Would you buy this boat

[timjet]

I have a contract on a 1998 35' Carver ACMY with 1000 hrs on Cummins 6B5.9TA's. Showed up at survey and neither engine would start. Owner got a mechanic to get it running, had crud in the fuel due to non use. Also the port engine injectors were cleaned and the injector pump timing gear replaced. At sea trial boat ran well, got specified WOT. Surveyor noted a small oil leak from the injector pump oil feed line at high rpm. Upon further investigation, the mechanic found the port engine head gasket leaking. Is replacing the gasket and will try and determine why it leaked. Owner has instructed the mechanic to replace all raw water hoses due to some slight bulging and to check the entire raw water cooling system on both engines to include the aftercoolers and heat exchangers.
This boat has obviously been neglected and this neglect is now showing. The seller wants to get it right and I have insisted on him paying for a Cummins tech to survey both engines before we finalize.
What do you think.
Tim

 

[Rum Runner]

Personnally, for me, I think it's way to early to sign any contract. But if the seller repairs everything that needs repairing, and you get another survey and trial run, and everything checks out, it's worth thinking about. But then, you didn't say what you would be paying. Good luck.

 

[tobnpr]

Why not?

Sounds like the owner is willing to completely service the engines and do whatever it takes to get a clean bill of health from a Cummins certified tech.

What about the fuel in the tanks? Since it's apparently full of growth, insist the fuel tanks /fuel be scrubbed.

 

[MaddyDean]

Like rum runner wrote, what are you paying for it?

If he is willing to repair, then be willing to re-survey and trial--he he starts to balk, walk away.

In the mean-time, continue looking around as he makes the repairs, you never know what other deals are out there. No reason to sign, he would probably have to make these repairs any way.

just my opinion.

 

[KayKook]

Like rum runner wrote, what are you paying for it?

Should be priced mid to low 90's.

 

[timjet]

I signed a contract on the boat after we agreed on a price before the survey. The contract has expired and we have not updated it. The seller will probably want to sign another contract before the Cummins survey that limits his exposure if Cummins finds a bunch of little stuff wrong. . I'm Ok with this as we would not sign a contract that requires us to purchase if a major issues develops. I think the seller doesn't want to be nickeled and dimed to death. He however does seem to realize if a major issue develops he will be required to fix it if he wants to sell it, regardless of who buys it.

Concerning the fuel, the owner said he had only about 25 gal in each saddle tank and about 100 gal in the aux tank. We polished all the fuel in the aux tank and the mechanic recommended replacing the fuel in the saddle tanks. The mechanic pumped 50 gal out of each saddle tank and filled up all his jugs. I'm trying to get him to agree to replace the rest, but obviously the fuel gauges aren't accurate. We ran the boat at sea trial on the polished aux tank fuel.

The initial problem with the engines not starting can be attributed to the crud in the fuel clogging the injectors and a failed fuel S/O solenoid on the port engine which has been replaced.

My take on this is the owner wants to sell the boat and is doing everything reasonable to get it right. If the mechanic is right about the owner authorizing him to fix it right and service the raw water side of both engines, it would seem foolish to give up now. It's not costing me money to stay in the game at this point. I've been in close contract with both the mechanic working on the boat and a Cummins tech. So far everyone is on the same page as far as troubleshooting.

I think I got a good price, but the engines have never been serviced by Cummins (I checked) and we are trying to get all service records. Seller is out of the country for the remainder of the month.

Price is a little better that KayKook says, but I've got additional survey and travel costs involved due to the initial engine problems.

 

[RollerCoastr]

CSR has a SeaRay enthusiast and Carver expert. I highly recommend reaching out to "Carver370" for any specific details about the 355/356AC. I don't know of any ugly rumors about that model (aside from exhaust through-hulls prone to leaking), but I bet you would find his input valuable.

 

[timjet]

I'm hoping he'll sign on to this thread.

 

[northern]

Engines are only a small part of a boat. If the rest of the boat is as well maintaind as the engines you will probably not lack things to do on your weekend.

