New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

[wizarddeath]

Hey guys,

Finally got my first boat, and was so excited about it. Met the guy, took it out for a test drive and seemed great. Purchased it for a good deal I think.... It is a 97 Bay liner Capri 1851 Capri SS with a 4.3 LX Gen+ motor. I don't have either manual so trying to find these online.

He has the service records, however he the most recent summer tune up for this year mentions watery oil. I've read what that means, and now I'm worried! He has the tune up for the previous year, and winterization(sp?) receipts, so some friends mentioned don't be worried. It does do the diseling behavior every now and then, most often after I do high rpm and stop, but if I let it idle for 15 seconds then turn it off it does it fine. I'm wondering if this could cause the water in the oil? If not, should I just go ahead and sell the entire boat with it functioning and let the buyer know it could have problems down the road, or keep it? I managed to get it for $5500, if that helps at all.

Also to make matters worse, my wife was driving and seemed to run over some branches in the water. It scratched the gelcoat off the boat from the keel about half way down the bow of the boat. Some light scratches, nothing heavy. Im thinking gel coat repair, but I called someone and they said it wasn't 100% necessary to do this.... Is that true?The prop is really dinged up, and I am looking for suggestions on that to be replaced. I would like to wake board, and turn it into a more wake boarding boat with cruising speeds around 30-35 mph maybe, so any suggestions on that would help out! taking suggestions on towers if I do keep the boat..... Just thinking about putting 2-4 milk jugs filled with sand in the back of the boat now for weight.

Also the skeg is kind of dinged up, no where near as bad as some pictures. I'm wondering if this does anything other then help the turning radius? I was thinking of getting a blackfin for this, as it has scraped once or twice coming in my drive way.

Also one of the rear banch seat cushions is broken and needs to be replaced. I'm trying to find one of these online, but it seems tough so any ideas would be nice.

Thanks for the help!

 

[winterfunguy]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

First off Im going to be completely and brutally honest...Bayliner boats are the cheapest and lowest quality boats on the market. You will be hard pressed to get your $6000 back just being honest. The gelcoat may or may not need to be repaired depending on the sevarity of the damage...you say "branches" did this much damage to your Bayliner? Seriously??? The moisture in the oil could be a completely normal condition called condensation...marine engines generally only heat up to 150?F so the oil tends to get milky because it never gets hot enough to evaporate the water. Keep your eye on the oil LEVEL and watch for excessive milkeyness . The prop should be replaced or repaired if damaged...this will kill the performance of your boat and cause an out of balance condition which will kill the outdrive bearings. Don't worry about the skeg. I would always recomend letting the engine idle a few seconds after a hard run and bring the throttle down slowly don't go from WOT to neutral that's just plain stupid and puts a serious strain on the rings and piston crowns. Once again Im not trying to be rude but this post required brutal honesty...

 

[wizarddeath]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

Yea, it was essentially a large limb which fell into the water, and was submerged, but still high enough to clip the boat. I was initially shocked the boat didn't sink from the noise it made. My hull is white, and there isn't any large nicks in the bottom, just scratches. It goes from smooth, gel coat feeling, to a dry wall type feeling if that makes any sense?

I saw a few boats still up on CL in my area for the same price, so I would compete with them, but time will tell about the investment, I really would rather keep it, if it turns out I don't have to replace the motor in a year or 2. I went into this thinking this was a 5 year investment, and hoping to come out the other side with at least a 40% return if I can keep it up. I knew boats are a big money sink. The oil just for some reason seems to stick out cause of all the other post on the forums.

Any suggestions on the prop Winter? I was thinking maybe a Aluminum 4 blade from what I read?

Can you expand on why not to worry about the skeg? Not looking for you to talk me into buying a replacement. I would think that would help performance of the boat too in the water?

Thanks for the reply

 

[egldvrbags]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

Yea, it was essentially a large limb which fell into the water, and was submerged, but still high enough to clip the boat. I was initially shocked the boat didn't sink from the noise it made. My hull is white, and there isn't any large nicks in the bottom, just scratches. It goes from smooth, gel coat feeling, to a dry wall type feeling if that makes any sense?

I saw a few boats still up on CL in my area for the same price, so I would compete with them, but time will tell about the investment, I really would rather keep it, if it turns out I don't have to replace the motor in a year or 2. I went into this thinking this was a 5 year investment, and hoping to come out the other side with at least a 40% return if I can keep it up. I knew boats are a big money sink. The oil just for some reason seems to stick out cause of all the other post on the forums.

Any suggestions on the prop Winter? I was thinking maybe a Aluminum 4 blade from what I read?

Can you expand on why not to worry about the skeg? Not looking for you to talk me into buying a replacement. I would think that would help performance of the boat too in the water?

Thanks for the reply

I have a 1995 Bayliner and it's a great boat. Just like yours, the hull is a Bayliner BUT the engine is a 4.3LX GM and the outdrive a Merc.....the engine and outdrive can go in numerous boats from different manufacturers.

I bent and broke off part of my skeg several years ago and didn't do anything to it. I can't tell a bit of difference in handling/performance before or after it got bent.

Here's the thread (since the pix were taken, about an inch at the far trailing edge has broken off):

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=236382

Bags

 

[NHGuy]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

I agree with the above and have a workaround for the dieseling. If you turn the engine off and it diesels, turn the ignition back on right away and allow it to run some more to cool the combustion chambers. If it just won't shut off try shutting it off in gear, the load on the motor might help stop it.
And absolutely ditto about throttling down, avoid chopping the throttle.
Throttle chops and dieseling can both bring water into the engine in a bad way, through the exhaust. This is really important to prevent. Don't let it happen, it can cost a lot to repair.

 

[sandersps]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

First off Im going to be completely and brutally honest...Bayliner boats are the cheapest and lowest quality boats on the market. You will be hard pressed to get your $6000 back just being honest. The gelcoat may or may not need to be repaired depending on the sevarity of the damage...you say "branches" did this much damage to your Bayliner? Seriously???

Are you a Crownline or Maybe Mastercraft?

 

[81 Checkmate]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

Dont worry about what others say about your new to you Boat. It might be were you live that dictates the price. If you like it keep it!

1. Just keep an eye on the oil level, You could have suck up water from dieseling. Do the shutdowm procedures as mentioned.
2. Get a manual for your boat and learn how it works and how to do maintance.
3. As far as the scratch on the bottom if you are worried get a gelcoat repair kit from the marine store. This is an easy fix and they have colors that match.
4. The skeg is no big deal either.
5. The prop can be repaired also at a relative cheap price compared to a new one.

Just have fun with your new boat and enjoy!

 

[winterfunguy]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

Are you a Crownline or Maybe Mastercraft?

I'm actaually a Cobalt

 

[winterfunguy]

Re: New boat owner! 97 Bayliner Capri/ Mercruiser 4.3L

4 blade props would be good for you as they get the boat on plane quicker with a skier...you may have to pitch down when going to a 4 blade though so if you can try a loaner from a prop shop you may save yourself some money by getting exactly the right prop when you buy. You mention winter? Winterization? DO NOT winterize your boat yourself untill you have someone show you how to do it and what needs to be done...its not that hard to do but needs to be done right and DONE COMPLETELY.