is this a decent boat to buy?

[lukesmobile]

hi im new to boating so please bear with me as im not super familiar with everything. im looking to buy a boat and ive found a few i like ive been looking at four winns and sea rays around 18 foot with an open bow http://tucson.craigslist.org/boa/2968729881.html

this is a link to one of the boats i have a few questions the owner says its a model a190 with a fuel injected 4cyl putting out 190 hp and says its a merc plant not omc. im a little nervous about it since i cant seem to locate anything on a 190 hp 4cyl motor. im definetly going to have a boat mechanic look at what ever i decide to buy but is this boat a good set up or is it not woth my time?

[davidkuhlmann]

Where do you plan on doing most of your boating and how many people will you normally have in the boat? Is this for fishing or just family playtime? Also what is your budget?

[lukesmobile]

i would like a boat for both a little bit of fishing off the boat as well as pulling a tube around on lakes here in az i def dont want to go over 6k if possible as i just got married and everything is always on a budget. i would like a boat i can put possibly 3-4 adults and 2 small children but most of the time it would be me the wife and the dog. would i be better off with a larger motor? im nervous aboutr that 4cyl im not sure if its the merc 3.7 but ive heard some bad things about those

[davidkuhlmann]

Well that boat is not really a good fishing boat IMO. The boat appears to be in good condition and at a reasonable price. The issues if there are any are with maintenance on the outdrive can be kind of pricey. I'd look for a center console in the 21 foot range with an outboard and you should be able to find something in the 2000 year range I would think with a 2 stroke for power. One thing you will run into is you will always want 2 more feet we call this 2' itis. Save yourself the trouble now and don't buy too small of a boat. Go out and get in the boat you are looking at and envision the normal crew you will have in that boat as well as ice chests and other gear and see if you think in real time it would work for you.

The reason I say a center console is they have much more usable space and you will be more comfortable. Those are the boats you should go take a look at and like I said climb aboard and see how you see yourself in that boat doing what you want to do. Or better yet if you have some buddies go out on some different styles so you can make an informed decision.

Once you do find something you are interested in please post pics of it here so we can take a look. There are a few things to stay away from or to have checked out but we need to see what it is you are looking at first.

Edited April 26, 2012 by David Kuhlmann

[davidkuhlmann]

Oh another thing if you do decide to go with that boat I'd make sure you check the following closely. The floor for soft spots very important as well as the transom for rot. The stringer system under the floor is usually made of wood and if water was allowed to sit will cause rot in the sub floor as well as in the flooring itself. Expensive to fix but doable. Same with the transom, either would be a deal breaker since I feel the price of that boat is if it is in top notch condition and lake ready no maintenance for a year.

Oh now for the motor in that boat:

The 224cid ran from 1976 to 1989. It had many different labels, 470, 485, 488, 3.7, 165, 170, 185, 190.

Essentially a 4 cylinder aluminium engine block with a Ford 460 cylinder head, pistons, crank and rods. It was freshwater cooled, because of the ali block, and different horse-powers were achieved by using different exhaust manifolds and different carbs.

They suffered many afflictions.

Mercury used an outboard style charging system with a stator under the harmonic balance and a water cooled voltage regulator. These were a problem because bilge water would damage the stator or the magnets in the balancer. Most people upgrade the charging system to a belt driven marine alternator.

The design included an integrated engine water pump, but the shaft seals on the end of the camshaft were prone to failure, and not easy to replace.

The original heat exchanger was a 3" unit, which only just kept the engine cool enough. Merc later changer it to a 4". Overheating was a problem because of the open deck design of the cylinder block. A lot of head gasket problems.

A lot of the parts are now NLA (No Longer Available).

Other than those items, they were a strong engine, with quite good fuel economy. If you find a good one, that has had as many of the design flaws removed as possible, they can be quite a good engine.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=386771

Edited April 26, 2012 by David Kuhlmann

[BMarkey]

If you want to fish with it, stick with a center console type boat with an outboard motor. I made the I/O engine mistake and spent countless hours cleaning upholstery and carpet. The I/O was under-powered and required way too much maintenance.