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My baby's home!


Slayer

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I finally go the Sunsetter tuned up, in the water, and on the hoist and in its happy place for the season. I bough this boat used last year with just under 670 hours. It really was in pretty good shape when I picked it up. I was impressed for a 14 year old boat. However, I never checked any of the normal engine maintenance items other than the oil and trans fluid. I winterized the boat myself last season and found that whomever changed the oil last certainly didn't use the right oil. It seemed rather viscous and not as thick as the 20W 50 that the manual recommends for this boat. So I decided that before I put the boat in the water this season, I would do a complete tune up having no idea when one was last performed as everything on the boat appeared to be original. Today, I did the following.

  • New Plugs
  • New Cap
  • New Rotor
  • New fuel filters, both the high pressure filter and the one near the tank.
  • Replaced the stock CVP prop with a new ACME 525.

Well, before I even put the seats back in, I took it out for a shakedown cruise. All I can say is WOW! I thought the boat ran well when I picked it up but now.....she seems like new.

I'll take some pics and post them of what I found, but needless to say it was not pretty. There was a TON of corrosion in the distributor cap. So much so that as soon as I got the screws loose, a bunch of corrosion debris fell out of the cap. One off, I looked inside the cap and each contact was badly corroded making me think that it had never been replaced. Upon removal, the rotor was found to be nearly fused to the shaft. It was a bit of a PITA to get it off, but I was successful ultimately.

When I get the pics, hopefully tomorrow, I'll cut open the fuel filters to see how bad they were. I'll post those up in the thread that Bozboat started as well as this one.

Toward the end of last season, the boat ran well however did develop a rather slight hesitation when the throttle was buried. That is no longer. I'm super happy I did what I did and even more pleased with the performance gain. I think what I'm most impressed by is the pull with the new prop. I was right on time pulling it off too as it looks like the stock CVP that I removed is starting to crack and there are some signs of cavitation.

So, in all my excitement over the tune up and new prop, I put the boat in the water and didn't cover the guide on poles with the protectors and scratched the gel coat a bit. I was pretty disappointed by that but it's nothing that a call to Spectrum can't fix. No big deal, just more of an annoyance than anything.

Again, will post pics soon.

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So, will you be sleeping well tonight, or not at all because you can't stop thinking about how much cooler your SS is than when you let her rest for the winter? Nice work! Glad to hear you got rid of that ticking time bomb of a prop, too.

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An over-due tune up is huge, I've been there too. Like getting new tires on a truck after running your all-terrains treadless, a really nice feeling.

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Here are 2 pictures of the corrosion I found inside the cap when I replaced it. I think this is the original cap and has never been replaced. I would also think that this, in addition to the fuel filters I replaced, had something to do with the little hesitation I had in the boat last season when I hit the throttle. All that is gone now.

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My distributor cap looked the same way when I replaced it last weekend. Boat now seems a bit more snappy/responsive when you punch it.

Vroom!

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My distributor cap looked the same way when I replaced it last weekend. Boat now seems a bit more snappy/responsive when you punch it.

Vroom!

I know! I was super happy with the results. It's on my annual inspection list new that I was able to see how bad it can get.

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