tlombard
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2007
- Messages
- 115
Tell me if you think this boat is cursed or if you have had a worse experience with a boat.
I?m not even getting into our experiences trying to find boats before this one. One guy even tried to get us to give him cash and take the number of his friend who supposedly had the titles to the boat and trailer.
A friend bought an 89 Conquest last June. He got what we thought was a really good price on it and everything looked good. He bought it off of Ebay on a Tuesday. Since neither of us owned a truck he had to buy a truck so he could even pick up the boat. He bought a pickup on Thursday evening and on Friday morning/afternoon he took it to my dad?s shop to check it out and fix a couple of small things before picking up the boat. Two miles after picking up the boat the truck died on the side of the highway. He called my dad who came out in his truck and after awhile they couldn?t get it started so they unhooked the boat and took it back to the shop with my dad?s truck. I got there about the time they were leaving with a flatbed trailer to pick up the truck and bring it back. Since it seemed like a fuel pump/filter problem I went to the auto parts store to pick up the parts while they got the truck. Well when they got near the truck they noticed that the highway was shut down to one lane and there were fire trucks and police cars all around. His truck caught on fire while they were gone and burned to the ground. There was literally not one useable part on the truck. Of course the kind police officer still felt the need to give him a ticket for not having proof of insurance (in the truck) and one for not having it registered. Even the title and bill of sale were in the truck so he couldn?t even prove he just bought it. I really wish we had pictures of the truck but the police had it towed and nobody had a camera with them or a camera phone even. He eventually got out of both tickets and his insurance company paid for the truck. It would have been nice had that been the end of the problems.
For tow vehicle #2 he purchased a Jeep Cherokee a week or so later. We took the boat out for the 4th of July on the Mississippi River and everything was great? except that we felt we were risking our lives every time we had to hit the brakes. The Cherokee just didn?t have enough to stop an 18? ski boat which doesn?t seem right. No worries though, he put the Jeep up for sale and someone agreed to buy it. He agreed to replace the serpentine belt before the guy picked it up and went to Autozone to buy the right socket to make the swap. He asked the guy at Autozone if he had something to cut the packaging with so he could make sure it fit right before leaving in case he had to take it back. Without any warning the worker whipped out a pocket knife and no only cut the packaging but cut my friend?s finger requiring a trip to the hospital and stitches. Autozon agreed to pay his deductibles at least but still haven?t paid nearly a year later. Guess that is what he gets for not suing.
Finally he bought another truck after selling the Cherokee and everything seems to be OK with that one other than the fact that it needed a water pump almost immediately and at one point is seemed to want to die at stop signs. We think an idle air controller and idle adjustments have that solved however. The boat made it out one more time and everything was fine. We thought the problems were over? but they were just beginning.
The middle of July we finalized our purchase of a lot on a private lake in Missouri and took his boat on the water to celebrate. It was the perfect day until all of a sudden we started hearing some unpleasant noises on the way back to the ramp to pull it out for the day. He found a guy on Craigslist who worked on boats part time in his retirement and paid him $150 to tell us that the lower unit was fine and that the problem was with the motor. Trusting him, we took the boat back to my dad?s shop and pulled the motor. After putting it on an engine stand we still couldn?t find anything wrong but considering the tolerances are so tight with bearings and such that didn?t tip us off that the motor might not be the problem. I found a motor on Craigslist from a boat that someone was parting out and he was able to hear the motor run before pulling it from the boat. Not a bad deal for less than $200. So this motor went back into the boat? but during the test drive it was clear that the same problem existed. Unfortunately the noise is only present when the motor is under load so we had to make a trip back to the river to find this out. In addition, the shift cable needed adjusting and it was an adventure to even get it into drive.
Since we were back to square one and it was still the fall we decided to just have the boat winterized and deal with it again this spring. After researching forums and talking to people we figured that it was likely the gimbal bearing and/or u-joints and found a mechanic with an actual shop to check them out and fix them. Those were the problems and we also had him try to adjust the shift cable? of course I have to mention that we blew a trailer tire on the way to the shop so there was the purchase of two new tires as well.
