Did I buy a lemon?

2

2savage

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2021
Messages
65
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 S
Vessel Name
SAVAGE II
I can't keep up with the failures and problems....

More engine codes, P0273 and P0261. Engine barely runs.

Water pressure just stopped working. Full tanks. Don't even know where the pump is.

Battery charger switch keeps turning off. I'm plugged into shore power.

When I bought the boat there was no orientation and now I find there is no manual aboard. I'm having a very hard time figuring out how it all works. Very disheartening I must say. Wife is ticked off too.
 
2savage":zdbgz66l said:
I can't keep up with the failures and problems....

More engine codes, P0273 and P0261. Engine barely runs.

Water pressure just stopped working. Full tanks. Don't even know where the pump is.

Battery charger switch keeps turning off. I'm plugged into shore power.

When I bought the boat there was no orientation and now I find there is no manual aboard. I'm having a very hard time figuring out how it all works. Very disheartening I must say. Wife is ticked off too.
Click to expand...
Which boat do you have?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Mr. Savage. I doubt you bought a lemon as they are few and far between! What you have is you bought a boat that is a little complicated to understand. Slow down and work on one thing at a time.
The engine codes as I understand, is for the fuel injector system so you will need a service technician to troubleshoot, the water system could be as simple as a clogged filter or a blown fuse, the electrical system 9 times out of 10 is operator error. As far as no orientation on the vessel you will have to take that up with the person you look at when you shave! Don't worry about the wife she was probably just looking for something to be upset with you about for buying a boat!
Bob's point over view!
 
I, too, doubt your 2010 29 is a lemon. Every boat has a learning curve as you must know . If the previous owner did not provide an orientation and documentation and owner manuals , you have some research to do. This forum will be a great tool. Any 11 year old boat will no doubt require some TLC......the amount of which is dependent on previous owner(owners).I trust your 29 will serve you well when you bring it back to your expected performance level .
 
We purchased a 2010 R25SC June 2020 and fortunately for us, the previous (original) owner had meticulously taken care of the vessel, still had the original Ranger Tug bags full of technical manuals that came with the boat.

That being said, over a few months, I was able to put my hands on all the technical manuals for the systems onboard in electronic format. As well, I found a few blogs of past and current owners that described the various maintenance routines to be performed annually.

I would highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the boat and its systems before setting sail for the first time. Understand where all the fuses/breakers are located for all systems and have spares. If you see bare wires, cap them, trace back to a power distribution panel and remove the fuse (if the run is fused).

I had issues with the water pressure and quickly realized that the FW pump's strainer was clogged. Easy enough to clean and restore pressure.

Were your issues identified during the survey? As far as the engine/power issues goes, unless you're confident in your skills to address these, I would pay a professional to investigate and correct.

I did all the maintenance myself, since I got the service manuals for the engine and transmission through my local Yanmar dealer.

Don't give up, these boats are well built and easy to take care of, if properly maintained at regular intervals. For the complicated items, I pay professionals for their years of experience and ability to fit where my body doesn't.
 
Here are a few manuals to help you find locations of components and wiring diagrams.

download/file.php?id=156
download/file.php?id=151
download/file.php?id=150
download/file.php?id=149
download/file.php?id=148
download/file.php?id=147
download/file.php?id=731
download/file.php?id=80

The Rangers are described as the Swiss Army Knife of boats! There is a lot of amenities and a lot that can go wrong. My suggestion to anyone buying a used boat is don't expect a name brand boat to maintain itself.
When buying a used boat you have choices.

(1) Purchase a turn key boat that the owner has taken care of and is able to demonstrate that all systems are in working order and can show a full yearly report of the maintenance schedule that was annually completed. With this should come a complete 1 or 2 day orientation of the boat. This is hard to find and this owner will be very proud of his boat and expect a proud price.

(2) Purchase a boat that looks clean and may need a few things but know that every system on board needs to be inspected and shown to be fully operational. Best way is to have a full engine and Hull survey. Negotiate a price based on surveyors findings.

(3) Purchase a boat that has been sitting for a while probably needs to have some work done to make it a fully functional boat. Plan on investing some money in the boat to bring it to a fun functional boat and adjust your offer price according to what you feel will be required to get the boat ship shape.

Option 3 your not going boating for a while!

Why am I explaining this? You feel you purchased a lemon. Probably not! You purchased a boat and had a survey done based on information that you posted in a previous thread.

"Yes, the boat received it's 1000 hour service then was taken for sea trials by the surveyor. Oil samples done on both engine and generator. No apparent issues"

Based on this you probably fall into option (2). I am assuming the surveyor inspected all operating systems and found no discrepancies. The report came back that all systems on board were fully functional and the boats condition was in good operational condition. The 1000 hour inspection which includes all annual maintenance recommendations + the requirements from the 1000 hr.
• Draining the fuel tank
• Replacing the fuel fine filter
• Replacing the fuel filter/water separator element
• Changing the engine oil and replacing the engine oil filter element
• Replacing the seawater pump belt
• Replacing the anodes
• replacing the seawater
pump impeller
• Replacing the turbocharger heat shield
• Checking the exhaust/water mixing elbow
• Replacing the air filter element
• Cleaning the turbocharger blower
• Checking or replacing the alternator belt
• Checking the shift cable adjustment
• Adjusting the propeller shaft alignment
• Checking the hydraulic oil cooler
• Checking or replacing rubber hoses
• Checking flexible engine mounts
• Checking the fuel pump and fuel lines
• Draining and refilling closed cooling
system (engine coolant)

Two items I would include would be removal of after cooler and heat exchanger for cleaning and inspection. No where in Yanmar's service intervals is this included.

