I am thinking of buying an older 36' Sea Ray Sedan. The owner has
recently discovered that at about 2500 rpm the engines were cutting
out. His mechanic thinks that it is because there is significant scale
in the gas tanks (aluminum) and it is fouling the fuel system. The
owner has hired a fuel polisher to clean the tanks and fuel. The fuel
filters have been replaced. Are there any other issues that may result
from this? Does this mean that the boat has not been run as much as it
should?

Thanks for your help.

On 20 Mar 2005 09:28:27 -0800, wrote:
I am thinking of buying an older 36' Sea Ray Sedan. The owner has
recently discovered that at about 2500 rpm the engines were cutting
out. His mechanic thinks that it is because there is significant scale
in the gas tanks (aluminum) and it is fouling the fuel system. The
owner has hired a fuel polisher to clean the tanks and fuel. The fuel
filters have been replaced. Are there any other issues that may result
from this? Does this mean that the boat has not been run as much as it
should?
===============================

Buying an older boat with engine and tank issues is not a good start.
Unless you can negotiate enough into the deal to alow replacement of
both, I'd look for another boat.

Starving for fuel is only one possible reason the engines are cutting
out around 2500 RPM.

Beware the "owner is having the fuel polished" excuse.
There will be no evidence visible to you, the buyer, once the fuel has
supposedly been "polished" unless you're down on the dock when the
process is taking place. As little as *nothing* could actually be done,
and how would you know?

If you're serious about the boat, pay *your* mechanic to analyze the
situation and express an opinion about both the general condition of
the engines as well as any specific problems noted. Don't buy the boat
until you now *why* the engines cut out at 2500, and it would be
typical to expect the seller to cure that to your satisfaction as a
condition of sale.

Asking the seller to cure the problem is often better than taking the
cash alternative. If somebody misdiagnoses the problem as "fouled
plugs" (and you settle for $200 off the price so you can deal with it
after closing) nobody but you owns that boat when the plugs are
replaced, the problem persists, and you learn that it's really going to
take another $2000 to solve the situation. Ouch.

wrote:
I am thinking of buying an older 36' Sea Ray Sedan. The owner has
recently discovered that at about 2500 rpm the engines were cutting
out. His mechanic thinks that it is because there is significant scale
in the gas tanks (aluminum) and it is fouling the fuel system. The
owner has hired a fuel polisher to clean the tanks and fuel. The fuel
filters have been replaced. Are there any other issues that may result
from this? Does this mean that the boat has not been run as much as it
should?

Thanks for your help.


You say the engines cutting out is a recent discovery. Check to see if
the owner has been using gasoline with 10% methanol added. I wrote
about this several months ago. Methanol gas is now the only kind you
can get around here (Long Island, NY), and it has been causing this very
problem on boats all over our area. Since methanol is a solvent, it
loosens residue that may have been accumulating on the fuel tank walls.
The residue then clogs filters, gas lines and carbs. This happened to
both of my power boats, causing engines to sputter and stall above
2500RPM. If that is the problem, a thorough cleaning of the fuel system
should be the solution. In my case, we just kept changing filters until
the amount of gunk diminished. That may work for you as well, as long
as you can stand the frustration of continued stalling until the problem
clears.

Larry Weiss
"...Ever After!"
"a little after..."