out on the lake yet. They are selling for a customer in an unfortunate circumstance.

I'll know more tomorrow when they get it in the shop and contact the seller.

It was a decent size ding in the prop, i'm almost sure that's the cause of the vibration, but I am going to try and drive the boat on the lake again before purchasing.

If the radio and perfect pass are busted and the seller doesn't want to pay for the repairs, I am going to just get money taken off the purchase price. I'd love to upgrade the boat to a stargazer anyways.

The stereo doesn't have an AUX plug on it so I'll probably upgrade that anyways. However, they'll have to knock a few hundred off the price for this repair.

What it comes down to is that I am not taking the boat with the vibration and the water pump leaking. Those are deal breakers.

Edited November 21, 2011 by boardjnky4

[Nitrousbird]

It's at a dealer. He admitted the boat has not been out on the lake yet. They are selling for a customer in an unfortunate circumstance.

I'll know more tomorrow when they get it in the shop and contact the seller.

It was a decent size ding in the prop, i'm almost sure that's the cause of the vibration, but I am going to try and drive the boat on the lake again before purchasing.

If the radio and perfect pass are busted and the seller doesn't want to pay for the repairs, I am going to just get money taken off the purchase price. I'd love to upgrade the boat to a stargazer anyways.

The stereo doesn't have an AUX plug on it so I'll probably upgrade that anyways. However, they'll have to knock a few hundred off the price for this repair.

What it comes down to is that I am not taking the boat with the vibration and the water pump leaking. Those are deal breakers.

If the head unit is f'ed, I'd say $200 tops is fair, as you can replace the factory unit with a better marine unit for that. For the Perfect Pass, I'd say $600 off, just in case the issues with it are significant. Hell, for enough off, I'd consider the water pump and vibration too - I'd say knock $400 off for the water pump and at least $1000 for the vibration. Not that the fix for either are near that, but that covers you in case you need repair other things associated with those problems. Knock enough off and you could get the boat pretty damn cheap!

[boardjnky4]

Well I'm not taking the boat with the vibrations and water pump being an issue.

I think the perfect pass is working. I think there is another issue at hand here (not really a problem with the boat)

The perfect pass is the old 2 button system. Hit it once to turn it on (light blinks), again to engage, once you've reached speed (then the light stays lit). Then, when you skiier falls, you come off the throttle and it temporarily disables (light blinks rapidly). Once your skiier is ready, you hit the throttle again and the perfect pass auto resumes (back to solid LED). This year boat has a throttle that automatically goes back to idle any time you let off of it. So, when you set the perfect pass and let your hand off the throttle the boat slows down, auto-disengaging the perfect pass. So I think that is why I thought it wasn't working. We're going to confirm that is the case hopefully.

On the radio issue, I am just worried there is a wiring issue, because it definitely worked the first time I looked at the boat. If they can't get it working tomorrow, the dealership is gonna get their stereo guy over to take a look and tell us what the issue is.

[Steve B.]

Hmm, maybe with a little TLC she'll be a good boat. All boat's deserve at least a second chance ! Feeling a little sorry for the person forced to sell it.

Again, let us know how it goes,

Steve B.

[Nitrousbird]

I guess I'm an opportunist - I don't mind wrenching on stuff, and would rather fix it myself and save more money on the purchase price.

[boardjnky4]

Hmm, maybe with a little TLC she'll be a good boat. All boat's deserve at least a second chance ! Feeling a little sorry for the person forced to sell it.Again, let us know how it goes,Steve B.

It really isn't as bad as it sounds.

I guess I'm an opportunist - I don't mind wrenching on stuff, and would rather fix it myself and save more money on the purchase price.

you know, I agree for the most part, but the dealership won't want to do that. They'd rather profit from the seller on the repairs and also sell a better overall product to me so that I'll come back and upgrade in a few years.

[85 Barefoot]

when you say water pump leaking do you mean circ pump or impeller housing. If impeller housing, where from, like a trickle out of the backside? If so, that's a $5 seal. Just so you know.

[boardjnky4]

when you say water pump leaking do you mean circ pump or impeller housing. If impeller housing, where from, like a trickle out of the backside? If so, that's a $5 seal. Just so you know.

I'm not all that familiar but i think it's the external recirc pump

[Bozboat]

water pump on block, moves water thru block

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=773

mounted on front of main crank pumps water out of lake to engine

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=774

[boardjnky4]

It's the pump on the main crank

[boardjnky4]

Update - Everything on the boat is now working nicely...except for the perfect pass. Looks like a bent pin on the speed sensor wheel is to blame (not spinning entirely freely). They're going to swap out the wheel and the pin.

Looks like I'm getting a new boat

Pics will come this weekend

[Bozboat]

Great, congratulations

[Malibu_Mike]

Test Drove the boat today

- Water pump was leaking badly. boat was still staying pretty cool, but it crept up to 170* after a full throttle run then idling

- Prop had a ding in it and was vibrating the whole boat

- v-drive packing nut was dripping too much (thanks to the guy who uploaded pics and explained it!

- radio wasnt working. it worked last time i saw the boat...weird.

- either we couldnt figure out the perfect pass or it doesnt work. its an older model with just 2 buttons

- trailer lights werent working

theyre going to take a look at everything on monday in their shop and get back to me

The temp on my BU was running a bit hot like this one, my dealer suggested replacing the water circulating pump, that did not fix it, put in a new impeller housing, impeller, that did not fix it either, it was the temperature sending unit on the block that was sending a bad signal. After spending $300+ bucks on the fix this $10.00 part solved my issue.

[UWSkier]

Congrats! They're great boats. Wish I would have seen this sooner. Could've given you lots of pointers. Let me know if you have any questions once you get it home.