1997 Horizon QX 17

LBZYA · **Joined:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:51 am **Posts:** 9

Going to look at this boat in the morning. I was told that it has 671 hours on the 4.3 motor and has not been in salt. What are some major things to look for with a boat of this age and hours? Thanks for your help.

ric · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 1:06 am

LBZYA wrote:

Going to look at this boat in the morning. I was told that it has 671 hours on the 4.3 motor and has not been in salt. What are some major things to look for with a boat of this age and hours? Thanks for your help.

Nothing if it has service records. That's really low hours for a 1997 but have a professional inspection done they're like 300. 300 is cheaper than 2500 for a new lower unit

LBZYA · **Joined:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:51 am **Posts:** 9

Are there common problems with these out drives?

ric · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 3:23 am

LBZYA wrote:

Are there common problems with these out drives?

Nope they last forever with proper maintenance. Just gotta make sure it's had it.

LBZYA · **Joined:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:51 am **Posts:** 9

Does anyone know what the average cost of a tune up or service is for a boat with this motor and outdrive?

rpengr · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 11:28 am

The following should be done every year, and if you pay a marina to do it, you will pay around $700, but this varies by location.
Change Engine Oil
Change Outdrive Oil
Remove Outdrive, Grease U-Joints & Spline
Check engine/outdrive Alligment and re-install.
Change Water Pump Impeller
Change Fuel Filter(s)
Misc Inspections and Lube

In Norther climates, this is often done at the end of the season, and is combined with draining all water from the engine (to prevent freeze damage), and in many cases, adding bio-degradable antifreeze (to prevent corrosion during storage). The combination is referred to as "Winterization". Do a search for "winterization" on this forum, and you will find much more detail.

Things like Carburator cleaning/rebuilding or Fuel Injector Cleaning can be done once every several years (best case about 10 years, but Ethanol can screw things up quicker than that).

Exhaust manifolds and risers need to be replaced every so often. Approx 4-7 years in salt water, 8-15 years in fresh water. Many posts available on this subject too.

All the above can be "do-it-yourself" if you are mechanically inclined and have a shop manual. Many of us on this forum do the majority of our own maintenance.

LouC · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:58 pm

The first thing you need to have checked on a boat that age is the structure, older boats used a composite fiberglass/wood structure. The wood is added for stiffness and should be covered and sealed in fiberglass cloth and resin. The issue is that water gets in and rots the wood. This can result in the boat being unsafe to use eventually because it weakens the structure. You need someone who knows how to evaluate this issue. The things you can check are: look at the transom where the outdrive transom mount is. Do you see cracks around the opening for the drive in the gelcoat? If you grab the drive unit in both hands and pull/push up and down, do you see any flexing in the transom? There should be none and no cracks. Look on the inside of the transom in the engine compartment around the opening for the drive. If its gelcoated usually you can't see rot but if its raw fiberglass you can see dark spots in the wood that can be rot. If you can get a plastic hammer and tap around the transom inside and out, it should make a sharp ring sound not a dull thud which suggests rotted wood inside.
You can put a socket wrench on the engine mount bolts (they will be large wood bolts, 2 on each mount) and see if they hold tight if you put a little pressure on them. If they spin free then the wood in there is rotted.
For the deck, see of the seats flex when you try to move them, look at the deck, does it seem to flex? Bounce yourself up and down and look at the deck. It should be solid not spongy. If the boat has pedestal seats see if you can tighten the mounting screws with a phillips head screwdriver, if they spin free there is rot in the deck. Look in the ski locker and see if any of the underside of wood core is rotted. It often starts there. Rot in a boat is very expensive to fix, I would run if I saw any.
And lets get past this never in salt water nonsense once and for all. It is freshwater that rots wood, folks, not salt water, salt preserves wood because the microorganisms that rot wood don't live in salt water

Yes salt water rots manifolds and corrodes outdrives, but that by comparison is easier to repair, than wood rot in a fiberglass boat.

Freshwater, if allowed to sit in a wood/fiberglass boat, causes more damage than salt water does. Been there and done that......

RotaryRacer · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:21 pm

The QX has a fiberglass cockpit liner. While there is still wood in the structure it is far less rot prone than ealier boats. Transom and stringers still need to be checked.

LouC · **Posted:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:12 pm

Another thing you can do, to be on the safe side (if the seller will let you) is remove the screws from the gas tank hatch and lift it up, if there is rot developing you will see it under there. My experience with rot suggests that it starts anywhere there is a screw hole not sealed (seat mounts) or on the edges of panels not sealed, etc. When I rebuilt my 88 we did it so it was the same as a fiberglass cockpit liner style. Much better but you can still get rot if the holes are not sealed and water lays in there from a leaky cover, etc.

We did this back in 06-07 and last summer I lifted up the hatch to check the fuel lines and it all looked good in there. I used mahogany treated with CPES to build the gas tank mount stringers and cross pieces, no signs at all of any rot. The OE stuff was cheap white pine that had all but rotted away. I think I had one tab still holding the aluminum gas tank, LOL.....

LBZYA · **Joined:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:51 am **Posts:** 9

Well, I was unable to get out to take a look at the boat. I set up time on Monday to look at it. Thank you all for the advise. I will use this advise to evaluate the boat. So far the only thing turning me away is the color teal. I am lucky that is is only the pin stripping and carpet that can be removed. I would repaint the trailer as well, then there won't be much teal left. Does anyone know off hand when NADA comes out with the new pricing throughout the year? If it changes next month I would like to hold out to get a better deal. Thanks, Jeff

rpengr · **Posted:** Mon Feb 25, 2013 2:55 pm

LBZYA wrote:

Does anyone know off hand when NADA comes out with the new pricing throughout the year? If it changes next month I would like to hold out to get a better deal. Thanks, Jeff

I don't know for certain, but I would suspect that NADA values are updated continuously throughout the year. They are probably made by mathematical formulas that take a number of inputs into account... some of which change regularly (economic indices like value of the dollar), sales records for categories, styles and sizes of boats, and sales records for brand names and specific models, as well as factors for seasonal price fluctuations. Their staff would be putting in new inputs throughout the year, so I don't think there would be any one time that you would expect an update.

LBZYA · **Joined:** Sat Feb 23, 2013 12:51 am **Posts:** 9

Does anyone have a checklist that I could use to follow when going to look at a used boat?

www.iFourWinns.com

1997 Horizon QX 17

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