Are they REALLY new engines? And more.....
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:45 pm
So I made a few trips to look at Tricabs. The least-worst one I found purports to have "new" engines. I'm asking the seller hard questions about what that really means, but in the meantime, take a look at some pictures if you don't mind.
The boat I'm looking at is at:
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... 52531&url=
NOTE: THE PICTURE NUMBER MAY BE DIFFERENT DEPENDING WHETHER YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE PHOTO GALLERY OR THE LIST OF PHOTOS THAT SHOW ON ONE PAGE.
If you skip on down to photo 18, it is of the port engine. Take a look at the oil filter. I have to tell you, it sure looks like a spray paint overhaul to me. If the engine was actually rebuilt or otherwise worked on outside of the boat (they said that they changed both engines two years agao when they began rebuilding this boat -- the third tricab they have done). The engine hour meters have 21 and 20 hrs on them. Why would the oil filter have engine paint on it? Isn't it typical to mask the oil filter mounting face (with no filter attached) and THEN spray the engine?
While you're on photo 18 (sorry, I haven't mastered the art of getting pictures in my posts yet), take a look at that raw water strainer. Is it normal to screw the strainer directly to the seacock? What about all that cantilevered weight each time the boat slams down off a wave? And what about draining the sediment out with it at such a screwy angle?
Moving on down to photo 22ish (genset and port engine), if the engines were overhauled out of the boat, how did blue spray paint get on the red throttle (?) cable that runs across the front side of the genset over toward the engine? Same thing goes with the cooling hose above the starboard engine in photo 20ish and 23ish.
But wait -- there's more! Take a look at photo 16 (genset), particularly the area around the lettering. See how the lettering is set against a darker background than the rest of the motor? And see how the starter ring has paint on it? This IS DEFINITELY a spray paint overhaul (but the genset is not listed as new or rebuilt at least). Not shown in the same picture are the holes drilled into the bottom of the battery box. Aren't battery boxes supposed to contain spilled acid, and keep it from dissolving the boat?
And as a reward for reading this far, I'll share the fact that there IS NO HOLDING TANK, only the ones in the (Mansfield?) toilet bases. How much do they hold -- 5 gallons? WTF? It's OK though, because the hose connecting the heads to the pump-out fitting are brand new. Because they are, I guess the owner felt no need to secure them anywhere except at their ends with hose clamps, or to provide chafing protection where they penetrated the bulkhead. They also used what appears to be Series 141 Multiflex hose that is shown on page 511 of the 2012 We$t Marine catalog. Says right in the description that it is not for sanitation. Hmmm, I wonder if the $3.59/ price compared to the $21.00 price for real sanitation hose had anything to do with it?
I did learn something about hot water heaters by looking at this boat. Sorry no photo here. The straps that some people think are to hold the tank in place don't really need to be connected -- laying in the bilge beside the tank is OK with this owner. Regarding the electrical connections, I learned that the proper way to attach the 120 VOLT WIRES is to strip the outer insulator of the multi-conductor cable about 6 inches away from the tank, then pinch the two inner conductors between the tank body and the piece of sheetmetal that covers junction box on top -- who needs a strain relief when all you are risking is your life!
I also learned that it is normal practice to have bilge pump switches fouled with wires, pumps not screwed in place -- just resting upright is OK, and to keep the belt for the belt-driven diaphragm pump (which was located at the very back of the bilge and under the mattress -- not the low point when this boat is at rest) off of the pulleys and laying nearby so that you can install it right before you need it, and that a million pieces of carpet fibers left over from installing new carpet will wash down from on top of the engines and everywhere else and act as the bilge pump filter that should be there but is not.
