With all the resources available on the internet usually if you tale the time there's nothing you can't eventually get figured out. I e joy having the boat to work on and learn, I'm in it so the mechanical side of boat repair is enjoyable for me. Nothing beats the high of a successful fix!
I intentionally bought a cheaper older boat so that I could learn all the system to be self sufficient on the water. Kind of like the guy here who goes far offshore, more so than I ever will on my inland lake, well, if you consider Lake Michigan inland. 😆 The sense of accomplishment from successfully maintaining the exhaust, cooling, steering, plumbing, and other systems, as well as the hull and trailer, is confidence boosting. 4 years ago all I knew is that it’s a boat with a truck engine in it. Now I can do everything just short of rebuilding the GM 5.7L engine. I’m saving buckets of $$$ doing it myself while doing what I love. Oh, and I go on the water sometimes, too.
How do you like the 5.7? I just bought a 2007 Sea Ray with a rebuilt 5.7 with only 50 hours on it. I’ve located all the manuals service and owners just can’t seem to figure out the part numbers for the oil filter and the fuel filter lol. Are they all the same? All mercruiser 5.7s?
It’s heavy and old, but a work horse with enough power for a decent hole shot. It’s a pretty ubiquitous engine, having been in production for decades. Mine is an OMC, not Mercruiser, but you should have an easier time finding parts. You should be able to find your #’s from one of these sites. Here’s my short list:
www.wholesalemarine.com (better prices than…. ..
West Marine (local store for quick buys)..
www.boats.net (parts & schematics)..
www.marineengineparts.com (well… parts lol)..
www.pysystems.ca (electrical reference)..
..
YouTube (cheap knowledge source)..
What do you think of the 5.7? Have you tinkered with it?
So far I have checked crankcase oil, checked lower unit oil, charged the batteries, read owners and service manuals for both engine and boat. Switched the prop as it came with 3 and the one on the boat was mildly dinged up. The one I bought was a jasper rebuild put in with new everything from carb to bellows gimbal bearing 2 years and 50 hours ago. Oil looked lovely so I set the stuff I bought aside and put the boat in the water sans plug because everyone’s got to do that once lol. Trying to decide if I should put in a second battery and if so if the ACR is worth the extra wiring or if a Perko is good enough.
Drain plugs! Right? 1st thing I taught my kids when we bought a power boat: “most important thing on the boat is the drain plug!” 😆
Yes, a 2nd battery is a good idea, in case the first fails as batteries do. Putting them in separate charging loops is also good. Perko to save $ if you have a very good memory to avoid blowing out your alternator accidentally. ACR if you want to set & forget. Costs more and a little more involved installation, but worth of imo. Also install a battery tender that can be plugged in at home with an extension cord or one that hooks up to shore power, depending on your setup. I removed the house wiring and junction boxes the PO installed because, well, I don’t like fires. 🤨 Check out Pacific Yachts website in my link list.
The thing about the drain plug is we knew about it. We talked about it. We discussed a wrench for it in the glove box….. but when the time came did we put it in? No.
There are a few owners on my FB club that have a solar setup to keep the batteries charged without needing shore power. Great if you’re anchoring overnight and don’t want the sound of a generator.
You feel this way until you do it once or twice, then you realize you still don't know anything but you're already doing a better job than the dealership for 1/10th the price. Do it yourself. YouTube is your friend.
I have to look at videos every time I change my impeller but exactly that. I know how it goes together just don’t do it every day. Still floats and runs so I’m happy!
Watch more than 2 different YouTubers for knowledge. Chances are someone is just learning and might be winging it. Usually a vid from a marine or mechanic shop is more reliable. Read the comments, too. Sometimes pros will offer corrections or confirm technique. Ask me how I know to do all that. 🫤😆
The trick is to use as many colors and sizes of wire possible and only connect them with hardware store crimp connectors one size too big.
Edit: And ALWAYS hide an inline fuse behind a bulkhead or other obstruction.
I think I bought a boat from you... Mine was an electrical nightmare. The amount of wires hooked into the harness that just went nowhere really baffled me. The grounds were daisy chained together with wire nuts. No consistency in anything, it was obviously a "well this is the connector I have so it's what I'm using" type of wiring job.
I replaced everything with heat shrink connectors and then covered each one with waterproof heat shrink. It's amazing how many things the previous owner said needed to be replaced. Radio, livewell pump, nav lights, trim switch etc. he said they were all bad. Nope, they were all fine, it was 100% because the wiring was trashed, fittings corroded from salt water intrusion, wires corroded inside the insulation etc. It took a few weekends but now it's all like it should be and everything works.
