Looking at a 1998 Sportster 1800

[sqzdog]

I am looking at purchasing a 1998 Sea-doo Sportster 1800. I have never owned anything with a jet engine before. I would like some advice on what to look for on this boat to make sure it is going to be ok. Appears to be well maintained, and the condition of the hull and interior is in great shape. The owner wants $4500 for it and the trailer. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[seadooya]

Steal

Thats a great price...best advice, is to take for water run, and do compression test, 130-ish and above, but not 10% difference..

 

[bigler]

thats a great deal. 800 engines are very reliable. but yes do a compression check and make sure it starts up and sounds good. there must be some kind of problem if its selling that cheap. if the compression test shows good numbers and the boat starts, id buy it in a heartbeat though

 

[seadooya]

thats a great deal. 800 engines are very reliable.

those boats' have the 720 motors...

 

[sqzdog]

so how are the 720 motors on reliability?

 

[seadooya]

keep oil in the bottle, fresh fuel and good spark plugs, and your good to go

 

[roneagan@cfl.rr.com]

Geat boat

I have had mine since it was new and it's great.. Just a couple of quick things to check.. Take a look into the jet pumps form underneath the boat to see what the wear rings and impellers look like, there should be very little clearance between the impeller and the pump. If they do need to be changed and you have some mechanical ability it's not to bad. Next check the exhaust manifolds, the plugs tend to corrodes on the older boats causing a leak. Again not a huge deal if you can do the work yourself. If you need to have all this fixed by someone else it can be expensive. There is plenty of great info in here on how to do all this. Good luck it's a great boat.