Looking at a 2004 1800 SR3, 4.3L

[soccerdad]

Like the title says, I am lookin to get a new boat. I found one that I like but wanted to ask the vets here first. I am new to boats. I have been a seadoo guy. I am very good mechanically, but dont have experiece with boats.

So the boat I am looking at is a 2004 1800 SR3 4.3L. It looks good in pictures, but I am concerned about the rest of the description. It says "Latest work: exhaust and shift boots replaced, shift cable and oiler hose replaced 6 months ago. 3 month old battery, 1 year old starter, 1 year old carburetor (you need to put non ethanol gas to protect the carburetor!), new tachometer and voltmeter" It also says it will do 55 MPH at 4500 RPM.

This is a 12 year old boat so I expect some things would have needed to be worked on. Does this sound like the normal stuff?

What specific stuff should I look at or ask when looking at it? I already have seen to ask about the water pump. What else? Feel free to point me at a post or section to read. I am a big believer in forums. I will keep searching this one.

Thanks
Don

[Phillbo]

Sounds like typical stuff for a boat of it's age. Do you know how many hours are on it?

[soccerdad]

Originally Posted by Phillbo

Sounds like typical stuff for a boat of it's age. Do you know how many hours are on it?

It has 180 hours on it. It was used in fresh and salt water but flushed each time. (so they say) I asked if he changed the pump impeller and he said "we didn't change the pump. It is and outboard and inboard engine. So I expect that they don't know much about it.

SO... I know that I will be changing the impeller if I get it. But can I tell if any damage has been done? Would a water test tell me most of what I need to know? I would walk away now, but the boat looks pretty good in the pictures and is configured like we want. (bimini top and swim platform). I know a top is cheap, but the platforms are not easy to find. They are asking $9k for it with an aluminum trailer.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

[mmwjr]

Ok so far no alarms are ringing for me as it sounds pretty normal.

Yes change the impeller right away if you buy it.

Do not buy it without a sea trial. Take some temps of the engine and exhaust system with an IR temp sensor after running for some time. The exhaust on I/Os are water jacketed to cool them.

Look for soft spots in the deck and inner transom, use a dead blow hammer and tap while listening for hollow spots.

[soccerdad]

Thanks for the quick replies. It sounds like all of this is normal so I feel much better about it. I will get to water test it this weekend so that should tell me a lot. So is there anything specific that I can actually see in the outdrive to look for? or just look and listen/feel for something that seems amiss?

Thanks again.

[soccerdad]

One more thing. If the impeller is bad, what does it hurt and is there a way to tell if any damage was done? Also I read something about bad gimbal bearings? how do you check them, or is this anything to even worry about?

[mmwjr]

Regarding the outdrive if the owner allows crack the drain plug to see what the gear lube looks like. Should not have any water in it. A better thing will be to remove the plug as it has a magnet on it this allows you to see if metal shaving exist which is a sign of wear.

Before running on the water start it on the trailer and look to make sure water is exiting at the transom ports on both sides.

A bad gimbal bearing will whine no so when turning the wheel.

[soccerdad]

OK, thanks
Is there a place that has the colors that this boat came in? All pictures that I see on the web for this year have yellow trim, but this one has red. I just want to make sure that this really is a 2004 boat. Perhaps I am paranoid.... I know that Seadoos have very specific colors for each year, but I am guessing that there were color options for these boats. Does the hull ID# have a year code?

[mmwjr]

Spectrum can provide gelcoat repair kits that match the original color.

The HIN is located on the starboard side of the transom and the last 2 digits are the year.