2004 SV211

[MarkSkelton]

Hey guys. Just bought my first boat. 04 SV211 ZR6. It has 75 hours on it and has been in dry storage most of it's life. The previous owner knew less than I do about the boat so I need some tech support. As far as I can tell, everything works as it should except the ballists. I'm not sure about the correct procedure for filling and draining. The starboard open-closed knob is stuck to open. They seem to fill when I'm running. Any advice from a 211 owner would be greatly appreciated.

[clubmyke]

there is a replacement T&H ballast valve that the dealer should change at no cost.

you can also manually close off the valve inside the engine compartment (open it up and look down and there are 2 handles)

[MarkSkelton]

Just talked with the nearest CC dealer. He checked the ID # and said the boat is out of warranty. It was manufactured June 04. 3 year warranty? Ideally, I would like to learn how to maintain the boat myself but I am hesitant to let a local mechanic work on it with me. I should probably take it to the dealer and try and learn there.

[Mikeski]

Mark,

Those valves are the achilles heel of the 04-06 boats, I hated them. I finally eliminated the valves altogether. See the details in my thread:

http://www.planetnautique.com/index....wtopic&t=11127

[Nautiqueman]

The valves did not work well on my 2004 either. Warranty applies for parts and labor only to the first owner unless transferred within 15 days of the sale and a $300 fee is paid to CC according to page 175 of the manual on this site. See the manuals on the home page of this site. The dealer needs to see the warranty info from the 2004 handbook that came with the boat. See below from page 175 of the PDF.

Five (5) Year Limited Warranty,Transferable
Correct Craft, Inc. warrants to the original purchaser that each new
Correct Craft boat, as originally manufactured by Correct Craft,
shall under normal authorized use be free of defect in material and
workmanship for a period of five (5) years from the date of delivery
to the original purchaser. This coverage applies to factory-installed
steering assembly, electrical components, fuel tank system,
hardware and trim, interior vinyl, v-drive, and options. This policy
may be transferred (for a nominal fee) to the second (2nd)
purchaser during a period of five (5) years from the date of delivery
to the original purchaser. See your local dealer for details.

[MarkSkelton]

Thanks for the great info.
Mikeski, did you do the changeover before your warranty expired?
Nautiqueman, I just downloaded the forms for the warranty transfer. Are you using the factory system as long as your warranty is covering their repair or did you change yours as well?
I did a little investigating last night after work. When I turn on the ballast pumps, they all make noise. I suppose that means the pumps are functioning. All valve knobs twist except the starboard. Should I be able to WD-40 the starboard cable and have a functioning system?

[MikeC]

Mark,
Congrats on your new boat!!
Like MikeSki said, the ballast pumps are the achilles heel of the 211. With the pumps operating and the valves open you have to prime the pump - you can do this by putting it in gear and slowly motoring. What I usually do is open the valves as I am getting to where we are going to ride and get the pumps primed while we are still running then let them finish filling while I get the lines out.

There are actually two shutoff valves for your ballast system - there are brass shutoff valves that are opened and closed with handles located in the front part of your engine compartment (they are on the ski pylon brace); and there are valves that are controlled from the knobs at the helm, these are black plastic and are near the bottom of the bilge in your engine compartment, they're easy to see but hard to reach. If you can get your hand on them try having someone turn the knob at the helm while you move the valve. The best answer to your ballast woes would be to follow MikeSki's advice and change out the ballast pumps.

[Nautiqueman]

The pumps worked fine, but the valves did not. I ended up using the manual shutoff valves some and then sold the boat and bought a 2005 SV211. Now I have a '06 220 and am having the warranty cover the replacement of the pumps as they are defective also.

[Mikeski]

answers/suggestions...

The dealer did change out the valves to the T-H units, they were extremely stiff. I re-installed them to try to get them to operate more easily. I even re-mounted the factory aerators directly on the brass shut-off valves before the T-H valves. These modifications made the system bearable for the 06-07 summers. Toward the end of 07 the cables got so stiff I cracked one of the valve control faceplates, neither my wife or sister had enough strength to operate the knobs. I decided they had to go.

suggestion - the impeller pumps burn up quickly if they are run dry. I chose to keep the drain aerator pumps so there is very little chance of the impeller pumps running dry. I believe the impeller fill/aerator drain combination is the key to having a reliable long term solution.

[MarkSkelton]

Sounds like I can plan on doing Mikeski's modification in the fall. While I was running the other day, I noticed water in the ski locker. Would that be a leaking belly ballast connection?