Almost Owners of 2003 356

[mjk1040]

Welcome and hope all goes well. Gr8 Boat!

[Sadey]

Merc#’s
OM316003/OM316004

Velvet Drive#’s
6930/6931

Thank you for the interest and help.

[RGrew176]

Source of the post Very anxious. One owner boat in near perfect condition but very low hours on the hobbs. Less then 250 so having a complete survey with thorough engine inspection, compression, ECU etc... Weather in Chicago tomorrow is supposed be 15-20 out if the southeast. Not great for a sea trial. We will see. Once the deal is done I will be happy to post pictures. Don’t want to jinx it.

Don't blame you for not wanting to jinx it. Hope that all goes well. Looking forward to your next post.

[Sadey]

I have another post in the Engines/Transmissions forum about" tranny chatter" if you are interested.

Great bunch on this site!!

[Viper]

Haven't found anything that stands out re the serial numbers you posted. There are no entries for the first few regular service intervals posted on Merc for these but that could just be that nobody bothered to go in and post them.

[bud37]

Source of the post I have another post in the Engines/Transmissions forum about" tranny chatter" if you are interested.

Great bunch on this site!!

So it seems you have a bump in the process......for what its worth if the balance of the boat is real nice and what you want, any of these mechanical things can be overcome one way or the other. Like has been said get a good mechanic's opinion and go from there.......good luck going forward.

[RGrew176]

Were you able to do the sea trial? Did the weather cooperate? Hope all went well.

[Sadey]

Sea trial on our soon to be ours 2003 356 has a little chatter on the starboard side transmission from about 1000-1400 RPM. Goes away after 1500. Port side has no issues. Less then 250 hours on each 8.1 and almost identical hours on each. Boat ran perfectly otherwise. Thank you for any input.

From my other thread. The sea trial went well otherwise. Very rough conditions but we were able to get the boat up to 4000 rpms on both motors. Crashing through 3-5s wasn’t fun but I’m impressed with the way she handled it. Nothing shook loose. Only thing found not working so far was the windless which was a total surprise to the owner. Should have the full report soon and the mechanics are looking at the tranny on Monday. Thank you for keeping tabs on this!

[Sadey]

Full report came back with a few very minor items, scuffs and such. Good, clean, solid and well cared for boat. Head of the service department looked at the noise coming from the starboard trans in fwd from 1100-1400 rpms. He had the skipper put port motor in reverse which produced the exact same results. Noise 1100-1400. Feels it could be what the owner states that it’s been that way all along. He’s confident it’s not the dampers. He offered his 30 years of experienced opinion that he would load up his family today and cross Lake Michigan with out question. He would be the one doing the work wether it’s on my dime or the current owners so I feel good about leaving it be. Owner insisted on repairing and paying for the windlass. Said he doesn’t want to sell the boat with something not working. Great guy right!? Close this Friday am then I plan to go from Winthrop to Belmont Friday night to pick up some friends after the Cubs game then head back to Winthrop for a little celebrating! Hope the winds lay low for a noob. If not it’s UBer to the rescue.

[RGrew176]

Congratulations on your purchase. You have made a good choice. Look forward to reading of your adventures. Season is almost over but there is still time to get a couple of shakedown cruises in before the end of the season. I am not ready to use that W word yet.