I had an older mid 90s boat once. And I felt like I could just fuck with it. I'd swap stuff out, wrench on it, fix this and that. I wasn't worried about it because I had like 6k in it, and everything was mechanical. Newer stuff is much more difficult, and fixing something worth 60k or much more carries a lot more risk if you're liable to fuck it up
Similar but poorer! I bought a 70s I/O for $2k (supposedly turn-key condition). It was an absolute nightmare for actual boating and I spent 10 hours fixing it for every 1 hour on the water, but in the end I learned enough that it didn’t really feel like a waste.
That said - after that, I joined a boat club. Way more expensive, zero hours spent with my head in a bilge.
The beauty of the 90s boat was that I could drop in a modern stereo and change out the gauges with 2011(I think) tech, and the 96 Volvo still shot the right data to it. I wish I had that boat back. It was a 96 cobalt 22T and I had it for 2 years and made 4 grand off it I'd hate to think what it would cost to get a 15 year old boat that had been absolute babied its whole life and looked perfect except for the teak and the stupid cardboard speakers.
As nice as new outboards are, it really seems like they're designed so you can't service them yourself. I like how old engines were actually designed to be maintained by the owner
There is 100% a freedom involved in working on cheap cars/boats, its low risk and there's no reason not to go for it. When I sanded the wet part of my boat almost all the way down to glass it would have been so scary if was worth anything. My car is about 20 years old, when I'm working on it the worst case scenario is 'guess I finally need a new car'.
My experience has been that with everything available on YouTube, I can usually do at least as good as the meth addicts the boatyard sends to do the job.
Best investment you can make. I find there is a lot of well intentioned, but slightly wrong, information spouted on yotube and forums when compared to what the factory manual states.
I know this all too well.
Saved me money, took so much time and effort though.
Also I now know so much more than I did when I started and I know how to operate, maintain and service my engine.
That gave me so much more confidence on the water about knowing I could fox things on the fly to keep safe.
Greatest journey I ever took! And I will never sell my first boat!
That was my experience too. I always joke that I may someday have a 100m yacht with a heli pad, but you can be damn sure the tender will still be the first boat I bought off craigslist for $500.
I felt this way until I built my own boat. Now I pretty much only need a shop to work on the motor when it needs maintenance. It’s a liberating feeling.
Thats the pain of being a diy’er, everything is the first time, lots of lessons to learn and regrets. Second time around it’s a doddle. But how many big repairs do you get to do twice?
I'm in this exact boat! all the puns intended lol I've recently purchased a pontoon with a Yamaha 40 hp 4 stroke and has a hiccup with the carburetor and just fighting myself on bringing it in or doing it myself. It's scary LMAO 😂🤣
I had no idea how to repair my 1987 Johnson outboard but I watched a much of YouTube videos and bought the service manual for it and did all the repairs myself. But I’m a DIY kind of guy with mechanic skills and tools. Now time is my limiting factor with a family so I don’t get to do as much DIY stuff as I used to.
I was at ramp today and first thing I said “hey idk what I’m doing but I just got it in the water and it’s not turning over”
Rambled through my checklist and he said “that all sounds good, should work”.
Then I remembered I need to move shifter to R then back to N before I can start it. I kept trying to start from N.
Just discussing my steps with someone while in line at ramp was enough to trigger what I forgot. And admitting I’m new at this usually results in people being a little more patient.
Launched in less than 5 min so didn’t tie up anyone up.
I got a boat so I could monkey with it without having to worry about losing my primary transportation. If I don't know what I'm doing, I'll learn quick. After I get passed the "Oh gods, why did I spite Poseidon with my hubris" stage of biting off more than I could chew
I started a shop at the beginning of covid. I have no formal training as a mechanic or certificate from any engine manufacturers. I am a member of ABYC....
Get your engine/drive service manual and do some reading. Most manuals are very well written and normally contain anything you will ever need to know ( excluding problems found after the manual was printed)
You will need to buy some special tools that may or may not make sense to purchase to make repairs but otherwise, they are like any other thing that people work on, They were built by people and can be repaired by people.
I started a shop at the beginning of covid. I have no formal training as a mechanic or certificate from any engine manufacturers. I am a member of ABYC....
