Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

MKIV Surfer

Cadet
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
10
Glad to be on the site. Found this site after browsing around researching my current Mako 25'.

A little background, my dad bought this boat back in the late 70's or early 80's. Used it all the time until he got a little older and it was to much of a hassel getting the boat ready, and he downsized to an 18' Action Craft (Flats Boat). Ever since then the boat has been sitting on a ranch we have across town. We used to bring it over to the house every so often (about once every couple of years) and clean it up and start the engines, etc. Would start up easily every time. Well, about 5 years ago, we went over to the ranch to get the boat and saw that the boat had been vandalized. As you will see from the pictures to follow, they basically cut every wire they could see and took them. Also, you can tell they didn't know what they were doing because instead of just opening the latch to get into the engine area, they busted the cover to turn the latch, didn't steal the props, etc. Really burns me up, since they just did this to be mean. Luckily, the trailer had sunken in the ground so they couldn't steal the boat (took us two trucks to get the boat out). Anyway, when we saw it, we just looked it over and left, and haven't been back since. And like I said above that was about 5 years ago.

Well, my father was diagnosed with cancer and he said he was just going to give me the boat and suggested that I just sell it and not fool with the boat. I just don't want to sell the boat because of all the memories my father and I had in that boat (my earliest memories are in that boat).

Motor Info:

Year: 1986
Model - L200ETXJ

Here are some pictures of the damage:

Back:


Pic of breaking engine cover when they could have just unlatched it:


Left Motor (didn't mess with):



Right Motor (vandalized):


Left Motor:


Right Motor:


PICTURES CONTINED ON NEXT POST, TO MANY WERE POSTED

As you can see, they mostly cut wires and stole them. I have never redone an engine before or anything like that, but I would rather try and do this by myself instead of taking to a marina ( I am going to get a price from them also, just incase) to learn. I have been around outboards my whole life and have rewired (novice stuff) a couple of boats, never engine related, just bilges and things of that nature. Could this be a task I can take on? I am thinking, as long as I can get parts, I have the other motor as a template, and I have heard alot of yamaha parts are plug and play. Where should I start reading and looking for parts if I take on this task. Also, is there a way to trigger the starter without the ignition hooked up?

What do you guys think. Would love to hear your comments on the task ahead and see how you feel. Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give you guys as much info about the situation as possible.
 

oops!

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
12,932
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

welcome to iboats. :)

im really sorry to hear about your situation.

i would keep the boat as well.

post the motor pics in our outboard forum.....they will have you up and running in short time.

as far as the electronics....post the gauge stuff there.

we can help you with the rest.

cheers
oops
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,064
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

Welcome to iboats

I will move this to the outboard section.......... and I also advise you seek out the electrical forum too.

Step #1 would be a good service manual with the proper diagrams.......

Step 2 would be to get the PROPER marine wire to do your repairs.

The engine cover is an easy repair and they appear on ebay too all the time.

People stole the wires????? Hmmmm sounds like copper for crackheads program! :eek:
 

Allbutwet

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
209
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

Having lost my father the same way and having to help sell his boat I totally understand. If you get the engine info off of the tags on the engines. Yamaha's web site if I recall gives you a parts break down. Also check the sticky's at the top of the forums page. It may take sometime and effort but there's no dollar amount that will be unjustified when you get her back in the water and begin to make new memories. And sorry to hear about you dad.
 

Doernuth

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
332
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

+1 on manuals with diagrams. You can do this yourself its not that hard and you have an example to work from.
 

KC4YIN

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
91
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

There's just no excuse for something like this. On the other hand see the link here to Yamaha motor parts diagrams complete with ordering information.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Outboard/parts.html

Just select your motor's year and model and you should find lots of parts info.
Good luck with it and keep us posted with updates. We will hope for a happy ending.
The vandals need to be hunted down like the dogs they are!!
 

jonesg

Admiral
Joined
Feb 22, 2008
Messages
7,198
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

Do a compression test before spending a penny.
No sense bothering if they're shot.

It might need a transom job too, well worth fixing.
 

MKIV Surfer

Cadet
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
10
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

I have been up at John Hopkins Hospital with my father this last weekend, so haven't had time to reply, but I wanted to reply to everybody since you guys took the time to start pointing me in the right direction. I really appreicate the help on this site.

welcome to iboats. :)

im really sorry to hear about your situation.

i would keep the boat as well.

post the motor pics in our outboard forum.....they will have you up and running in short time.

as far as the electronics....post the gauge stuff there.

we can help you with the rest.

cheers
oops

Thanks for the reply. I will post the gauge information in there.

