Steps to take on a boat that has sat for 3 years.

[dsa5455]

I have a 2001 Tracker boat. I am gifting it to my son. It is a project to work on with my grandson (14). It has been stored outside for a few (3) years under various tarps. Seats, carpet and maybe some wiring (mice) will be replaced but it ran before it was stored. They plan to drain the fluids and crank her up this weekend. This boat has the original 50 hp motor that has an oil reservoir for the mix part. They have been looking on You Tube quite a bit but thought I might ask for some input from the experienced boaters here. Thanks in advance.

 

[TX300mag]

Mine is a 1992 tracker and has sat for years at a time on more than one occasion. I got rid of the oil reservoir and mix the fuel on the advice of one of the mechanics that worked on it for me after it sat up. All the fuel lines got replaced, especially since I ran ethanol gas. The gas tank came out and was thoroughly cleaned.

 

[Spurhunter]

I got rid of the oil reservoir and mix the fuel on the advice of one of the mechanics that worked on it for me after it sat up.

I would do this if it was me. I blew up a 2002 Johnson 115 when the oil pump system went out running 5500 RPMs. Mixing your oil is cheap insurance IMO.

 

[WTM]

+1 on what he said. prelube the cylinders with 2 stroke or fogging oil. turn the flywheel by hand a couple of rotations without the plug wires connected.

 

[Doecrusher]

Replace the impeller.

 

[Moonman]

Tires and check bearings plus what others said. When I bought one like that I used sea foams deep creep instead of fogging oil and have met had issues.

 

[JBell]

Don't assume it's gonna be right, right away. I bought a project boat and a year later, still tweaking. But we are down to the $20-$50 items that replacing is just a good idea.

 

[Tenntrapper]

Replace the impeller.

Don't forget the thermostat.

 

[Hduke86]

Tell them to save some headaches and frustration. Go ahead and take the carbs off and clean them good before running fresh gas. Can pretty much guarantee that the 2 stroke fuel has had the gas evaporate out of the carbs and left oil in there and clogged stuff.

 

[Tenntrapper]

If sat for 3 yrs, should look at the registration. Probably expired.

 

[dsa5455]

If sat for 3 yrs, should look at the registration. Probably expired.

yea, good point, it was expired