Way2slow

Leaking by the needle/seats. Carbs will need to come off cleaned and new gaskets with needle and seats. Three kits will cost about $35 if you can do them yourself, about $200 if you have to pay to get them done. Those are very simple carbs, but a real pain to clean. I've seen more than one set that had to be taken off a couple of times before the motor would run right after being rebuilt. I've seen people replace power packs, swearing that's the problem because they think there's nothing wrong with the carbs after putting them back on.

The boat was not built with water in it. There are several things that can create your problem. The motor mounting bolts were not properly sealed. The top of the transome is not properly sealed. The drain plug tube is not properly crimped and leaking around it. Some other screws are used to mount some other items to transom and they are not properly sealed. That's why is sooo important to have the transom of any boat you buy checked out. I've seen three year old boats that the transome was totally rotted out because they didn't properly seal holes made to mount the motor or even the little screws holding tie straps or transducers. A little sealer is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to boat transome's.

Just be darn sure you DO NOT use galvanized or zinc plated fasterners. You will have a hole the size of the fastner head in no time. I've never had a problem with with stainless and been messing with boats a long time. Granted, in the ideal world, you want to use similar metals, but try finding much in the way of aluminum fastners. Pop rivets and not good because they have a hole in them. Rivets create problems because you don't have a way to brad them tight enough to be water tight. Welding can create a whole bunch of problems unless it's done by a professional that knows his stuff.

Check out the required scheduled maintenance and what the different things cost on the four stroke and then on the E-Tec and see which one looks better.

It's an ok deal if everything checks out good. Depending on the year and make of the motor. If it's an OMC, the 97 would be a much more prefered year model than the earlier years. The 94's - 96's have a bad problem with ring locator pins coming out and blowing the motor. They modified the pistons in late 96 the significatly reduced this problem. It's kinda the wrong time of the year to be looking for great deals but there are deals to be had. Three years ago, I paid $5000 for a 1999 Javelin Renegade 20 dual console (20.5') with the 99 225 Evinrude ficht. I spent $800 on motor and a couple of hundred on the boat so for $6,000 I have a nice boat.

If they are batteries that have removable caps on them, go to NAPA and get you a good hydrometer, one with the thermometer (about $8), charge the batteries, with the onboard charger, after the charge gets started, use a digital voltmeter and take a voltage reading across each battery. Should be a high 13VDC - low 14 VDC on all three, if not wait about an hour and check again. If all three banks are not at least a high 13 you may have a charger problem. After the charge has cut off and showing a complete charge, check each batteries cells with the hydrometer, should be a minimum of 1.260 and all cells should be within .005 of each other, acutally even closer than that but that is the max difference they should read. If the batteries are sealed, maintenance free, charge them, check the charging voltage as above. Let it charge until it shows they are fully charged and take them to a place that has a computerized tester that will load test and check the conductance and have them tested. The ones that will load test and check conductance are not cheap so not many places will have one, so you will have to ask. Most have the tester that checks conductance, but will not load it.

Yep, you should take the responsibility of everything totally out of the users hands. Get rid of all the guns because guns kill people. Do away with automobiles because they kill more people every year than any war has ever killed. Don't allow any water craft to have enough power to get on plane. After all it's the guns, boats and cars that's causing all the problems, not that minute percentage of dummies operating them that causing the prolems so to help that .01%, we make the total population follow rediculous guidlines. While we are doing speed limits, lets make all inland waters a no wake area. After all, these wake boarders and ocean size boats on inland waters cause a lot more damage to property and sinking of small boats than a bass boat running 70+ mph. Needless to say, I don't agree. On small, heavily populated waters I can see restrictions. I fish a lake that's 77,000 acrers, my boat runs a little over 75 mph (GPS) with the 225 Evinrude on it and over 80 mph with one of my 300+ hp hotrod motors on in and I see no problems running WOT if I decide to, but I'm not gonna go ripping down some little narrow channel that fast. I think it's called using common sence.

Sometimes you can find those older manuals on ebay for about half price. Even at $36 for the OEM factory manual, that's about the cheapest thing you will buy for it and it will pay you back many times over. The OEM service manual is the first thing I buy for any outboard motor and vehicle I own. Those cheaper after market manuals give you just enough info to get you in trouble most of the time.

Fresh gas a battery charge will probably leave you at the ramp trying to get it started. There is a remote posibility it might start, but very remote As a minimum, as long as it's been sitting, carbs need to come off and rebuilt, fuel system needs to be fully perged, tanks needs to be dumped and checked for crud in the bottom and will probably need replaced. It's a good chance the fuel pump is gummed up also, if it's a VRO motor, a new fuel pump will cost over $300 if you go back with a new oil injection pump (CRO pumps now) or almost $200 for a non oil injection replacement. The battery is going to be 100% pure junk unless it has be replaced in the past couple of months You can also figure in a new water pump, it's almost a sure bet that ones impeller has hardend and started to crack. Another thing to consider is where it's at. Motors sitting out during cold winters will develope rust on internal rust from condensation caused by the warm morning sun, ruining the crank, bearings, rods etc, if it was not properly winterized and fogged. Now, if you have to have all this done buy a dealer/mechanic, figure on $500 - $800, maybe more depending on the rates in your area. Before paying anywhere near what you say the price is, the person that has the boat would have to prove to me this work was done. Even if you get it running without doing this work, it will have to be done in the near future, that you can rest assured of so pay at least $1000 less for the boat so you can pay for the work when needed.

