New (again) to boating & picking up my first Sea Ray tomorrow

Rono007

Rono007

New Member
Dec 17, 2009
796
Danbury, CT
Boat Info
2001 SR 230BR Signature Series
Engines
7.4L Bravo III
Hi all...

I am new again to boating and decided the start of Winter in CT was the time to buy a boat for the family.

We are picking up a 2001 23' Sea Ray 230BR w/ a 7.4L and a B3 outdrive.

We are extremely excited, have gotten our slip reserved on Candlewood Lake and are eager to go!

I look forward to chatting with all of you.

Ron Anthony Quinn
Danbury, CT

The previous owner still has pics online at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Conticellos/OurBoat?feat=directlink#
 
Nice looking boat -- congrats!

I little cleaning in the bilge and (a lot of) paint on the outdrive and it'll look like brand new.

Nice boat!

EDIT: I noticed that the skeg is chipped. Do you know the story with that? Did you have a survey?

PA010034.JPG

.
 
Last edited:
Yea, I had a complete Pre-Purchase Survey done and the previous owner had a Survey done when he bought it 2.5 years ago (he sent me the PDF before I bought it).

The skeg was in this condition when he bought it and it needs to be sanded and painted and the props are a bit nicked and need reconditioning. Looks like the first owner (I will be the 3rd) hit some sand once upon a time. Not a show stopper by any means.

There's only 212 hours on it and it's in great shape. Paint the outdrive and some compound and wax on the hull and she's ready to go!
 
Ron, did you get the swim platform adorment in the package?? :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:
 
@ Pietro - The swim platform is with the boat. Not sure I understand.

@ Wish2fish - It has. And the pics from the sellers survey to my survey show that it has been through the sane while in his possession, although no one admits to it. I don't think it's a HUGE deal. Just a paint job and maybe a skeg guard. I did download those pics. :)
 
Ron,
Congrats on the boat. My previous boat had the same engine and drive. I hope you had an engine alignment check as part of the survey. I didn't and had to pay dearly for it to replace the coupler.
 
320Bob said:
Ron,
Congrats on the boat. My previous boat had the same engine and drive. I hope you had an engine alignment check as part of the survey. I didn't and had to pay dearly for it to replace the coupler.
Click to expand...

I did not have an Engine Alignment Check done.

I picked her up Saturday and she's sitting in my driveway. This is going to be the longest winter ever!
 
I will have it done before I drop her in the water to slip her this spring. Thanks.
 
Ron,
I didn't want to be a buzz kill on your new boat when I asked about whether you had an alignment check which is the reason I did not provide any "why". Below is a post I made a number of weeks ago which gives you the "why."

"I got this from Chicago Sea Ray who told me they have replaced between 30-50 couplers this year including the one on my old Mariah. First the 7.4L is the old Chevy big block with a lot of torque which puts more stress on the coupler and I believe makes it more prone to go out of alignment. Second factory coupler is made out of aluminum while the Bravo III shaft into the coupler is steel. Steel is harder than aluminum.

They pulled the BIII drive to expose the coupler and showed me the alignment tool from Mercury they use to check engine alignment. It should slide in with no binding but on my boat it took a lot of effort to shove it in. When removed, I could see scoring in the grease on one side indicating the engine was not aligned. Then they shined a flashlight in the coupler opening and I could see that the splines had been worn to a point instead of being flat indicating wear caused by misalignment. Since the coupler is bolted to the engine fly wheel, the whole engine has to be pulled to replace it which is why it cost me $1,500.

I bought the boat used from Spring Brook Marina with 323 hours on it. I put another 16 on it which was not enough to wear the coupler so the engine was out of alignment long before I got the boat. The Mercury manual for that engine and drive recommends the engine alignment be checked every 100 hours which obviously Spring Brook did not do before selling me the boat which was theirs not a brokerage boat.:smt013 "
 
No worries and no buzz kill. I appreciate all the advice which is why I joined this forum.

The boat I bought is a 2001 with 212 hours on it. I know the 2nd owner (I am the 3rd) bought it with 135 hours on it and when he bought it he had the bellows, gimbal and u-joint replaced ($1600). I never asked about the alignment.

It cannot hurt to have it checked when I have the outdrive serviced in the spring before she goes in the lake.
 
Is this mostly for Big Blocks with Bravo III's? Do they have the most issues? I have the 5.0's with Bravo II's. Now you have me a little concerned.....
 
Redhook,
I was told by Chicago Sea Ray that big blocks with Bravo III drives were more prone to this than other combinations. Since I have not been able to find published torque statistics on boat engines like those available for cars I don't know how the 5.0L engine compares with the 7.4L. My guess is the horsepower may be comparable but the torque would be lower for the 5.0L due to the lower displacement. Another issue is if the coupler on the 5.0L engine is aluminum or steel. The replacement coupler for my old boat was steel which may indicate the Mercury had problems with aluminum and changed the design. I don't know for sure but if your engine is not making any "growling" noises there most likely things are ok.

As stated in my previous post, the Mercruiser manual for the 7.4L recommended the alignment be checked every 100 hours. My suggestion is to check what your 5.0L manual recommends and follow it and find out whether the coupling on the 5.0L engine is steel or aluminum.
 
Rono007 said:
Hi all...

I am new again to boating and decided the start of Winter in CT was the time to buy a boat for the family.

We are picking up a 2001 23' Sea Ray 230BR w/ a 7.4L and a B3 outdrive.

We are extremely excited, have gotten our slip reserved on Candlewood Lake and are eager to go!

I look forward to chatting with all of you.

Ron Anthony Quinn
Danbury, CT

The previous owner still has pics online at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Conticellos/OurBoat?feat=directlink#
Click to expand...
Really like that extended swim platform!!
 
Rono007 said:
@ Pietro - The swim platform is with the boat. Not sure I understand.quote]


Just to help you out, take a look at the original owner's photos... especially the one showing the swimdeck (oh, by the way there is a rather beeeeeeautiful girl on that swimdeck).:smt101
Click to expand...
 
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