New to boating from Texas

B

BIG PHIL

New Member
Jun 2, 2012
8
Fort Worth Texas
Boat Info
78 Sea Ray Bowrider
Engines
350 Mercruiser with
Mercruiser 260 outdrive
I just bought my first boat and have no idea what I'm doing. Its a 1978 Sea Ray Bowrider with a 350 ci mercruiser and the outdrive says mercruiser 260 on it. I hooked the earmuff thing to the outdrive with some water and the motor starts and runs good. I have experience with 350's but none with outdrives. My question is where do I check the oil and what other things with the outdrive should I check before I hit the lake? Thanks in advance!

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a693481f-9fd3-3b05.jpg


Here is a picture of her.

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Welcome to CSR & Congrats on the new ride. :smt001
 
Hi Big Phil...welcome to CSR and boating. Great way to relax...

Imdont know if boats that age have a reservoir for gear lube or not, butmlookmfor a plastic container about 2 1/2 to 3 inches tall with a black cap. It should have a black tube/hose attached at the bottom. This is where you can do a check on the leg's gear lube level. Top,it to the full mark on the front. If you need to do that frequently, then you have a leak.

It is usually mounted on the transom in older boats, on the front of the engine in newer ones.

Mark
 
My guess is you have the pre Alpha with no tank , But here is a link that will tell you just about everything you need to know . www.mercstuff.com NICE BOAT
 
Welcome aboard.
 
Boat looks to be in great shape. Being a 1978 that is the pre Alpha generation. Best way to check the gear lube is to remove the drain screw and allow some lube to drain. Catch it in a container so you can inspect it. Look for water. If unsure of the condition it is simple to change it out, and not very expensive. Probably worth while to do since the boat is new to you and who knows the last time it was done. Check your bellows as well. If they are cracked, dry rotted best to change them.

Welcome to the wonderful world of boating!!
 
Big Phil,
Welcome aboard CSR and congrats with your new ride! On my old 260 DA (1979) there were 2 screws on the outdrive. I placed a small bucket under the outdrive and removed both screws. That would drain the oil. It should be somewhat thick and clear. If it's milky you probably got some water in there which is not good.

Once drained you can fill it up with a pump/bottle. It's a bottle of gear oil, I used Quick Silver, and a pump assembly that screws on to it. Coming out of the pump is a hose with a treaded end that screws right into the lower screw hole. Then you just pump the oil until it comes out the top screw hole. Replace the screws and you're done!

Good Luck with the new boat!
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm really excited about it. The guys I bought the boat from didn't know what they had, I got the boat and trailer, motor runs, clear title, solid floor, and nice interior for $650! The only problem that I know of right now is the prop got run into the boat ramp when he was loading it and messed it up some. I'm gonna try to get it on the water today. I have a question for itsbowtime, what/where are the bellows that I need to check?

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Thanks! I'll check that out.

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I had an older Glastron with an Alpha. Ran great for years. If you need some help, with something let me know and I will do what I can.
 
Red Horse said:
I had an older Glastron with an Alpha. Ran great for years. If you need some help, with something let me know and I will do what I can.
Click to expand...

Thanks Red Horse! If I need anything I will let you know.

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Well I took her out for the first time. She did good, the motor has a stumble around 2000 rpms, and I think the fuel filter stopped up while we were out, had to be towed back to the ramp. I'm going to rebuild the carburetor and change out the fuel filters and see how it does. When it was running it did good though, it surprised me how fast it is. I need to do some electrical work, fuel, trim, and speedometer guages dont work.

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If you need gauges you can find some on ebay , some are NOS , some are used. Good luck with her.
 
Phil,

Make sure to check your water seperator too! It's along the fuel line and looks like an oil filter. I had a boat that would idle good but as soon as I gave it some throttle it would break up and ultimately die if I was running high rpms because it would suck up some of the water.
 
Supposedly the gauges are new and have about 7 hours on them so I'm hoping I can find some wires that need to be hooked up. Thanks for telling me about the water separator, I will check it out.

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