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maintenance priorities

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davidwbeitz

New member
Newbie question here

I just bought afresh water boat (2006 sea ray 200 select) with a 5.0 MPI engine and a Bravo 3 outdrive used with no maintenance records. It had 340 hours on it when bought and I can tell it was used "hard". The dealer (sea ray) told me they changed all the "fluids" prior to taking it on consignment, however I didn't ask which ones. Since owning the boat I've replaced the sea water impeller, changed oil, and added a dual battery system.

I need to get the engine maintenance "caught up" and continue to maintain it. So my question, can everyone give me a list of their maintenance priorities in order of importance? How often to perform each?

I've got the maintenance manual however wanted more opinions.

Thanks in advance.

David
 
I've never gotten more than 2 seasons of troublefree operation on a distributor cap/rotor on a Thunderbolt ignition system in a salt water environment ( cap "breathes" ambient air via small "elbow" fitting as temp rises and falls thru the day). Plug life??? depends on platimum tipped or not. Spark plug wires....10 seasons on factory wires. Check belt(s???)
 
Oil change engine and drive. New oil filter on engine, Replace all hoses and hose clamps (use good AWAB or similar high quality clamps...they can save your life!) Replace all belts. Do complete tune up cap rotor plugs wires timing. Water pump impeller. fuel filter. This will get you back to "baseline",

Keep a log. An excel spreadsheet works for me and I can open and edit it on my phone.

End of season engine oil change, drain all cooling water passages, remove battery.
Beginning of season engine oil change new filter. drive oil change, fuel filter. Check water pump impeller, belt tension. charge and install battery. Check wiring for corrosion,loose fittings.
 
Its a 5.0 MPI in the 2006 range, no timing adjustment, Change hoses if they fail on you,(not likely) Oil/filter at the end of every season, gear oil in the drive once a year. Fuel filters every year(spring time)

The ignition wires will last a long time the cap and rotor at least every other year.

You will get about 6 years out of the water pump housing, the bearing and seal will fail in that time frame and the housing will just be warn out.

I would be more concerned with the condition of the exhaust.

It is not a thunderbolt ignition system.
 
I'm weird. I change out all the hoses every few years. That stuff I trust like not. I would replace all of it with hard lines if I could.
 
2004 350 mag B3

If you have a outdrive monitoring system, there's sludge at the bottom of the monitoring tank, clean the tank. You need a tapered socket for the plugs. I had the outdrive removed and serviced by a local shop - gimble, bellows crack, lots of age problems (it stopped the water appearing in outdrive oil). Plus all the things the people stated above. Fluids and tuneup was my priority then outdrive work 2nd season.

I only use OEM parts for most parts. I keep maintenance/repair logs in MS-Excel for the hull and the engine, and I manage them using MS-OneNote

AND MOST OF ALL - subscribe to this Mercruiser forum...the maintenance issue will come up and then you can take the action discussed if you so choose.
 
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