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[slavka]

Hi I am new to this site my name is slava and i just wanted to say hi.
I just bought the 1990 sea ray 180 bowrider with 4.3L alpha1 out drive. Just wanted to ask if there is any thing i should know about this boat. This is my first boat. I live in Spokane WA

 

[Sundancer]

Welcome to the hood! The 4.3 is a great match for the 180. You'll have good torque for pulling skiers and tubers and it's fairly economical to run! I think you will love that boat and engine combination!

http://www.searay.com/owners_manuals.asp

Since it's an older boat, I'd find out when the impellar in the Alpha was replaced last, check the age of the bellows and lower shift cable seal. If you are mechanically inclined you can do a lot of the work yourself with a good manual. Find out who winterized the boat and if they changed the oil in the fall. After that, just get out on the lakes around here and burn some dino fuel!

 

[slavka]

where can i get good shop manual for my boat? How often the empeller need to be changed?

 

[Sundancer]

The impellar is in the lower half of the Alpha I. It's a star shaped piece of rubber that spins and pumps water up to the motor. If it's old and falls apart, the little pieces of rubber will move into your engine block and cause it to run warm or overheat. Merc recommends changing them about every 2 years or 100 hours. Some folks do it every year. I boat a lot on Priest and Pend Oreille and don't see much sand so they last a little longer. I replace mine every two years.

As far as a manual, you can get them at West Marine on Sprague avenue. They are available for purchase online as well. Seloc publishes a pretty good manual and there are a lot of how to articles available online too.

Don't forget your trailer maintenance and trailer bearings too!

If you look at the link to the website that I posted, it will have the maintenance schedule for your boat listed in there. If you have access to the previous owner or whoever did the maintenance, you should be able to figure out what needs to be done and when.