Looking at a 1997 crowline 240BR

[samt]

Hey guys ive been a member here for a while. I have an old boat with omc drive and its time for something newer. I have a trade offer to trade my motorcycle for a newer boat. Motorcycle is worth 7500 on a good day, but im not having luck selling it and wife is preggo so it needs to go! Anyways Im looking at a 1997 crownline 240 bow rider. It has volvo penta drive with dual props and a 454 engine. Boat looks pretty nice, needs a wax bad, but interior was new 2 years ago. Its supposto be "lake ready" other than needing cleaned up from sitting.
I think the value is there, but i havent been around the volvo drive so i need some tips on what to look for when i lay eyes on it. I dont want to end up with a money pit because i overlooked something obvious.
I figured the first thing would be to run it on muffs for a while and see how it runs/ sounds, check the oil in the engine for water after that. Im thinking I would be wise to pull the props and pull the drain plug, look at that oil and i guess if it oozes real slow i can be fairly confident in the seals. Probably check runout on prop shaft while the props are off.
Anything else? What do i need to know about the drive.
Thanks, Sam

 

[Dave-R]

You will be more likely to find problems if you can get the boat on the water. I have a Duo-prop, and really like the Volvo drives. They are heavy duty and shift soft.I am not sure if this a SX drive, or the older 290 DP. In any case I would figure on a new gimbal bearing, new exhaust manifolds, and bellows for the exhaust and u-joints,and also a new impellor. These are all wear or time items. The owner may have done these, but I doubt it. Dave-R

 

[bruceb58]

Assuming the boat is in Kansas where the OP is, the boat is probably a freshwater boat. Manifolds should still be fine. U-joints and gimbal bearing should still be good unless the bellows got water in it.

 

[Lou C]

Don't forget to check the boats structure for rot, that is very common and the boat being a 97 is going on 19 years old. .Rot is worse than engine or drive problems and much more time consuming to repair...