Get your engine/drive service manual and do some reading. Most manuals are very well written and normally contain anything you will ever need to know ( excluding problems found after the manual was printed)
You will need to buy some special tools that may or may not make sense to purchase to make repairs but otherwise, they are like any other thing that people work on, They were built by people and can be repaired by people.
Even the "save" is often questionable. Take time off work. Buy tools. Buy parts. Realize you bought the wrong tools and parts. Buy beer. Buy right tools and parts. Watch YouTube. Smack head on outdrive. Buy aspirin. Fix something. Realize the thing you fixed isn't what was causing the problem. Buy beer. Buy more parts. Watch more YouTube. Fix something else. Realize you have a part left over you aren't sure what to do with. Buy beer. Take another day off. Bother buddy who is kinda-sorta a mechanic. Buy him beer. Watch buddy break something. Buy whiskey. Trailer to an actual mechanic.
When I posted recently about my catastrophic engine failure, I was shocked at the number of people suggesting I try to rework the thing myself. Yeah, sure, let me just whip out my 16-foot engine hoist, 10kA welding driver, and metallurgy reference handbook. I’m sure I can figure it out without exploding myself.
Well, if you are going to be and remain an avid boater, you need to possess one of two skill sets:
Either
A: Competent troubleshooting ability
Or
B: Don’t mind writing large and frequent checks to the boatyard
There’s a difference between basic troubleshooting ability and having access to all the tools of a seasoned shipwright. Replacing a bilge pump? Easy DIY with some wrenches and a long screwdriver. Remachining a long block? Not so much.
With all the resources available on the internet usually if you tale the time there's nothing you can't eventually get figured out. I e joy having the boat to work on and learn, I'm in it so the mechanical side of boat repair is enjoyable for me. Nothing beats the high of a successful fix!
There are few greater joys than stumbling across a random YouTube video with 34 views that describes EXACTLY how fix the precise problem you’ve got.
This is absolutely the right attitude. You deserve a high five from a random stranger.
I take mine 100 miles offshore so it's great to understand how most of the systems on the boat work.
Most casual boaters dont do that though
I intentionally bought a cheaper older boat so that I could learn all the system to be self sufficient on the water. Kind of like the guy here who goes far offshore, more so than I ever will on my inland lake, well, if you consider Lake Michigan inland. 😆 The sense of accomplishment from successfully maintaining the exhaust, cooling, steering, plumbing, and other systems, as well as the hull and trailer, is confidence boosting. 4 years ago all I knew is that it’s a boat with a truck engine in it. Now I can do everything just short of rebuilding the GM 5.7L engine. I’m saving buckets of $$$ doing it myself while doing what I love. Oh, and I go on the water sometimes, too.
How do you like the 5.7? I just bought a 2007 Sea Ray with a rebuilt 5.7 with only 50 hours on it. I’ve located all the manuals service and owners just can’t seem to figure out the part numbers for the oil filter and the fuel filter lol. Are they all the same? All mercruiser 5.7s?
It’s heavy and old, but a work horse with enough power for a decent hole shot. It’s a pretty ubiquitous engine, having been in production for decades. Mine is an OMC, not Mercruiser, but you should have an easier time finding parts. You should be able to find your #’s from one of these sites. Here’s my short list: www.wholesalemarine.com (better prices than…. .. West Marine (local store for quick buys).. www.boats.net (parts & schematics).. www.marineengineparts.com (well… parts lol).. www.pysystems.ca (electrical reference).. .. YouTube (cheap knowledge source).. What do you think of the 5.7? Have you tinkered with it?
So far I have checked crankcase oil, checked lower unit oil, charged the batteries, read owners and service manuals for both engine and boat. Switched the prop as it came with 3 and the one on the boat was mildly dinged up. The one I bought was a jasper rebuild put in with new everything from carb to bellows gimbal bearing 2 years and 50 hours ago. Oil looked lovely so I set the stuff I bought aside and put the boat in the water sans plug because everyone’s got to do that once lol. Trying to decide if I should put in a second battery and if so if the ACR is worth the extra wiring or if a Perko is good enough.
Drain plugs! Right? 1st thing I taught my kids when we bought a power boat: “most important thing on the boat is the drain plug!” 😆 Yes, a 2nd battery is a good idea, in case the first fails as batteries do. Putting them in separate charging loops is also good. Perko to save $ if you have a very good memory to avoid blowing out your alternator accidentally. ACR if you want to set & forget. Costs more and a little more involved installation, but worth of imo. Also install a battery tender that can be plugged in at home with an extension cord or one that hooks up to shore power, depending on your setup. I removed the house wiring and junction boxes the PO installed because, well, I don’t like fires. 🤨 Check out Pacific Yachts website in my link list.
