Salt water is unforgiving, but you should never have salt water in your bilge. I had to replace a starter solenoid, because the starboard side exhaust manifold drain dripped a bit of salt water on the terminals on the solenoid. They were rusted in place so bad I had to cut off all the wires, butcher off the batt cable and re-terminate everything. Replaced the solenoid, installed new terminals, then covered them in marine grease. When I reinstall the manifold drain, I put a bit of OMC gasket sealer (Permatex Aviation Sealer) to stop any possible leaks. I had to replace all the battery wiring, the OE stuff was really corroded, the quality of the wiring on my boat was fair at best. Yet, most of it has survived in the salt air on the mooring behind my house 6 months out of the year, for the past 8 seasons.
I have found that OE wiring in many boats is not up to the corrosive effects of salt air. Even those chromed engine vent louvers, they get corrosion on them in like one season. Thats one of the reasons that dual console boats (salt water bowriders) cost more, they are built with the right materials for the ocean and salt water.
Here in LI if I buy a used boat, I have no choice, all salt water, unless I go upstate to a place like Lake George were there are many pristine older boats.
Probably the best you can do with any new to you boat, is to go through all the basic systems first before adding anything else to fix any flaws, then figure out a maintenance schedule to keep it reliable. I have done this with my old 88 and it's been pretty reliable once the initial bugs were worked out by my mechanic back in 04....
_________________ 88 Four Winns 200 Horizon 4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl 2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5 2008 Walker Bay 8
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II
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