Height is going to depend on the prop your running and where you start loosing water pressure at. Yes, the more of the lower unit you can get out of the water, the less it will chine walk. Do Not raise it any higher than the motor can maintain 16 psi of water pressure at WOT and trimed out, even in the turns, you can fry your motor if you do. Some props will loose too much lift if you raise them high enough to get the water pressure down to 16 psi so you have to watch for that. Dialing one is paying attention to the tac, speed (gps, not speedo), water pressure and bow lift while making 1/4" adjustments up on the jackplate. Once you start loosing lift, too much water pressure or speed, or the tac gains rpm but the boat does not gain speed, you drop it back down 1/2" I'm not sure what the max offset you can run without voiding the hull warrenty but I would have thought it would have been more than 6" and I would think on a 21' boat, it would need more. However, the more setback you run, the more it will want to walk. Chine walk is a fact of life with your boat, once you get the setup perfect, you are still going to have to learn to drive it, and that want be no two or three trips to the lake. To save a lot of work and agrivation, and the Toons are very propular boats, I would suggest you try several of the sites and ask what they are running for a setup (prop, setback, prop height etc) with you same outfit. Not real sure you will see 80 mph but you should get well into the 70's. I was running 76.7 gps Sunday and it took me a good ways to pass a Triton with two people in it so I figure it was running close to 75. We were not real close so I didn't pay any attention to the size of the boat or the motor, other than it was a Merc 225.

Check load capacity of tires in weight, not just the fact they are C rated. Make sure you are not getting too close to their max total load weight.

I've never used the BPS version because I don't run those small amp chargers. I've been running Pro Mariner chargers for a bunch of years and on my sixth one (not from failures but from letting them go in boats I got rid off). I've used their Pro Tourny 300's since they came out and I've had one that failed a few years back. They had me a new one at my door the next day. I still feel the charging technology in the PM chargers is far superior to any compairable charger and is the only charger I would think of using. Granted when they started having them made in China about 10 years ago, I was not a happy camper and the next charger I bought after that was a Dual Pro. Four months later it failed and I gave their replacement to my brother and bought my first Chinese made PM and have had several since. It was my third Chinese made PM PT 300 that failed about two years ago but still using the replacement and it has been flawless. They also probably put a little more quality into their top of the line models with their brand name on them over what BPS has them make with the BPS logo on them

I'm running down the lake at 75 mph with the seats on, why not down the highway. Actually, I seldom run as fast down the highway as I do on the water, so yes, I always leave my seats on.

Take the air silencer off (if it has one) and disconnect the throttle cable from motor. Push the throttle lever on the side of the motor all the way to the stop to and make sure the butterflies in the carbs are fully closed. Make sure the little piece of linkage at the top of the throttle rod going to the timing plate has not jumped out, then make sure the timing plate is going all the way back with the throttle linkage and not binding/sticking before it fully retards. I guess I should have asked, did it just start doing this on it's own or did it start this when it was put back together from some other work that was done, like taking the carbs off to clean them?

I've probably mounted 25 transducer outside and never had a problem. Sometimes I may have to go back a tweek the alignment but other than that, never had a problem. Have many more problems shooting through the hull than with outside mounts. Shooting through the hull you can run into design flaws like air bubbles in the glass, hull harmonics and other things that cause all kinds of problems, plus the reduced sensitivity you get. It is recommended when you run you cables you do not run them laying with all the other cables in the boat. If the boats cables are tied up into the gunwall, let the depthfinder cables lay on the floor, and if all the others are on the floor, get the depthfinder cables up off them. Thats for power and X-ducer.

An old boat and motor that has been sitting that long can be the most expensive piece of junk you will ever own if you don't know how to do needed repairs yourself. Without the experience, you need to find someone that is very good and knowledgeable to have it looked at. These is just too much that can be wrong and when you start paying $65 - $95 per hour, it adds up real quick.

