New boat...kinda

The U Boat

New Member
Aug 25, 2019
1
Boat Info
84 245 Sea Ray Sundancer
Engines
5.0 Mercruiser
I was just given my uncle's boat, a 84 245 Sundancer. He bought it brand new and used it 3 times and sat in storage since then and now given to me. It might have 32 hours on it, any chance this thing is worth bringing back to life?
 
Maybe if you scrape the sludge out of the crank-case ;) The best you can do is change all the fluids, charge the battery, turn the key and hope for the best. Then go from there. If it was in inside storage without mice, you might have a chance.
 
Uboat, are you mechanically inclined?

If you are, and you got that boat for free, you may have just won your own personal lottery. Like bobeast said, change out all the fluids, put in new batteries and try it.

I'd go to a little-used ramp in the middle of the week where you can back it into the water but leave it on the trailer. Crank it over to see if it starts, and have a can of starter fluid spray handy. Use that sparingly but with a few shots of starter fluid it my just fire right up.

Let it run on the trailer (in the water) for a few minutes and see how it does. With the boat at idle, shift it in and out of gear (forward and reverse) to see how the shifting works. The shift cables are probably bone dry so have some WD40 there to spray into the cables.

Good luck, and let us know how you do with it.
 
Before you even try and crank it I would answer the question regarding where it was stored. If it was outside exposed to the weather there is a good chance the stringers are rotted and may not be worth the time or money. However, if it was stored inside, I would pull the plugs and give a squirt of penetrating oil in each cylinder. Let it sit 24 hours and then with a long breaker bar and a socket on the crankshaft pulley I would see of the motor will move. If it will, proceed as suggested above. If it will not, there are some things you can try to free it. I would google, "How To Free a Seized Motor."

As far as "bringing it back to life" that's a decision you need to make. If the hull is solid with no rot and you understand it will take 3 times longer, and cost twice as much, as you are planning for. Ask me how I know this....

Good Luck and post some pics.
Shawn
 

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