83 Ski Nautique 2001 Problems

Hi, I am brand new to the forum and boats in general. I recently found a '83 Ski Nautique 2001 for sale on Craigslist (..I know, craigslist) and the boat appears to be in awesome physical condition. The hull of the boat and interior are in great shape for an 83 and the only problem I could find with the interior was a soft spot in the floor on what appears to be an access panel (where the engine cover bolts to the floor, and there is also a view port for the prop shaft).

Well yesterday I met with the owner 100% ready to purchase the boat, but I had to see it perform on the water before I could pull the trigger on the deal. We took the boat to the lake and it started up after a few attempts and once it was warmed up, it seemed to run just fine. Maybe idle was a little high, but nothing outrageous. When driving the boat, it would only get to a top speed of about 18-20 mph and it took quite a while to reach that speed. The RPM gauge in the boat was not working so I don't know exactly what the engine was running at, but it sounded as though it was revving quite high but just barely moving. (there were three people in the boat and the water was smooth).

After getting the boat out of the lake, I checked the engine oil which was full and seemed fresh and the transmission oil was pink and appeared full. The transmission dip stick did have a white residue at the top rubber seal of the dip stick which seemed concerning.

Sadly I was not able to part with my money on this boat because of this problem but I do still want this boat. I was hoping maybe there would be some insight into what could possibly be causing these problems. Thank you for any possible help.

Sounds like the boat has a whole list of issues.
Which could quickly get expensive.

Before spending money on a VelvetDrive, I would give it a fluid change and make sure it is fully clicking into the forward detent.
Check the fuel tank for water and get rid of any old or bad gas and filter.
It probably needs a complete tune-up and a carb re-build.

Well I made the owner an offer which he for now has passed on. I brought to his attention the issues with the boat but he is set on that the problems are due to the boats propeller pitch being wrong and claims with a new prop the boat will go much faster. Not falling for that one. I told him my offer stands so we will see if he gets back to me or finds someone to sell it to that doesn't want to lake test it...

He was able to provide paperwork from a boat inspection he had performed on the boat when he purchased it (which was only 2 months ago...) which shows compression being 120-135 on all cylinders.

Here is also a picture I forgot I took showing the stringers and engine mount. This looked slightly suspicious to me but felt solid. Maybe someone with a better eye for these things can chime in. Thanks

That tower is enough to make me run from it. I also see orange.

Donald

Ok well the seller of the boat contacted me today and he is willing to take what i considered to be a fair offer on the boat knowing the mechanical problems. Guess I will have a winter project on my hands to get this up and running for the spring. I shall be visiting the forums much more frequently now as it appears tomorrow afternoon I will officially own a Ski Nautique

congratulations!   welcome to the club

Ok tonight was the first night I got to take a look at the boat since getting it inside the garage. Messing around with the boat and checking out the throttle linkage to the carburetor and it appears that when the throttle is all the way, it is barely moving the carbs throttle plates. They are just barely beginning to open even though the throttle is all the way forward. I can physically open the carb throttle plates all the way, so I am pretty confident that there is a linkage problem going on and that could be a very good reason why the boat was so slow when lake tested. I was wondering if this is a common problem (maybe slack in the linkage) or just some simple adjustment.

Also, any recommendations on a new alternator? mine tested at a whopping 6.5 volts so its going in the garbage.

+1 on what Pete says Mike. Up in our area you can get them rebuilt cheaper than new,but thats not true everywhere. It also has to be a marine one.

Ok another update. picked up a new ball joint linkage to go between the throttle linkage and the carb so now the throttle plate opens all the way when the throttle is depressed. I just disconnected the perfect pass for now, that was the problem not allowing the boat to go full throttle. I dropped the alternator off at a highly reputable shop in Dallas this morning and they are rebuilding it so that it will be good for 135 amps and it should be done by tomorrow. I will be putting the boat back together this weekend and hopefully doing another lake test sometime soon

The fluid is a clear pink the way ATF fluid should look, but on the underside of the dip stick (rubber gasket) there is a white residue. I removed the fresh water hoses to the transmission cooler and put a flash light down it and it looked just fine, but I wasn't 100% sure what I should be looking for with the cooler. The throttle is pushing the transmission into gear fully.

Mike26 wrote: The fluid is a clear pink the way ATF fluid should look, but on the underside of the dip stick (rubber gasket) there is a white residue.

Then disregard everything everybody is saying that the tranny and/or cooler needs rebuilding/replacing.
Go run it and check it again to verify that the fluid remains clear and RED (get off the pink thing...pink is bad) and there are no leaks. If that checks out OK, change the fluids and you're good to go. Don't worry about it.

Like Pete said, the small amount of white residue is probably just some condensation. This thing sat for a long time and I would consider that normal under those circumstances.

Ok did some work on the boat today, got the rebuilt alternator on it, redid the fresh water pump and was able to fire the boat up in the garage after a couple of tries. I did notice something interesting which was when the boat was in neutral the prop was spinning as tho it was in gear at idle, but when i would just barely mess with the throttle the prop would stop spinning and sit there as it should at idle in neutral. I am guessing the linkage is improperly set up, but how much movement should it take for the boat to go in and out of gear? it was just barely a 1 degree difference on the throttle and it would click into gear and allow the prop to spin. Seems like it should take more movement, but what do I know

But there is a small position where the throttle is set where the prop does not spin at all, it will remain completely still. Still falls under the category of warped clutch plates?

(Short Version):
Is this prop repairable or total crap and what should be done to fit this item that aligns the prop shaft under the boat? Just new bolts and some sort of adhesive?

(explanation on what happened):
All right, took the boat out today and brought 5 buddies along and we had a blast wake-boarding for about 4 hours this afternoon. Everything was running pretty well on the boat once we got the idle adjusted and the boat was accelerating just fine. Took it up to about 35mph at one point but we were mainly cruising between 20-25. The raw water pump was leaking a little bit but nothing that the bilge pump couldn't handle every 30 minutes or so.

So, we were cruising in the main part of Lake Lewisville towards the end of the day and the depth meter was reeding 35-40 feet deep. Cruising at about 25 mph with everyone on board and all the sudden there was a loud BANG and i stopped the boat asap. It was vibrating like crazy when in drive but just fine in neutral. Swam under and checked and sure enough, I bent the crap out of the prop on something. We had no other option but to idle the boat back to the boat ramp which took about 30 minutes. It was vibrating pretty violently and seemed to only be getting worse. All the sudden noticed that out feet were very wet. Popped open the engine cover and everything was soaked. Used the bilge pumps, a hand pump and cups to pump the water. Managed to get the boat on the trailer and out of the lake. Appears that the vibrations from the bent prop shook the bolts that hold the prop under the boat clean out of the bottom and the bolt holes were just filling with water. 3 of the 4 bolts were completely missing and the last one was just barely holding on...