I have been looking at a small cuddy cabin, which has the 350 Mag Engine
with a Bravo III drive. After the initial inspection, I was going to
schedule a return trip for a detailed inspection of the motor, drive, sea
trial, etc. I called the owner, who has been nothing but a pleasure to deal
with, and he said that the seal to the prop shaft developed a leak and needs
to be replaced. He said that he wanted to get the repairs done before the
final inspection. The boat is a 1999 model with under 200 hours, is in
immaculate condition from stern to bow, and has always been stored in a
climate control building attached to the current owners business.

My questions is - with the shaft seal going bad, what other items should be
checked. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

JT

JT wrote:
I have been looking at a small cuddy cabin, which has the 350 Mag Engine
with a Bravo III drive. After the initial inspection, I was going to
schedule a return trip for a detailed inspection of the motor, drive, sea
trial, etc. I called the owner, who has been nothing but a pleasure to deal
with, and he said that the seal to the prop shaft developed a leak and needs
to be replaced. He said that he wanted to get the repairs done before the
final inspection. The boat is a 1999 model with under 200 hours, is in
immaculate condition from stern to bow, and has always been stored in a
climate control building attached to the current owners business.

My questions is - with the shaft seal going bad, what other items should be
checked. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

JT
It would be money well spent to have a Mercruiser mechanic perform a
mechanical inspection. This, together with a survey, should put you in
pretty good shape. If you don't see any cosmetic flaws, chances are
that the owner took good care of the mechanicals too.
Jim