120 hp Mercruiser Io in a 1976 arstocraft

"i was given a 1976 aristocraf

"i was given a 1976 aristocraft with a 120 hp mercruiser. One owner (my late uncle) who had it profissionally maintained for the life of the boat. He took ill 5 years ago, and never used the boat after it was winterized and put away. I am going up this weekend to pick up the boat. My plan is to drain oil, drive fluid, change plugs, wires, oil filter and maybe even cap and rotor.. is there anything i should also do? anything i am missing? anything i should keep an eye out for. I also plan on draining the 5 year old gas(if there is any) and putting fresh gas with water eliminating chemicals(heet) but any help would be appreciated and may help me not kill my new boat... also. is the 120hp enough for me to pull a skiier or tuber? what type prop should be on there.. email me at [email protected] thank u"

"Squirt a little oil into the

"Squirt a little oil into the spark plug holes and rotate the engine by hand 5 or 6 times at the crank bolt to lube up the cylinders. Replace the fuel filter and be wary of carb flooding, the needle may be dry and leaky as might the carb floats.

Hope she starts right up!"

"I would run it for a few mini

"I would run it for a few minitutes and look for leaks in the engine, I just had the same senerio with a boat that sat for three years aftter about 15 min or so of running I thought all was fine. After i started her up again I noticed a leak in the manifold. I believe that after sitting that long, things show up after it runs a while just be aware and look carfully. Just words of caution. Good luck, Happy boating."

Dan.
Other than the things al

Dan.
Other than the things already covered you may also want to pull the drive and service the U joints and inspect the coupler. Engine alignment should be checked. If it was stored dry (no fuel) you could have a problem with varnish in the bottom of the tank since you can't get all the fuel out. If it was stored with the fuel in the carburetor then the jets and passages could be pluged. The water tube from the pump up the drive should be cleared with low pressure air. The bellows for the U joints and shift cable should be replaced and the shift cable if it has never been changed. The gimble bearing needs to be checked. All of the water hoses and belts. If hoses are hard replace them. Water pump on the engine may leak. Trim pump oil should be changed. Oil /lube all moving parts(cable pivot points etc). Watch for leaking fuel pump. Even if it was matained it is still a 30 year old boat. Depending on how it was used some of these things may have never needed to be replaced. If you are at sea level it should pull a skier. I hope that it needs nothing . Best of luck with it.

"thank you, Ill try to get to

"thank you, Ill try to get to each and every one of them. Boats are fun, but they also seem to be a lot of work, especially since I havent had her on the water yet! Once I have her back in my home state, Ill check the engine and outdrive numbers to make sure they match the boat etc. thanks again."