Welcome to iboats

I will move this to the outboard section.......... and I also advise you seek out the electrical forum too.

Step #1 would be a good service manual with the proper diagrams.......

Step 2 would be to get the PROPER marine wire to do your repairs.

The engine cover is an easy repair and they appear on ebay too all the time.

People stole the wires????? Hmmmm sounds like copper for crackheads program! :eek:

I will get a service manual, been looking for one. I was going to get one posted in "jonesg" sig, but then saw in the FAQ's that "Seloc or Cylmer Manuals" are not recommended. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place, but I seem to keep coming up with Seloc Manuals for Yamahas. I looked in the FAQ, but the manuals posted are mostly for Johnson and Evinrude's.

Having lost my father the same way and having to help sell his boat I totally understand. If you get the engine info off of the tags on the engines. Yamaha's web site if I recall gives you a parts break down. Also check the sticky's at the top of the forums page. It may take sometime and effort but there's no dollar amount that will be unjustified when you get her back in the water and begin to make new memories. And sorry to hear about you dad.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry to hear about your loss.

It would really help to have a part breakdown and diagrams so I know what parts to order. I will get the engine info off the motors and look into that this weekend and will see what I come up with.

+1 on manuals with diagrams. You can do this yourself its not that hard and you have an example to work from.

Yeah, that is what I am hoping, I think with having the other motor it shoud help quite a bit.

There's just no excuse for something like this. On the other hand see the link here to Yamaha motor parts diagrams complete with ordering information.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Outboard/parts.html

Just select your motor's year and model and you should find lots of parts info.
Good luck with it and keep us posted with updates. We will hope for a happy ending.
The vandals need to be hunted down like the dogs they are!!

THANK YOU!!! That's the kind of links that will help out A LOT. As I posted above, I will get the motor information and go from there. And start looking through those parts and also see if I can find any diagrams to see what parts I need (as mention from Allbutwet above).


Thanks for the link.

Do a compression test before spending a penny.
No sense bothering if they're shot.

It might need a transom job too, well worth fixing.

Thanks for the reply, I was thinking of doing that also. I don't have any ignition (wires cut), is there a way to trigger the igition from the motor since the wires are cut? Or do you think I can get enough piston movement from pulling it with a rope? I am going to let some oil soak in the cylinders overnight before I compression test it.
 

yikess

Cadet
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
7
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

There's just no excuse for something like this. On the other hand see the link here to Yamaha motor parts diagrams complete with ordering information.

http://www.boats.net/parts/search/Yamaha/Outboard/parts.html

Just select your motor's year and model and you should find lots of parts info.
Good luck with it and keep us posted with updates. We will hope for a happy ending.
The vandals need to be hunted down like the dogs they are!!

Thank you for this post. It just saved me $25 on the thermostat and another $20 on the graphics package.:D
 

MKIV Surfer

Cadet
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
10
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

Ok, I have looked up the motor spec and they are (will also post in first post in this so people don't have to search):

Year: 1986
Model - L200ETXJ


I was browsing the forums and saw someone else gave a link for service manuals on this thread:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=429311

I was going to use the site in there to order the service manual which is:

http://www.yamahapubs.com

It says those are OEM manuals, would you guys recommend that site. If so, I will order one.
 

badkins50

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
676
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

Sorry about your situation with both the father and the boat. If it were me, I would keep the boat as well. As a kid one of the greatest bonding experience was boating with dad. Good luck, this forum is by far the best for info.
 

MKIV Surfer

Cadet
Joined
Apr 30, 2010
Messages
10
Re: Boat Vandalized! Have some questions.

Sorry about your situation with both the father and the boat. If it were me, I would keep the boat as well. As a kid one of the greatest bonding experience was boating with dad. Good luck, this forum is by far the best for info.

Thanks for the post. I too have grown up boating with my father, and your right, it is a greating bonding experience. I have decided to keep the boat. I just ordered the Service Manual (mentioned above) for the motors about 30 min ago. And I'll start from there.

This forum seems to be a great place with a lot of helpful people.

Edit: Just saw your sig......one of my best friends growing up is named Brian Adkins....kind of weird, thought I would just mention it.
 
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