Mechanical advice on boat that's been stored for 7 years

[peteSki]

I'm helping a friend source his first Nautique and he's got his eye on a 2004 Nautique 206 Team. The boat appears to be in mint condition at least from photos and a brief conversation with the dealer selling it. It's only got 92 hours on it and part of the reason for that is that it's been in storage at the marina for the past 7 years. What I'm looking for is any advice/tips on how to make sure the engine is OK after sitting for so long before he commits to buying it. We are trying to find out if any maintenance has been done, like an oil change and a start up once a year for example, but likely won't know that until we go see it in person. We're pushing for a water test but this may not be possible, in which case we're going to ask for the results of a compression test and if we can at least run it off a hose.

Sitting for so long I'd think things like the impeller, plug wires and distributor cap and rotor parts would be stiff or corroded etc, which are all easy fixes, but if anyone has any other advice about any more serious things we should consider it would be appreciated.

[fsts2k]

I would start with fluid change, new fuel, and impeller, then see if it fires.

[Infinity]

You also gotta be careful of the fuel system hoses as they can degrade sitting there....fuel hoses where not made to withstand ethenol fuel then either as it will eat away the insides. I would 100% not fire that thing up with the old fuel in it and if they used ethenol fuel and did not properly run it out of the fuel system, it will require a cleaning/re-build due to phase separation. If that boat is carburated you can plan on carb rebuild.... same if injectors.
Rubber washers could also be an issue.
A lot of this is really gonna depend on the lengths the owners went thru (or not) to prep the boat for the long sleep. Boats are not designed to not be used and you can plan on things coming up sporadically for the first few months.
Personally, I would also suck out and replace the fluids for the v-drive, trans & engine.... then if all goes well and after running it and while fluids are still warm...suck them all out and replace again. That should remove any junk that collected from sitting.

The best case would be if the dealer did fire it up each year, my guess is that's highly unlikely tho.

[peteSki]

Thanks guys. Have just found out that the boat was indeed prepped each spring for use, but then the owner never used it so it was then winterized again at the end of each season. We're going to look at it next week and they've arranged a water test so we should be able to give it a good look through for any signs of serious issues. Plus I'm thinking the marina has a record of what was included in each of their spring start up procedures, so we'll know which items and fluids were replaced.

[Fast351]

Regardless of what was changed, I would do a full fluid swap (fuel, oil and trans), impeller, fuel filter, cap+rotor, plugs. ~$200 but it'll give you peace of mind.

Then check it carefully for a while looking for leaks, especially fuel, but also water. Chances are good that it's fine, but you don't want to find out the hard way you have fuel leaking into the bilge.

[Skidave]

I have a 206. When my low pressure fuel pump died, I replace the fuel lines. The new and old looked the same, flexed the same and no apparent issues when I cut open the old fuel line. I run regular 87 with Ethanol and have since new.

Fluid, filters and general once over. I'm sure it will run like a top.

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[peteSki]

Regardless of what was changed, I would do a full fluid swap (fuel, oil and trans), impeller, fuel filter, cap+rotor, plugs. ~$200 but it'll give you peace of mind.

Then check it carefully for a while looking for leaks, especially fuel, but also water. Chances are good that it's fine, but you don't want to find out the hard way you have fuel leaking into the bilge.

Thanks all. Agreed will recommend replacing all these common items for piece of mind despite what the dealer says as to when they were last changed. We should be able to tell with a good inspection.

Not worried about the whole ethanol issue, I know Nautique put out an official notice years ago that fuel with 10% ethanol or less is fine and covered by their warranty. In our area I don't think we can even buy gas with ethanol more than 10%, so I think we'll be fine on that front. I run 87 octane fuel with 10% ethanol in my boat and have not had any issues. I'm actually thinking about going to 89 or 91 octane only because the engine is now 15 years old and I've been told higher octane fuels can help the older engines with longevity. I know the computer will adjust timing and negate some of the effects of the higher octane, but from what I understand it may help as the engine physically degrades and result in the computer not having to compensate as much engine knock.

Inspection and water test is happening Wednesday.

Pete

[peteSki]

So we water tested this boat on Wednesday last week and it really looked great. It performed well, no unexpected sounds, vibrations, leaks or anything. Looked like they had done a good job on the regular maintenance, if only once per year, as the oil and transmission fluid looked very clean, also no evidence of ongoing oil or fuel leaks throughout the bilge. My friend purchased the boat and we towed it back to his lake. We then used it for the weekend and on the last day it went into limp mode, however both temp and oil pressure gauges were consistently OK and visually we could see the engine was not overheating. It actually went in and out of limp mode intermittently a few times on the last day so we figured this was either a bad oil pressure or temperature switch. After searching the posts on here, we disconnected the oil switch and it then ran fine, so the culprit looks to be a bad oil pressure switch. A new one is now on order.

No doubt my friend will be joining this forum in the near future as we would not have known how to troubleshoot limp mode failures without reading through the valuable posts here!