Need a little Help!

[JulianL85]

I have never owned a boat in my life and been on very few . I love fishing and I'm getting tired of fishing off a pier . I am thinking about buying a used boat . Its a 1996 18' Lund SV-18 with a 1996 40 HP Mercury for 2,500 dollars. We went on a test drive this morning and everything went well . I was wondering if you think this is a ok deal and if so should i get a compression test done before doing anything stupid . I would appreciate any and all advice . thanks.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Need a little Help!

Buy it before I do.

 

[JulianL85]

Re: Need a little Help!

lol its a pretty good deal ?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Need a little Help!

YES! Fishing boats like that in my area always go for a pile of money. That's like half price!

 

[JulianL85]

Re: Need a little Help!

should i get a compression test done ? and is there anything i need to look at on the motor or boat before i start handing over my money ?

 

[lncoop]

Re: Need a little Help!

You've already water tested it, and there's little to go wrong with that kind of boat since pretty much everything is out in plain sight. Plus, it's a Lund. A compression test wouldn't be a bad idea, but you can do it yourself. Auto Zone will lend you a tester (acutally you pay them for it but they refund your money when you're done with it). There are numerous tutorials online, including on good old iboats, if you're not familiar with the process. Not difficult at all. Good luck partner. That's a sweet rig.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Need a little Help!

A compression test is always a good idea. The testers are fairly cheap and you can pick one up at any autoparts store.

 

[TyeeMan]

Re: Need a little Help!

Deal of a life time bud, snap it up!! Worst case is if you don't like it you can sell it and probably double your money.
If you pull the spark plugs take a good look at each of them. The porcalin should be brown like chicken, , more than likely the plugs will be black and probably have some carbon on them. That's fine, most outboards run like that. You don't want to see light grey, totally dry plugs with shiny deposits. This would indicate a lean condition from either a plugged up carb or bad crank seals.
But, I'd bet a case of beer that the motor will be just fine. Good luck and welcome to boating.