Our new to us 2008 AR230 20hrs California

[bobbyc]

Hi, our family of 5 outgrew our yamaha exciter 270 last summer.... we knew we were upgrading when we had 5 in the boat and towing 2 friends out from the launch on a tube... plus a cylinder was at 0 psi and that engine was still running smooth but we decided to let it go cheap as a mechanics special.

So I spent the rest of summer and all winter looking for low hour ar230 nearby. Missed out on a couple 90-100hr ar230. Finally picked up a 2008 ar230 last week. Made the drive from norcal to socal. According to the seller the boat was 20hrs and he only used a handful of times at pyramid lake. The gelcoat is flawless so I believed him. Didnt have time to demo it or even run it other than 5-10 seconds in his driveway.

We rushed to the bank and signed the papers before 5pm and I got back home with the new boat at 1130pm.

It had a few issues from sitting so long, but the oil looks clean and seller said he had it serviced end of last season. Been spending the last week repairing the fuel tank cover deck section, from the table base leaking and rotting out the balsa wood. Had a very soft spot on the deck. It is a $600 part so I attempted a repair first and was quite successful. Just have to patch a spot of gelcoat that got knicked when I was cutting out the rotten wood. Gelcoat is on order. The fuel tank cover of the deck was not bolted down and I saw some evidence that the fuel tank lines were replaced recently... maybe from sitting so long...?

Steering lines are frozen up, so I ordered two new ones and am currently oiling them to see if I can get em free'd up before the replacements come.

A few small parts I've ordered; screws holding the engine intakes are missing (but inside the intakes they are spotless)... a couple bolts holding the jet to the transom plate missing... going to make sure everything is nice and tight when I take the cleanout tray out this week and check down there.

Tonight I got my YDE software and was pleasantly surprised that each motor indeed only had 25hrs. Tomorrow I will check compression and sparkplugs. Hopefully cylinder 3 spark plug comes out easy.

This weekend will pull the jets, and lube up the spline, and the cone bearings.

Will try to add pics



Bob C

 

[Bruce]

Excellent find, Congratulations!

 

[bronze_10]

Love my 230.. . Great boats!

 

[Jgorm]

I wish you better luck than I've had. 3 out of 4 mr1s (non ho) have had issues with #3. 400hr, 92hr, and 80hr.

 

[Julian]

Congrats on the new (to you) boat! only 25 hours!!! Amazing! That gel coat should pop with a little elbow grease!

 

[Scottintexas]

Welcome aboard, 25 hours ???? excellent find, congratulations, Be careful with that #3 spark plug it can get seized and snap trying to remove,

You may check your cleanout hatch cover as I found my hatch handles had leaked at rotted it.

Our FAQ tab at the top of the page has lots of great tips/DIY's and in my sig. below is a link to common issues on your boat,

 

[bobbyc]

Welcome aboard, 25 hours ???? excellent find, congratulations, Be careful with that #3 spark plug it can get seized and snap trying to remove,

You may check your cleanout hatch cover as I found my hatch handles had leaked at rotted it.

Our FAQ tab at the top of the page has lots of great tips/DIY's and in my sig. below is a link to common issues on your boat,

Sounds good I will be careful with #3. Hopefully it comes out easy because if it doesn't the. That would mean water/rust...?
Ya so low hours is crazy... He must have taken it out only a few times. He said he always takes the jet skis. I believe him too; he lives in Encino and it is stressful towing a boat this big north on 101 to the 405 to the i5 north to get to the lakes... Traffic plus the drought... I bet he hardly took it out.
The boat seemed huge to me when towing it home, coming from the exciter. But it is growing on me quick just working on it past week, perfect size

 

[Scottintexas]

we're not sure why it seizes, either the location my the manifold or the engine stops with that exhaust valve open more frequently,

it's not an everybody/every motor issue, just something to be aware of and proceed with caution, use anti-seize and change yearly and no one has reported a problem,

 

[Ronnie]

Welcome aboard. I sent you a pm in this but please consider joining a few of us on a trip from The Antioch area to Old Sacramento on sat. June 2nd.

Here is a link to the thread for more info.
https://jetboaters.net/threads/2018...-old-sacramento-and-a-lake.16483/#post-297487

 

[bobbyc]

Sounds good I will check it out and see f we are around that weekend, never boated in a river; just melones, Tulloch, and don Pedro. I'm in sonora

 

[Ronnie]

As long as you are not expecting clear or blue water like you would in Florida you should be fine.

 

[Jgorm]

we're not sure why it seizes, either the location my the manifold or the engine stops with that exhaust valve open more frequently,

it's not an everybody/every motor issue, just something to be aware of and proceed with caution, use anti-seize and change yearly and no one has reported a problem,

I was reading on the other site and it seems to be a casting issue with the area around the threads on 3. Tiny gaps allow exhaust gases to get in and corrode there plug. Cylinders 2 and 3 operate in unison, so the valve positions are identical. I think it also may have something to do with the inner manifold flowing water into the engine easier than the 1 4 manifold.

 

[bobbyc]

Geez, this is a expensive hobby and I haven't even bought a tank of gas yet nor had the boat out on the lake!
Various small yamaha parts like missing bolts/screws...
thrust vector fins
yamaha yds software and cable
hose to run the boat out of the water
underwater led lights
interior led lights
switches for lights
new bluetooth stereo
wakeboard speakers and amp
wakeboard racks
2nd battery and 4 way switch

 

[bobbyc]

Today I siphoned out a bit of oil on each engine; they were overfull. Intakes looked good, so I dont think it was ran too much, if at all, since it was last serviced and overfilled. Oil looked very clean/new.
Took sparkplugs out today on port engine. Then realized my compression tester I had for my exciter 270 2 cycle engines doesn't fit the smaller diameter spark plug threads of the MR1 engines. So I reinserted them. On the starboard engine, I just took out cylinder 3. Both port and starboard #3 cylinders had no issue taking out sparkplugs!
I then started the engines and turned on the cooling hose. Let em run for a few minutes and had no issues reving up.
Can't wait to take her to the lake. I will order the right adapter for my compression tester and will test them at the end of this season or if it starts running rough and I change sparkplugs... knock on wood!
IMO it's quite a task to take out the sparkplugs on these engines; with having to remove the intakes, and then the bolts that hold the harness sparkplug sleeve (whatever you'd call them)

 

[buckbuck]

@bobbyc I do not recommend reving the engine when on the hose. Probably just me but an unloaded engine can quickly run up to 10,000 rpm.
Your air filter assembly should have the sliding clamps and just two bolts securing it. The 10 mm bolts secure the Coil on Plug. You will get proficient at it as you do it yearly.
Sounds like you found a gem. Please consider changing the boat info located under your name.
Your family is going to have a fun summer.