New Purchase, first boat, need any and all advice :)

[ericbesso]

Hey Guys,

Just put a deposit on a 1996 Challenger and am super excited for my first boat! It is going for a mechanical inspection this week to make sure everything is good (does need a gasket on the exhaust, but it is not expensive and the buyer told me about it).

When I was calling around for the inspection, one lady advised me to have an inspection of the fiberglass done as well and gave me the number of a certified reputable guy. When I called him, he asked me what kind of boat I was buying. When I told him it was a Sea Doo, he said they were nightmares and 9 out of 10 he looked at failed the inspection. Said Bombardier had issues with fiberglass and hes seen countless of them with fiberglass too thin and other problems. Anyone know anything abotu this? Anyone here ever have problems?

Other than that, just looking for help advice, on things I should look for before completing the purchase? Also things I should do for maintenance etc top begin the season right, and also throughout the season? All I know is the boat needs to be winterized at the end of the season.

Thanks for the help guys, look forward to being part of the community here!

 

[dbracela]

The fibreglass on my '98 was fine.

 

[ericbesso]

How long did you have it? Do you still have it? Never had a problem?

Any tips on what to be on the lookout for? Maintenace tips? etc.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[RFoster130]

I bought my 98 speedster in 08. Just sold it last week. It was 15 years old and still strong as new. I now have a 2004 Speedster, I am in the process of cutting holes for the audio system, I can tell you the fiberglass on the 98 is thicker. I know they had some delamination issues, but i think that was isolated cases.

 

[ericbesso]

Awesome do you also run the wiring or are you simply adding new speakers? do you know how hard it is to wire a head unit with 2 speakers? I have experience doing some car audio installs.

Also, what do you do for maintenance? What should I be expecting? I am a total noob with boats but very interested to learn. Any advice on what to look for when buying a sea doo boat in particular?

 

[smc0922]

Check engine compression, drain any old fuel out and personally I'd rebuild the carbs per the service manual. One less thing to worry about. Replace the oil injection lines (small diameter) with tygon fuel line of the same size. any gray fuel lines get them out and definitely clean the carbs if it has gray lines. Check everything mechanical, then everything functional, then cosmetics. Make your lists and start hammering things out. Clean the RAVE valves and be sure to drain the oil tank, lines, and rotary valve cavity. Add API-TC grade synthetic 2-stroke oil only (BRP/Seadoo XPS) and bleed the oil system per the manual. (Most of the above is because you don't know when it was done or what is in it)

Audio is pretty much the same as car audio, just be sure to buy marine speakers, as regular car speakers will be rusty before long.

 

[Brian J]

Awesome do you also run the wiring or are you simply adding new speakers? do you know how hard it is to wire a head unit with 2 speakers? I have experience doing some car audio installs.

Also, what do you do for maintenance? What should I be expecting? I am a total noob with boats but very interested to learn. Any advice on what to look for when buying a sea doo boat in particular?

It's easier than a car because you have more room behind the interior. I'd recommend using the Alpine marine speakers, I have two 6" in my boat and it sounds so good someone once asked me if I had subs in it.

Maintenance - there's a lot.....you have two high performance two stroke carb'ed motors in there that require a lot of attention and you'll probably have to do a lot of things (already mentioned) neglected by the previous owner to get it up to where it should be. Reading up on this forum will tell you everything you need to know.

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

change out your spark plugs and keep an eye on them. Don't let those engines run lean, or they'll die prematurely. also, many problems become fixed by simply changing out plugs. if the engine is running rough, chances are that a plug is starting to get fouled.

 

[ericbesso]

Awesome I shall be reading up on all this stuff for sure! Thanks a lot guys!

Re the radio, the only thing I am not sure about is where to run the wires and where to ground the head unit. Usually there is one constant 12v+, one acc 12v+ and the ground and not sure where to run those. Any help much appreciated.

 

[smc0922]

It's all right there in front of the steering column, I'm assuming its laid out close to what a speedster is like. Fuse blocks and harnesses are under the storage bin.

 

[RFoster130]

Awesome do you also run the wiring or are you simply adding new speakers? do you know how hard it is to wire a head unit with 2 speakers? I have experience doing some car audio installs.

Also, what do you do for maintenance? What should I be expecting? I am a total noob with boats but very interested to learn. Any advice on what to look for when buying a sea doo boat in particular?

I run all the wiring. Its really easy in a boat. Once you cut the holes for the speakers, you can easily use those holes to feed the wire along the inside of the hull. Buy an electricians fish tape, makes it really easy.

 

[IDoSeaDoo]

On my Challenger, I have one of those marine bolt-on CD-Player cases. I ran all my wiring to that. I actually installed an auxilliary battery under the helm b/c I have an 800w amp and sub. I know that system pulls some juice and would kill my starting battery in no time.

 

[ericbesso]

Thanks guys for all the input! Will let you know how the install goes.