 

[Matt]

I had a similar head gasket problem when we did the engine survey on my 2001 Sea Ray 400 Sedan Bridge. The Cummins Tech told me that the leak was from the boat not being used enough. it only had 430 hours on the engines when I purchased it. there was a small leak from the back of the head gasket at full throttle not a big thing but worry some. I negotiated with the seller and had the reair done by Cummins techs before I brought the boat north on a 10 hour run to where I keep it. that was two years ago and so far things have been perfect with the repairs.
My broker told me that I should have the repairs done under my name as they would be fully warrantied to me and not to the seller. I also talked with Cummins customer service and they also advised me to have the repairs done in my name as they would not honor warranty for reairs done by the previous owner should a filure occur after I purchased the boat. so I had it done that way.

 

[sbw1]

The lack of maintenance records is troubling. Personally I would not buy a used diesel boat without a complete set of records because of the very high costs of repairing diesels that fail. Given the lack of records, it's not a low hour boat.

 

[Carver370]

CSR has a SeaRay enthusiast and Carver expert. I highly recommend reaching out to "Carver370" for any specific details about the 355/356AC. I don't know of any ugly rumors about that model (aside from exhaust through-hulls prone to leaking), but I bet you would find his input valuable.

Thanks Seth!

To the original poster, in my opinion I would buy the boat. If the seller is willing to work with you and fix the engines or any known defects you should be good to go as long as a Cummins tech gives it a thumbs up.

As far as any other issues with 355/356's as mentioned before the exhaust outlets in the transom were prone to leaking on occasion and needed to be rebed.

-Auxilary tank, make this this doesn't leak! We have one in our harbor that had a leak in it and they had to take apart the entire aft cabin and cut a hole in the platform to get it out, not a fun or easy job.

-Windows in the salon, any leaks? Usually they are pretty good, mine have never leaked but I have seen some that do on the rear part of the window by the angle and usually the leak is coming in from the top.

-Not related to Carver but does the boat have the original Norcold Refer? Most I have seen have been replaced unless the owner was on board a lot with the A/C on. I still have my original and knock on wood just had an icey cold corona out of it about a half hour ago, but there are a lot replaced in my marina.

Does this boat have dripless shaft seals? If not its not a big deal to replace the packing material with gore tex, I have no leaks and always a dry bilge.

Other than those issues, thats all the bad that I have seen happen on 2 or 3 boats out of 25 or so I have been involved with.

I have only ever run across one Diesel 355 in our area and the boat ran beautifully. These boats run nicely with the 454's in them and the Diesels are sweet!

Any other questions, fire away!

 

[timjet]

Matt,
Sounds like the exact same problem I'm seeing. The boat has had 35 hrs on her in the last 2 1/2 years. The mechanic mentioned he thought this lack of use could be the cause of the leak. No hard use in 2 1/2 years and then we ran it at WOT for a sea trial and the leaky gasket. The leak is small like yours and only occurs above 2200 rpm.

And Carver 370, the aux tank issue is scary. My surveyor found no real issues with the boat, just the typical nuisance issues. The rudder stuffing box's leak a little and I'll give them a look at if I buy the boat. Surveyor mentioned nothing about the prop shaft stuffing box's. I don't know about the frig, but I think it's a dual voltage model.

Thanks guys for your reply. I'm sticking with the boat so far because the owner is being very cooperative in fixing his somewhat neglected boat. If all goes according to plan I should have the 1000 hrs service check completed with a Cummins survey at no cost to me. Hard to beat.

 

[Carver370]

Chances are if the tank hasn't leaked by now, its not going to. This has only happened on 1 boat that I know of at least in my marina. I believe it leaked on a weld.

 

[timjet]

Carver 370,
I just looked it up, the boat has the Norcold dual voltage refrig that was replaced in 2000. Anything special I need to know about this unit.
Some folks have mentioned that it's best to let the thing run all the time rather than shut it down while the boat is unattended.
Also, does the unit use much battery power when on the hook? Is it reasonable to expect it to run say all night on battery power and still have enough battery power to start a genset or engine?

 

[Carver370]

Its a good fridge, I just knew it was probably replaced. The newer ones supposedly have a better cooling system on them to make them last longer.

From what I understand they go bad from the compressor running hot inside a boat without air on all the time.

I'm not sure about how much power it uses but I have left my boat without a connection to shore power overnight several times without the need to recharge the batteries the next day. I was not on board using lights and other things during the night though so I can't help you there.