2004 Nautique 206 with the ZR6 Engine

[dkimball]

I am looking at potentially purchasing a 2004 nautique 206 with the ZR6 engine. I believe this was the first year the engine was available for the direct drive nautiques. Has anyone heard any horror stories with this being the first model year with that option? I think they were available in the v-drives before 2004. The current boat has around 450 hours on it. I would be upgrading from a 1991 nautique 196 with around 900 hours on it currently and have not had any engine issues. We have owned it since around 180 hours which makes me hesitant to upgrade. However, I would really like the extra room and automatic ballast. I am just a little concerned because you never know what you are getting with a used boat so I am trying to find out as much as I can about them. Thanks

[Quinner]

6L was available in all 2003 models, I am not aware of any known issues with that motor. My 206 has the Excal and it is more then capable of doing anything we have asked of it including 4 barefooters @ about 800lbs, with the 6L that boat will fly. If you do purchase that boat, if it has the digital gauges be sure and remove the pitots from the gateway when winterizing as they are known to not always self drain as they are supposed to, if that happens and they freeze ice will push water into gateway potentially smoking it, biggest problem there is the gateways are NLA.

[swc5150]

You could have a dealer pull a diacom report off the ECM for you? That'll give you a decent amount of info, like any engine faults and hours per rpm range. It's nice to know if a boat was run at full throttle for 400 of hours 450 hours is nothing for that engine, and I haven't heard any issues to look out for. A compression and leak down test could be performed too, to really set your mind at ease? I have a pdf of a diacom reading from my last boat I can email you, if you're curious what info they provide. Just PM me. Like CQ says, that boat will fly with 6.0. The 206 also flies under the radar of great slalom boats for some reason too. Tons of space and the wake isn't really that far off of a 196.

[dkimball]

Thanks for the info. They are asking 26,000 for the boat I am looking at. The interior is in good shape with no rips or tears and everything is functional. The only thing the seller indicated is when he gets it out for the first time for the year (after being professional winterized) it sometimes runs a little rough until you get some new gas in it. I need to verify what "rough" is but is this a common issue? My concern is that something is wrong with the injectors and with it being 13 years old I would have to immediately get the injectors cleaned which I assume could be costly. Anybody else have issues when running a fuel injected nautique for the first time of the year after winterization? Also what do you think of the price? Thanks

[Quinner]

Without seeing the boat or knowing the condition, trim level, options, trailer, etc. tough to say on price.

Fuel today is garbage and has very little shelf life so having running issues in the spring is a distinct possibility, I have experienced it before changing my layup routine. Minimal fuel and treating with seafoam at layup then adding 5 gals of fresh premium at first run "should" keep it from running poorly, that has been working for me anyways.

If I was doing a test drive I would ask him to dump whatever last year fuel is in there beforehand so as not to mask any other possible issues.

[Laptom]

Great boat with a great engine. Would be a lot of fun if these are combined!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G901F met Tapatalk

[dkimball]

Thanks for the info Quinner. I am hopefully heading to Texas to check out the boat later and bring it home later this week. It is about a 13 hour drive for me so hopefully everything I have seen and heard from seller syncs up when I see it and drive it in person. The interior is in great shape with no cracking, discoloring or rips. It really does appear to be in good condition. I am upgrading from a 91 nautique with the original interior in great shape so I am pretty picky on that front. It does have the digital gauges and from the research I have been doing I see that these do appear to be a problem with some. However, given that it is 13 years old and still working that seems to be a good sign. How do you drain the tubes? It has the team option package so I was almost thinking about disconnecting (and capping them somehow) from the back of the boat so I didn't have to worry about them potentially letting water into the gateway. Do you take the gateway out for storage in the winter as others have said? I am in Iowa and since the boat is from Texas it probably hasn't ever seen a hard freeze which could be why the gateway is still in good shape. I will also be looking at advice in the future regarding winterizing. It appears like it would be pretty similar to my 91 with the closed portion of the system remaining untouched during the winterization and draining all the ports and hoses for the open system. I have always added antifreeze after draining the water just for extra protection.