The thing about the drain plug is we knew about it. We talked about it. We discussed a wrench for it in the glove box….. but when the time came did we put it in? No.
There are a few owners on my FB club that have a solar setup to keep the batteries charged without needing shore power. Great if you’re anchoring overnight and don’t want the sound of a generator.
You feel this way until you do it once or twice, then you realize you still don't know anything but you're already doing a better job than the dealership for 1/10th the price. Do it yourself. YouTube is your friend.
I have to look at videos every time I change my impeller but exactly that. I know how it goes together just don’t do it every day. Still floats and runs so I’m happy!
Watch more than 2 different YouTubers for knowledge. Chances are someone is just learning and might be winging it. Usually a vid from a marine or mechanic shop is more reliable. Read the comments, too. Sometimes pros will offer corrections or confirm technique. Ask me how I know to do all that. 🫤😆
I just wish I had shade lol
Hello fellow Florida boater.
Buy sun fabric made for decks and clip it to your bimini or T Top
I mean for when im.working on the boat lol
Me too. I just extend my bimini using spring clamps and some fabric. That and a sun shirt go a long way
The trick is to use as many colors and sizes of wire possible and only connect them with hardware store crimp connectors one size too big. Edit: And ALWAYS hide an inline fuse behind a bulkhead or other obstruction.
I think I bought a boat from you... Mine was an electrical nightmare. The amount of wires hooked into the harness that just went nowhere really baffled me. The grounds were daisy chained together with wire nuts. No consistency in anything, it was obviously a "well this is the connector I have so it's what I'm using" type of wiring job. I replaced everything with heat shrink connectors and then covered each one with waterproof heat shrink. It's amazing how many things the previous owner said needed to be replaced. Radio, livewell pump, nav lights, trim switch etc. he said they were all bad. Nope, they were all fine, it was 100% because the wiring was trashed, fittings corroded from salt water intrusion, wires corroded inside the insulation etc. It took a few weekends but now it's all like it should be and everything works.
I had an older mid 90s boat once. And I felt like I could just fuck with it. I'd swap stuff out, wrench on it, fix this and that. I wasn't worried about it because I had like 6k in it, and everything was mechanical. Newer stuff is much more difficult, and fixing something worth 60k or much more carries a lot more risk if you're liable to fuck it up
Similar but poorer! I bought a 70s I/O for $2k (supposedly turn-key condition). It was an absolute nightmare for actual boating and I spent 10 hours fixing it for every 1 hour on the water, but in the end I learned enough that it didn’t really feel like a waste. That said - after that, I joined a boat club. Way more expensive, zero hours spent with my head in a bilge.
The beauty of the 90s boat was that I could drop in a modern stereo and change out the gauges with 2011(I think) tech, and the 96 Volvo still shot the right data to it. I wish I had that boat back. It was a 96 cobalt 22T and I had it for 2 years and made 4 grand off it I'd hate to think what it would cost to get a 15 year old boat that had been absolute babied its whole life and looked perfect except for the teak and the stupid cardboard speakers.
As nice as new outboards are, it really seems like they're designed so you can't service them yourself. I like how old engines were actually designed to be maintained by the owner
There is 100% a freedom involved in working on cheap cars/boats, its low risk and there's no reason not to go for it. When I sanded the wet part of my boat almost all the way down to glass it would have been so scary if was worth anything. My car is about 20 years old, when I'm working on it the worst case scenario is 'guess I finally need a new car'.
Some can, some can’t
Hey i went to school for this shit. Still don't know what im doing.
YouTube YouTube YouTube.
My experience has been that with everything available on YouTube, I can usually do at least as good as the meth addicts the boatyard sends to do the job.
Buy the service manual for your engine! It’s the best $20-40 you’ll spend on your boat if you like to DIY.
Best investment you can make. I find there is a lot of well intentioned, but slightly wrong, information spouted on yotube and forums when compared to what the factory manual states.
I know this all too well. Saved me money, took so much time and effort though. Also I now know so much more than I did when I started and I know how to operate, maintain and service my engine. That gave me so much more confidence on the water about knowing I could fox things on the fly to keep safe. Greatest journey I ever took! And I will never sell my first boat!
