180 RX-Question!

[genuh]

Hi everyone. I'm thinking about buying a 2006 180rx for 11,000. Seems like a great price and boat for the money. Has less than 20 hours. I'm going to be using it at a local lake as well as at the coast. I have heard horror stories about i/o motors in saltwater. Anyone have any experience with this? I've been advised by friends to buy an outboard motor. Of course, the people at Stingray say just to flush it out each time but others say that will not get rid of all the salt. Any opinions? I can't afford a bowrider with an outboard motor. Will I just be throwing my money away?

 

[NHMike]

Re: 180 RX-Question!

Hi Genuh,

I own a 2007 185lx, similar to the boat you are looking at. Sounds like a great price. As for the flushing, I do not have salt water experience with my boat. It's easy enough to flush with the muffs. I think you need to let it warm up to 170 or so to open the thermostat and allow cooling water to get into the jacket around the block ("think" being the key word). If that boat is equipped with a Mercruiser I/O you should also have the "single point" drain system which allows you to drain all the water from the block and manifold into the bilge in a couple of minutes.

For more info head over to the Stingray website and check out the visitor's forum. You can post that question and any other you may have over there as well.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: 180 RX-Question!

I would also say post the question in the merc/volvo IO section -- is the same motor and outdrive no matter what boat, so get the advice of many different boat owners using the 3.0 in salt water.