OK, so I've digressed into a rant. I really did want to know how to tell if the engines were new by looking when I started this post, but the more I studied the pictures of the boat, the more disgusted I got. Which is a shame, because this is the first one that I've looked at that didn't smell like a mushroom farm or have spongy decks. Did you see anything else in any of the pictures that is a turn-off? Can you guess how many boats I've owned in my life? And my eternal question, what would you offer for this boat? Thanks, Perry
The boat I'm looking at is at:
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/ ... 52531&url=
NOTE: THE PICTURE NUMBER MAY BE DIFFERENT DEPENDING WHETHER YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE PHOTO GALLERY OR THE LIST OF PHOTOS THAT SHOW ON ONE PAGE.
If you skip on down to photo 18, it is of the port engine. Take a look at the oil filter. I have to tell you, it sure looks like a spray paint overhaul to me. If the engine was actually rebuilt or otherwise worked on outside of the boat (they said that they changed both engines two years agao when they began rebuilding this boat -- the third tricab they have done). The engine hour meters have 21 and 20 hrs on them. Why would the oil filter have engine paint on it? Isn't it typical to mask the oil filter mounting face (with no filter attached) and THEN spray the engine?
While you're on photo 18 (sorry, I haven't mastered the art of getting pictures in my posts yet), take a look at that raw water strainer. Is it normal to screw the strainer directly to the seacock? What about all that cantilevered weight each time the boat slams down off a wave? And what about draining the sediment out with it at such a screwy angle?
Moving on down to photo 22ish (genset and port engine), if the engines were overhauled out of the boat, how did blue spray paint get on the red throttle (?) cable that runs across the front side of the genset over toward the engine? Same thing goes with the cooling hose above the starboard engine in photo 20ish and 23ish.
But wait -- there's more! Take a look at photo 16 (genset), particularly the area around the lettering. See how the lettering is set against a darker background than the rest of the motor? And see how the starter ring has paint on it? This IS DEFINITELY a spray paint overhaul (but the genset is not listed as new or rebuilt at least). Not shown in the same picture are the holes drilled into the bottom of the battery box. Aren't battery boxes supposed to contain spilled acid, and keep it from dissolving the boat?
And as a reward for reading this far, I'll share the fact that there IS NO HOLDING TANK, only the ones in the (Mansfield?) toilet bases. How much do they hold -- 5 gallons? WTF? It's OK though, because the hose connecting the heads to the pump-out fitting are brand new. Because they are, I guess the owner felt no need to secure them anywhere except at their ends with hose clamps, or to provide chafing protection where they penetrated the bulkhead. They also used what appears to be Series 141 Multiflex hose that is shown on page 511 of the 2012 We$t Marine catalog. Says right in the description that it is not for sanitation. Hmmm, I wonder if the $3.59/ price compared to the $21.00 price for real sanitation hose had anything to do with it?
I did learn something about hot water heaters by looking at this boat. Sorry no photo here. The straps that some people think are to hold the tank in place don't really need to be connected -- laying in the bilge beside the tank is OK with this owner. Regarding the electrical connections, I learned that the proper way to attach the 120 VOLT WIRES is to strip the outer insulator of the multi-conductor cable about 6 inches away from the tank, then pinch the two inner conductors between the tank body and the piece of sheetmetal that covers junction box on top -- who needs a strain relief when all you are risking is your life!
I also learned that it is normal practice to have bilge pump switches fouled with wires, pumps not screwed in place -- just resting upright is OK, and to keep the belt for the belt-driven diaphragm pump (which was located at the very back of the bilge and under the mattress -- not the low point when this boat is at rest) off of the pulleys and laying nearby so that you can install it right before you need it, and that a million pieces of carpet fibers left over from installing new carpet will wash down from on top of the engines and everywhere else and act as the bilge pump filter that should be there but is not.
OK, so I've digressed into a rant. I really did want to know how to tell if the engines were new by looking when I started this post, but the more I studied the pictures of the boat, the more disgusted I got. Which is a shame, because this is the first one that I've looked at that didn't smell like a mushroom farm or have spongy decks. Did you see anything else in any of the pictures that is a turn-off? Can you guess how many boats I've owned in my life? And my eternal question, what would you offer for this boat? Thanks, Perry