New to me (First boat) 2000 Bryant 196

[maverick7687]

Picked up this 2000 196 from a family member. She said it "needs some work" so I am checking it out now to see what all it needs.
This boat has been passed around between Aunts and Uncles in my family for about 7 years and it's always been a great boat so I hate to see it not taken care of like it should be, and I just kinda wanted a boat.
The stitching on the rear bench seat has busted open so that will be a repair that I am not equipped to complete.


When I went to look at it and pick it up it had been sitting for almost a year. It was parked on an incline and I noticed water standing against the riser for the rear seat. When I opened the engine compartment it became painfully apparent that someone had left the plug in and the boat had been rained on, a lot. There was water up to the spark plugs on the engine.

I went ahead and pulled the plug and brought her home to Tennessee.

Engine
After it was cleaned up a little I turned the engine over to make sure it wasn't hydro-locked, all was good so I tried to fire it up. No dice. It would turn over and "cough" a little but never actually start. I pulled a plug to check for fire (I put some fresh gas in the carb and still no luck) and it was firing, but the plug looked awful. I got a new set and cranked her over and she fired right up. For about 45 seconds, dam. Started it up again and when it started to choke out I kept pouring fuel into the carb from a bottle and sure enough, it would run as long as I would supply the fuel. Time to break out the fuel pressure gauge. Fuel pressure would jump to about 7psi while cranking then fade away slowly. That's where we stand on the engine. New fuel pump and filter are ordered and should be here Friday.

Drive
No trim/tilt. The Up/Down buttons don't work, but the Trailer button works. Tells me the motor is running, great!
Climbed down with the motor and jumped from +12 to the wires on the pump and both Up and Down function normally. When the drive was going down a yellow foamy liquid started leaking from the reservoir cap. It seems thin to be in a hydraulic system (to me, I don't know what goes in these yet) and is about the yellowish color of Great Stuff foam.
From the little research that I have done it seems like I need to pull the drive and check the gimbal bearing and bellows to make sure there is no water in them and possibly replace bellows.
In the little time it was running it didn't feel like the power steering was working either (I am assuming it has PS since it's hard to turn with the motor off, correct me if I'm wrong). I haven't looked into that much since it is still functional as-is.


This will be my first boat so I am completely ignorant about best practices and ways to do things. I am excited to learn about what makes these things tick and get her out on the water.

Click pictures to make bigger, didn't want to flood the post.

First glance when I went to pick it up:






Loaded up and ready for the trip from KY to TN (Only 100mi)




I have done a lot of cleaning on the interior and all the moldish looking spots seem to be coming clean. All the lights and electronics work (or at least seem to) with the exception of the hour meter on the tach. The radio gets power and turns on but no sound. Makes the "remember to take your faceplate" sound when you turn it off so I'm thinking it just needs a new head unit.

 

[alldodge]

Howdy

Fuel pressure would jump to about 7psi while cranking then fade away slowly.

Filter is a good idea, but don't think there is anything wrong with the pump. The pump runs while cranking, that's correct, but soon as the engine stops the pump will stop it oil pressure has not built up. Depending on how long the boat sat, my first guess is you may have bad gas or may need a carb rebuild.

Looks like you have the batwing style exhaust manifolds, and those have damaged many motors. I would recommend replacing them with dry joint
http://www.mercruiserparts.com/bam/subassembly/31511/2694/140



Check the fuse and connections on the trim pump. The oil is trim, it's a hydraulic pump. Leaking oil out the trim cap, I would cycle it some, there should be no leakage.

Change the gear oil and replace the water pump impeller in the drive. Check engine alignment while it's off and your doing your other checks..

Steering should be real easy with motor off or running. once it's in the water, this is when power steering is real helpful. If it has PS there will be a reservoir on the from of the motor

 

[southkogs]

Welcome aboard Mav:

What kinda' shape is the transom in? My biggest concern for a boat like that sittin' with a bunch'a standing water in it is rot. If the stringers and transom are shot, you've got a lot of expense to get her in seaworthy shape again.

I would sort that out before I put too much money into the engine.

 

[maverick7687]

Welcome aboard Mav:

What kinda' shape is the transom in? My biggest concern for a boat like that sittin' with a bunch'a standing water in it is rot. If the stringers and transom are shot, you've got a lot of expense to get her in seaworthy shape again.

I would sort that out before I put too much money into the engine.

Thanks! The transom seems to be in good shape, and from what I have heard about Bryant boats, there is no wood to rot.

Looks like you have the batwing style exhaust manifolds, and those have damaged many motors. I would recommend replacing them with dry joint

I hadn't heard about this, definitely something I need to check into.

 

[burtonrider11]

Gotta say, there is a LOT of water in that boat. Boats are designed to be in water, not the other way around. I would do very thorough check of transom, stringers, motor mounts etc. That is not good to have that much water in it....

Also if running the motor not in water, be sure to have it hooked up to the hose! I am assuming you already did that, but it wasn't mentioned.

