? about a 1996 Horizon 190

pete2833 · **Joined:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 4:07 pm **Posts:** 32

I will see if they will do that. The dealer has been very accommodating so far. The problem with having a mechanic look at it is that the boat is 2+ hrs from my house and I do not know anyone in the Deep Creek Maryland area. Thanks for all the info so far. Pete

pete2833 · **Joined:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 4:07 pm **Posts:** 32

Well I went and checked out that boat on Saturday. Boat was in good condition and was clean. No soft spots in the wood. They agreed to put in writing that once spring comes and we put it in the water that they will repair anything that doesn't work or any mechanical issues. Here is a picture

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:53 pm

The boat looks good, I'd still open that ski locker, put some work gloves on (fiberglass splinters can hurt a LOT) and push, pull, see what you can flex. The carpet and top layers of plywood can hide defects. Sniff the carpet, does is smell like it's been damp. See if the seat mounts are starting to pull out of the deck.
Look at the engine mounts, and the fiberglass pads beneath them, is there any cracking there? That would be a tip off to any rot in the engine mounts. Look at the transom, where the outdrive transom mount is, do you see any cracking in the gelcoat, same thing, rot causes flex which causes cracks.

Finally, that trailer looks pretty rusty, poke into it with an awl and see if its rotted through anywhere on the frame. A new trailer for a boat that size will be close to 3 grand, keep that in mind.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:56 pm

VDO gauge cluster it appears......

ric · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:58 pm

Cap'n Morgan wrote:

VDO gauge cluster it appears......

TrentDickson · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:56 pm

whats a VDO cluster guage

ric · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:21 pm

TrentDickson wrote:

whats a VDO cluster guage

It looks like a gauge cluster in a standard car all integrated into one unit, not 5 or 6 individual gauges. The VDO cluster has a habit of not working and replacements are few and far between. They're junk. Most people just take them out, make a gauge plate and install their favorite gauges like Faria. They come on all "LE" model boats in the 90s/early 2000's era... the optioned out model. My boat is a base model so that's why it has standard gauges (thank god).

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=489686

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:24 pm

TrentDickson wrote:

whats a VDO cluster guage

A whole topic of fun for those lucky of us to have them. Put a 12 pack on ice next to you and search VDO. You'll want to open other browsers on your screen for EBay and Craigslist by the time you're done. Bottom line, enjoy it while it works. The gremlins are a nightmare to deal with.

Some great solutions, ideas, fixes, and replacements are hidden within this board. Have fun learning more than you ever wanted to about dash gauges.

Welcome to the forum too!

ric · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:39 pm

St. Louis Dave wrote:

TrentDickson wrote:

whats a VDO cluster guage

A whole topic of fun for those lucky of us to have them. Put a 12 pack on ice next to you and search VDO. You'll want to open other browsers on your screen for EBay and Craigslist by the time you're done. Bottom line, enjoy it while it works. The gremlins are a nightmare to deal with.

Some great solutions, ideas, fixes, and replacements are hidden within this board. Have fun learning more than you ever wanted to about dash gauges.

Welcome to the forum too!

Lexus has an issue with gauge clusters and it's usually just a bad capacitor, not too tough a fix. I've already done mine once. The VDO can't be any worse.

Cap'n Morgan · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:46 pm

Quote:

The VDO can't be any worse.

Keep telling yourself that.......

ric · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:34 pm

Cap'n Morgan wrote:

Quote:

The VDO can't be any worse.

Keep telling yourself that.......

I'm a half glass full kinda guy

But you're right. Even my VDO non digital gauges have a mind of their own. Give em a tap if you don't like the reading, you'll get something more favorable.

pete2833 · **Joined:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 4:07 pm **Posts:** 32

I checked around for soft spots and didn't find any. The carpet was only damp in 1 spot and where that was I couldn't feel anything soft. I did check the engine stringers and couldn't see anything wrong with them. I did open the ski locker and looked and the ply wood looks to be in ok shape. I checked around the seats and didn't see any issues. I will look at the out drive area a little closer next time. I understand the gauges but I wasn't going to let that ruin a good boat. There will always be something wrong with a used boat and I cant afford a new one !!!!! The trailer is older and wasn't the one with the boat since the previous owners never bought a trailer for it since the boat always stayed at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland. Pete

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:08 pm

Well it sounds like you are doing your best to give it a good going over.
My comments come from 10 years of owning a boat, that is now 24 years old, been through the rot repair issues, so I'm just trying to help others avoid pitfalls. Learned a LOT about fiberglass boat construction, though.

About the gauges, mine is too old to have the VDO cluster issues, believe it or not all of old gauges still work, including the trim gauge!
If they work, don't worry about it but if not, it is not that big of a deal to fab up a new dash panel and install new gauges.

BTW, my boat is now at the best boat painter in Suffolk County, finally it's going to get painted, and no more oxidized red gelcoat!
We're doing from the rubrail down in red Imron, from the rubrail up in grey, like the OE color scheme, and replacing the old anodized (oxidized now) rubrail with a nice stainless one.

pete2833 · **Joined:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 4:07 pm **Posts:** 32

Thanks for the help. I wasn't trying to offend anyone. I have learned a lot by talking to others about what to look for. I would have liked to have a boat with snap out carpet and the full fiberglass liner but cant afford that right now !!!!

ric · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:56 am

pete2833 wrote:

Thanks for the help. I wasn't trying to offend anyone. I have learned a lot by talking to others about what to look for. I would have liked to have a boat with snap out carpet and the full fiberglass liner but cant afford that right now !!!!

One 5 minute search on craigslist popped up at least 20 Horizon 180/190's in the 1998/2005 range under 7k within my area.

www.iFourWinns.com

? about a 1996 Horizon 190

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