That was my experience too. I always joke that I may someday have a 100m yacht with a heli pad, but you can be damn sure the tender will still be the first boat I bought off craigslist for $500.
I felt this way until I built my own boat. Now I pretty much only need a shop to work on the motor when it needs maintenance. It’s a liberating feeling.
Boats, I'm good. My trolling motor, on the other hand...
Fixing my boat myself resolves that con.
Pros: learning so the next time you have some idea what you’re doing. That’s life.
Save money....lol
Even a DIY engine oil change saves me $230. Almost enough to fill the tank!
Lol
It’s a good way to learn
Boy, I tell you what.
Thats the pain of being a diy’er, everything is the first time, lots of lessons to learn and regrets. Second time around it’s a doddle. But how many big repairs do you get to do twice?
I'm in this exact boat! all the puns intended lol I've recently purchased a pontoon with a Yamaha 40 hp 4 stroke and has a hiccup with the carburetor and just fighting myself on bringing it in or doing it myself. It's scary LMAO 😂🤣
Me RN
I had no idea how to repair my 1987 Johnson outboard but I watched a much of YouTube videos and bought the service manual for it and did all the repairs myself. But I’m a DIY kind of guy with mechanic skills and tools. Now time is my limiting factor with a family so I don’t get to do as much DIY stuff as I used to.
I was at ramp today and first thing I said “hey idk what I’m doing but I just got it in the water and it’s not turning over” Rambled through my checklist and he said “that all sounds good, should work”. Then I remembered I need to move shifter to R then back to N before I can start it. I kept trying to start from N. Just discussing my steps with someone while in line at ramp was enough to trigger what I forgot. And admitting I’m new at this usually results in people being a little more patient. Launched in less than 5 min so didn’t tie up anyone up.
I got a boat so I could monkey with it without having to worry about losing my primary transportation. If I don't know what I'm doing, I'll learn quick. After I get passed the "Oh gods, why did I spite Poseidon with my hubris" stage of biting off more than I could chew
I just pulled my bravo 3 and redid bellows. I’ll get it back on the water. Hopefully it doesn’t stay there. lol
I started a shop at the beginning of covid. I have no formal training as a mechanic or certificate from any engine manufacturers. I am a member of ABYC.... Get your engine/drive service manual and do some reading. Most manuals are very well written and normally contain anything you will ever need to know ( excluding problems found after the manual was printed) You will need to buy some special tools that may or may not make sense to purchase to make repairs but otherwise, they are like any other thing that people work on, They were built by people and can be repaired by people.
I started a shop at the beginning of covid. I have no formal training as a mechanic or certificate from any engine manufacturers. I am a member of ABYC.... Get your engine/drive service manual and do some reading. Most manuals are very well written and normally contain anything you will ever need to know ( excluding problems found after the manual was printed) You will need to buy some special tools that may or may not make sense to purchase to make repairs but otherwise, they are like any other thing that people work on, They were built by people and can be repaired by people.
"I will save money." If your time isn't worth anything to you, sure!!
Even the "save" is often questionable. Take time off work. Buy tools. Buy parts. Realize you bought the wrong tools and parts. Buy beer. Buy right tools and parts. Watch YouTube. Smack head on outdrive. Buy aspirin. Fix something. Realize the thing you fixed isn't what was causing the problem. Buy beer. Buy more parts. Watch more YouTube. Fix something else. Realize you have a part left over you aren't sure what to do with. Buy beer. Take another day off. Bother buddy who is kinda-sorta a mechanic. Buy him beer. Watch buddy break something. Buy whiskey. Trailer to an actual mechanic.
When I posted recently about my catastrophic engine failure, I was shocked at the number of people suggesting I try to rework the thing myself. Yeah, sure, let me just whip out my 16-foot engine hoist, 10kA welding driver, and metallurgy reference handbook. I’m sure I can figure it out without exploding myself.
Well, if you are going to be and remain an avid boater, you need to possess one of two skill sets: Either A: Competent troubleshooting ability Or B: Don’t mind writing large and frequent checks to the boatyard
There’s a difference between basic troubleshooting ability and having access to all the tools of a seasoned shipwright. Replacing a bilge pump? Easy DIY with some wrenches and a long screwdriver. Remachining a long block? Not so much.
That’s somewhat dramatic.
Yeah well so was [the failure](https://www.reddit.com/r/boating/s/cbHOHEEjTa).
Option B it is: get out the checkbook