Good luck with the boat, could be a gem with some elbow grease

 

[maverick7687]

I'm not usually one to bring back a dead thread, but I realized I left this one hanging. It's almost time to get water-bound again here in East TN and it made me think about this thread and the initial issues.

The fuel issue was the safety for the oil pressure (I'm pretty sure, I cleaned connectors and plugged everything back in and it hasn't been a problem since).
Got her all cleaned up and she actually cleaned up pretty well. A couple tears in the rear seat at the seam (Where people naturally step in and out on the seat).


Went out a couple times and everything was fine. First time we decided to take a trip to a marina around 30mi away, the ignition coil decided it wanted to crack and start arcing to ground. Started running like garbage and eventually wouldn't start back up. New coil (borrowed coil from my CJ5) fixed the issue. TWRA was nice enough to tow us back to the marina and I got to sit back and enjoy the view.

In all her glory


The bosses definitely approve!


Can't really tell how much cleaner it is, but it looks brand new compared to the 'before' pics.

Need a good way to keep, what I can only assume is algae, from reappearing on the carpet in the back where the standing water was.



Ready to head out the next morning. Crappily enough, that morning the truck decided it wanted to bend a pushrod on the #8 cylinder. It went the rest of the way to the lake and all the way back home like a champ on 7 cyl! The head is off at the moment and awaiting parts. Gotta love the 7.3L Powerstroke!

 

[southkogs]

The bosses definitely approve!

That's great - makes it all the more fun, doesn't it?

That's cool the TWRA guys brought you in. Typically they shy away from that (due to liability issues, I think mostly).

 

[Maclin]

Thanks for updating. Bryant uses very high quality materials from what I have seen. I did not know how nice they were until the one I just bought fell into my lap almost a month ago now. I was all set to buy a different boat I had gone to the dealer to look at. Then the sales rep said hey we just got another nice boat in and I want you to look at it too. It was a 2002 Bryant 188 with 4.3MPI Merc. I started looking at it and in my mind went "whaaaaat". The interior in it was perfect, even the second and third time I looked at it. Still looks perfect to me 3 weeks in, wife is amazed. Bryant's have that extended planing surface, fuel tank in the bow, very nice riding. Hand built, no chopper guns, etc... Does yours still have the original Coleman Cooler that fits under the front bow cushion?

Good Job on getting yours sorted!

 

[maverick7687]

That's great - makes it all the more fun, doesn't it?

Definitely! They love it, even though the big one doesn't care too much about getting in the water. The younger one will float around all over if I let her though!

That's cool the TWRA guys brought you in. Typically they shy away from that (due to liability issues, I think mostly).

They were pretty cool, which is the opposite of what I have heard others say about them. This was my only experience with TWRA though. I had some friends coming back (They had to drop is to go refuel then come back) but they said they were headed that direction and didn't have anything better to do anyway. Must have been a boring day for them.

Does yours still have the original Coleman Cooler that fits under the front bow cushion?

No it does not! I wish it did though. I can't even find a picture of what the original ones look like let alone find one for sale. I have been looking for one that will fit in there. Probably a soft-side one would be my best bet. Currently I fill the compartment with ice and block the drain. At the end of the day I'll just let the water drain into the bilge.

This is also my first experience with a Bryant boat. It is my first boat and it was bought new by a family member. I have always liked it.
I don't EVER see them around here (East TN) but as soon as I cross the line into KY it seems like they appear everywhere! I would have thought they would be more plentiful around here since they were originally built in Sweetwater.

I would also like to find a radio that is compatible with the built in remote at the helm. Or a newer model to replace that one with. I got a regular auto head unit to replace the original (shorted and broken) radio.

 

[jkust]

Betting you will need to replace the radio, the front helm remote and the transom remote as well....it's common to have to do this to get a modern set up.

 

[R055]

Yeah most likely you'll need to replace the head unit plus the helm remote. Shouldn't be too bad. Nice marine head units with all the goodies(Bluetooth, aux, phone charging and connecting to phone through charger, preamps) with a helm remote will run you ~$150.

 

[maverick7687]

That's what I was thinking. The automotive head unit I put in was a cheap temporary fix. It would be nice to have helm and transom remotes though. Mine didn't have one on the transom to begin with.

 

[Maclin]

I will try to remember to measure the cooler.

On the radio, I think the previous owner upgraded this one, I will get a pic and the model# to see if it is newer or the same as original. It works with the custom Bryant remote at the helm, has MP3 port, CD, not sure on Satellite FM.

Pic of cooler in the bin, the top of the cooler is the only "bad" spot on this boat ...:

 

[Maclin]

I forgot I had taken a good Pic of the Radio already. It is a Sony CDX-M10.

 

[southkogs]

They were pretty cool, which is the opposite of what I have heard others say about them.

I've never had a bad experience with 'em. Even when they were coming up on us to check our fishing licenses they would go real easy coming in and out ... sometimes they'll even clue ya' in on where people are catchin' fish.