We picked up the boat last week and decided when the weather was nice enough one day? it was time for another test ride. We ventured back to the river and down the ramp. The engine fired up as soon as the key was turned with no throttle being applied. We were happy. It went right into reverse and I backed the boat off the trailer thinking everything was golden. Of course it wasn?t. As soon as I tried to go forward I realized we still had issues. The shift cable wasn?t anywhere near right and it was an adventure getting to the dock to wait for my friend. We ended up having not just the shift cable problem hurting us but also the throttle is sticking slightly and it is overheating horribly. We never actually made it out of the marina. Instead we ended up 50 yards down from the ramp tied to the back of someone?s slip while we waited for the engine to cool and rigged up a device to pull back the throttle in a hurry on the way back when it stuck (not even a question of if). We did also make some adjustments to the shift cable which did help and we are close to having it right. After finally getting back to the ramp we got the boat out of the water and back to the ship which had done the last repairs since it was so close. This is where I should also mention that the people at the marina were very kind and actually gave us the ramping fee back because they could tell we were having trouble and didn?t even get out on the water really. They didn?t have to do that but if we make it back to the river I know we?ll be using their ramp again and recommending them to others.
We are also very thankful to Mark (the mechanic) since he walked out there when we showed up and actually found the problem for us free of charge and told us that we could fix it ourselves and save some money. The impeller is completely shot so we are going to replace the whole assembly, housing and all as soon as the parts arrive. Hopefully once we lube up the throttle cable, replace the spring, ajust the shift cable and get the impeller put back together we will be good to go for the rest of the year? although the current string of events would not indicate that we even stand a chance! The boat has officially been on more test runs to see if it has been fixed than actual pleasure outings and it has been almost a year now. I just really hope these are the last of the troubles because I feel kind of guilty for putting the boat idea into his head. We were looking to split one for awhile and then I decided to go ahead and buy a pontoon which he did not want any part of. After one time on the river he decided he had to buy a ski boat and that next week is when the problems started. I really feel guilty since I paid a third of what he did for my pontoon and haven?t had a single problem to date (knock on wood). If the boat sunk tomorrow I would still have gotten my money?s worth out of it!!!
Sound like he is cursed or what?
I?m not even getting into our experiences trying to find boats before this one. One guy even tried to get us to give him cash and take the number of his friend who supposedly had the titles to the boat and trailer.
A friend bought an 89 Conquest last June. He got what we thought was a really good price on it and everything looked good. He bought it off of Ebay on a Tuesday. Since neither of us owned a truck he had to buy a truck so he could even pick up the boat. He bought a pickup on Thursday evening and on Friday morning/afternoon he took it to my dad?s shop to check it out and fix a couple of small things before picking up the boat. Two miles after picking up the boat the truck died on the side of the highway. He called my dad who came out in his truck and after awhile they couldn?t get it started so they unhooked the boat and took it back to the shop with my dad?s truck. I got there about the time they were leaving with a flatbed trailer to pick up the truck and bring it back. Since it seemed like a fuel pump/filter problem I went to the auto parts store to pick up the parts while they got the truck. Well when they got near the truck they noticed that the highway was shut down to one lane and there were fire trucks and police cars all around. His truck caught on fire while they were gone and burned to the ground. There was literally not one useable part on the truck. Of course the kind police officer still felt the need to give him a ticket for not having proof of insurance (in the truck) and one for not having it registered. Even the title and bill of sale were in the truck so he couldn?t even prove he just bought it. I really wish we had pictures of the truck but the police had it towed and nobody had a camera with them or a camera phone even. He eventually got out of both tickets and his insurance company paid for the truck. It would have been nice had that been the end of the problems.
For tow vehicle #2 he purchased a Jeep Cherokee a week or so later. We took the boat out for the 4th of July on the Mississippi River and everything was great? except that we felt we were risking our lives every time we had to hit the brakes. The Cherokee just didn?t have enough to stop an 18? ski boat which doesn?t seem right. No worries though, he put the Jeep up for sale and someone agreed to buy it. He agreed to replace the serpentine belt before the guy picked it up and went to Autozone to buy the right socket to make the swap. He asked the guy at Autozone if he had something to cut the packaging with so he could make sure it fit right before leaving in case he had to take it back. Without any warning the worker whipped out a pocket knife and no only cut the packaging but cut my friend?s finger requiring a trip to the hospital and stitches. Autozon agreed to pay his deductibles at least but still haven?t paid nearly a year later. Guess that is what he gets for not suing.