My first boat was one I built from plywood with my dads help. I bought a used 17' Grumman canoe for $20 when I was 14 (1961) with money saved cutting grass and working odd jobs and hualed it on top of my 1948 Ford I bought for $10 when I was 12. Still have the canoe and wish I still had the Ford. I bought my first new boat when I was 16 (14' Glass Master with 65 Merc) and paid cash for it with money I saved working weekends and after school. I have only owned one other new boat (1969 Allison with twin 135 BHP Mercs that I sank in 1970) and I will probably never own another unless I become independently wealthy (actually down right rich with more money that I could ever hope to spend). I have owned more boats than I could list since then but have always bought used and paid cash. Until my kids got grown, I funded my fishinig and boats by buying boat's/motors that needed work, fixing them up and selling or trading them for a nice profit, now my Air Force retirement funds all that. I really have little need for a shiney, new boat because I use a bass boat for what it was built for, a fishing boat and there is nothing about one I can't fix or refinish myself. The heavy the scumm line just shows the boat is used a lot. It might get polished and cleaned out once a year whether it needs it or not. I keep them in good working order and seats and carpet in good condition and will take the pressure washer and knock them off from time to time but I'm not into keeping one all pretty and shiney. That's kinda like having a 4WD truck and not wanting to drive it throught the woods and mud because it might get scratched or dirty (I give them hell also).

The owners manual should have the tow capacity, if not the dealer can tell you. It has more than enough to tow a 3,200 pound boat. The engine and transmission will have to work a little harder because of the small V-6, especially in hills but on fairly level roads it should cruise right along. Make sure you check the manual, with the dealer or with a couple of transmission shops about towing in overdrive. Something I don't recommend or do in my vehicles with that much weight but there are those that think you can tow the Queen Mary at 70 mph in OD so I'm not going there.

If it's mounted like many are mounted on aluminum hulls, it's impossilbe for it to read at speed because it's out of the water. It's probably mounted on up on the transome, a couple of inches above the bottom of the boat.

First, if it's the expandable type you screw, you put it in the hole and then screw it down until it's tight. If it's the type the screws down and then folds over to lock, snugg it in the hole and the lay it over If you are doing that and it's leaking, check the brass sleeve insert and make sure it's not cracked. Next make sure it's not leaking around the sleeve flange where it's crimped into the hull. If all that's ok, try another plug.

A role of TP in a ziplock bag to keep it dry

Lawnmower recoil starter pull rope in the largest diameter you can get to fit.

The reflections you get off the water are going to be far, far greater than anything you will ever get off a white boat. I've fished out of colored and white, give me white any day of the week. Any shiney surface is going to be reflective, white to black but heat generated/reflected having to fish out of them, the white is by far the cooler. My Stratos had dark blue carpet and you would sweat you butt off during the summer sun. Only took two trips of hot summer sun for me to rip that dark blue out and put a light blue in. Just to keep things from being confusing about the boats, I have a Stratos 285 Pro and a Javelin R20, plus a Stratos 169V and a couple of other boats. If concerned about reflected rays, have a flatner put in it or wet sand it with 2000 grit to take the shine off. Anyway, for you question on paints, this is one that works about as good as any I've seen on gel coat, but it is pricey http://www.awlgrip.com/awlgrip_pages/about.htm This would be the product line you would use http://www.awlgrip.com/awlgrip_pages/product_systems_awlgrip.htm#fiber This is a supply source http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/search.do?freeText=awlgrip&page=GRID&history=&engine=adwords!6456&keyword=awlgrip+paint&match_type=

Glad to hear that about the white. I've been fishing out of my white Javelin R20 DC for about threee years in the GA sun, I guess I had better stop using it before I get sunburned and go blind. Guess all them white boats on the Florida coast are useless on sunny days also. Not sure where the logic of that statement comes from since white is probably the one most popular color used in sunny areas, on all size boats. There are not may paints or other coatings that's going to stay on gel coat for extended periods of time. They will usually start chipping or peeling off. There are a couple that somewhat work pretty good, but are extrememly expensive. The is a basic rule of thumb when it comes to painting a fiberglass boat. If you're going to sell it and want it to look good, paint it. If you're going to keep it and want it to look good, gel coat it.

No such thing as a clear (clean, clutter free) casting deck so you want them as large as you can get them, front and rear. A half dozen or so rods eat up a lot of standing room. The fewer rods you can keep on the deck, the more your gonna have to mess with getting them in and out of the storage box, which can be a pain in the butt. A good storage box is a nice feature. Too many of the boats today have very limited space up toward the bow so it's difficult to get long rods in and out. I haven't seen a rod storage system yet that I really cared for and have taken them out of every boat I've owned with them. Sleeves over the rods and just layed in the box works as well as anything I've tried, you get more rods in and I find them easier to get out. If your going to tournament fish, you will need a top of the line livewell system. A lot more than just a pump that pumps water in and the overflow drains out. If you fish for the enjoyment and seldom put fish in the livewell, it's not important. Good electronics is important in any bass boat if you plan to fish water anyplace away from the banks or in more than 10ft of water. For some reason, many seem to think they have to cast toward a bank and fish shallow water for bass, for those, no electronics is needed other than a good temp guage. I usually find there is no such thing as enough storage room, but I keep a lot of stuff in my boat, a lot more than most because I always keep wet weather gear, wind breakers and hooded sweat shirts, hats and sunglasses for at least two in my boat