Finally he bought another truck after selling the Cherokee and everything seems to be OK with that one other than the fact that it needed a water pump almost immediately and at one point is seemed to want to die at stop signs. We think an idle air controller and idle adjustments have that solved however. The boat made it out one more time and everything was fine. We thought the problems were over? but they were just beginning.
The middle of July we finalized our purchase of a lot on a private lake in Missouri and took his boat on the water to celebrate. It was the perfect day until all of a sudden we started hearing some unpleasant noises on the way back to the ramp to pull it out for the day. He found a guy on Craigslist who worked on boats part time in his retirement and paid him $150 to tell us that the lower unit was fine and that the problem was with the motor. Trusting him, we took the boat back to my dad?s shop and pulled the motor. After putting it on an engine stand we still couldn?t find anything wrong but considering the tolerances are so tight with bearings and such that didn?t tip us off that the motor might not be the problem. I found a motor on Craigslist from a boat that someone was parting out and he was able to hear the motor run before pulling it from the boat. Not a bad deal for less than $200. So this motor went back into the boat? but during the test drive it was clear that the same problem existed. Unfortunately the noise is only present when the motor is under load so we had to make a trip back to the river to find this out. In addition, the shift cable needed adjusting and it was an adventure to even get it into drive.
Since we were back to square one and it was still the fall we decided to just have the boat winterized and deal with it again this spring. After researching forums and talking to people we figured that it was likely the gimbal bearing and/or u-joints and found a mechanic with an actual shop to check them out and fix them. Those were the problems and we also had him try to adjust the shift cable? of course I have to mention that we blew a trailer tire on the way to the shop so there was the purchase of two new tires as well.
We picked up the boat last week and decided when the weather was nice enough one day? it was time for another test ride. We ventured back to the river and down the ramp. The engine fired up as soon as the key was turned with no throttle being applied. We were happy. It went right into reverse and I backed the boat off the trailer thinking everything was golden. Of course it wasn?t. As soon as I tried to go forward I realized we still had issues. The shift cable wasn?t anywhere near right and it was an adventure getting to the dock to wait for my friend. We ended up having not just the shift cable problem hurting us but also the throttle is sticking slightly and it is overheating horribly. We never actually made it out of the marina. Instead we ended up 50 yards down from the ramp tied to the back of someone?s slip while we waited for the engine to cool and rigged up a device to pull back the throttle in a hurry on the way back when it stuck (not even a question of if). We did also make some adjustments to the shift cable which did help and we are close to having it right. After finally getting back to the ramp we got the boat out of the water and back to the ship which had done the last repairs since it was so close. This is where I should also mention that the people at the marina were very kind and actually gave us the ramping fee back because they could tell we were having trouble and didn?t even get out on the water really. They didn?t have to do that but if we make it back to the river I know we?ll be using their ramp again and recommending them to others.
We are also very thankful to Mark (the mechanic) since he walked out there when we showed up and actually found the problem for us free of charge and told us that we could fix it ourselves and save some money. The impeller is completely shot so we are going to replace the whole assembly, housing and all as soon as the parts arrive. Hopefully once we lube up the throttle cable, replace the spring, ajust the shift cable and get the impeller put back together we will be good to go for the rest of the year? although the current string of events would not indicate that we even stand a chance! The boat has officially been on more test runs to see if it has been fixed than actual pleasure outings and it has been almost a year now. I just really hope these are the last of the troubles because I feel kind of guilty for putting the boat idea into his head. We were looking to split one for awhile and then I decided to go ahead and buy a pontoon which he did not want any part of. After one time on the river he decided he had to buy a ski boat and that next week is when the problems started. I really feel guilty since I paid a third of what he did for my pontoon and haven?t had a single problem to date (knock on wood). If the boat sunk tomorrow I would still have gotten my money?s worth out of it!!!
Sound like he is cursed or what?