The fact that you had this 1000 hr service completed should have given you insurance of a good operating engine. It did't why? (1) its mechanical and mechanical items can fail prematurely or (2) the servicing center failed to complete all recommended service items. The 1000 hour service complete is approximate $3000.00+.

The codes that are showing up are injector codes.
PO 273 is injector # 5 and PO 261 is injector is injector #1 There are many reasons electrical or mechanical. The fact that you had a fouled fuel system may have contributed to the injector codes. I would advise having a certified Yanmar dealer inspect the engine.

The battery charger turning off may be a breaker issue (weak) or the charger has failed and causing a high amp draw. Could also be a poor connection. The best way to troubleshoot is keep it simple. Look at the connections tight and clean. Then research the owners manuals ( most can be found on line based on the model number of the equipment. If you are not a DIY boat owner make a punch list of all the failed components or issues at hand. Be very descriptive in the punch list. Go to a good servicing marine repair center and get an estimate for the repairs. Once you get items fixed learn the boats systems so you can from this point forward maintain them. Purchasing boats can be frustrating New or Used they are not all 10's in fact most are 5 to 6 new or used.

I feel your pain ! Once you get things fixed you will enjoy your boat. Good Luck.
 
Brian, thanks for taking the time to compose your insightful posts on all things maintenance and mechanical. If Loral ever discovers how much time you expend on these, we’re dead!
 
Brian is a gold mine, as always!

I would add a couple of notes. Our boat had a surprising (to me) number of minor things to resolve when new -- and they all turned out to be minor indeed. It was quite frustrating to work through them, but we learned a lot and now she's even better than 10/10 for it!

Besides getting service and learning as noted, I might call around charter companies, boat yards, or find fellow RT owners around and try to find a captain with RT experience. Describe the problems and ask whether it could make sense to pay them for a day of orientation (not to do tech troubleshooting, really, but to answer many more general questions about the systems and get their perspective on things). The reassurance alone could be worth it!
 
Agreed. Solid information and much appreciated. Thank you Brian!
 
I enjoy my boat, however I think the answers to issues here are bent with folks being in love with their boat. I have had many boats over 60 years and think the RT’s are a good boat but if you read the forums on this site there are problems with these boats. Many problems are associated with factory quality issues as I have had. Being a second owner there is no factory support for these problems. I have owned Chris Craft, Regal, Curisers, Silverton, and C-Dory boats and I would rate the RT’s about average with respect to build quality and systems. I have had more problems with my RT than any of the above listed manufacture boats I have owned. Now that all identified problems found have been fixed, I have been enjoying my boat, however the cost to get to this point has been significant.
 
Some progress. Water issue was a corroded wire. Strange that no precautions for waterproofing had been taken. The wire join at the pump was the culprit.
 
I continue to work through issues and it's getting expensive.

The Yanmar diesel mechanic working on the engine has highly recommended that all the injectors be replaced. The existing ones have corrosion on the exposed part and are soot coated or have deposits on the business end. At over $1,100 EACH there goes another $7,000. I hope I am buying reliability and longevity. Time will tell.

You would think the stereo systems would be an easy fix, but no. The existing units are no longer available and as I progressively replace components (two head sets, six speakers) the challenges continue. The speakers in the cabin ceiling are quite shallow behind the face and the magnets hit the roof. So I am having to source spacers to install what is available on the market. 5.25" speakers are not uncommon but are rare enough to limit choices. Forget about white!

I'm still stumped by the electrical system but like to think it's all down to a bad switch for the battery charger, which keeps clicking off. Figuring out how to replace it is my next challenge. All suggestions and help accepted.

Alan
 
dclagett":wdz9v65f said:
I enjoy my boat, however I think the answers to issues here are bent with folks being in love with their boat. I have had many boats over 60 years and think the RT’s are a good boat but if you read the forums on this site there are problems with these boats. Many problems are associated with factory quality issues as I have had. Being a second owner there is no factory support for these problems. I have owned Chris Craft, Regal, Curisers, Silverton, and C-Dory boats and I would rate the RT’s about average with respect to build quality and systems. I have had more problems with my RT than any of the above listed manufacture boats I have owned. Now that all identified problems found have been fixed, I have been enjoying my boat, however the cost to get to this point has been significant.
Click to expand...
My experience is similar. I used to operate and maintain boats professionally and have also owned several. I can't speak to the Cutwaters nor the newer Ranger OB models. But the Ranger classics are basically well designed boats. FM has an "interesting" business model concentrating so much on customer service rather than building quality in up front to avoid the after market issues. I'm the third owner of my boat and most of the things that I've had to fix have been due to poor/improper original installation. Particularly with the electrical system. Which is maddening because the wiring is so hard to get at :x
 
2savage":rfk7gy21 said:
...
I'm still stumped by the electrical system but like to think it's all down to a bad switch for the battery charger, which keeps clicking off. Figuring out how to replace it is my next challenge. All suggestions and help accepted.
Click to expand...
That may be a bad assumption. The "switch" is a circuit breaker. They can/do wear out but usually due to repeated tripping. If the battery charger is causing the breaker to trip I'd start looking for problems at that end.
 
The battery (and charger) issue was fixed by disconnecting the battery connector cables and then charging them one by one bypassing the boat charger and using a car battery charger direct to each battery.

The diesel issues are (hopefully) now behind me after installing new injectors. Sea trials saw 11.2 GPH flow with very smooth running.

The stereo issues are just a simple matter of replacing old equipment. Apart from needing speaker spacers for the cabin roof the rest was straight forward.
And so, now I'm tacking the TV. I have no idea here. There's all sorts of cables and a box from PYLE that I have no idot functioning. I swallows a DVD disc OK but then says 'bad disc' no matter what I can watch movies using an HDMI connection but that's about it. Even the Clarion DVD/CD/AM-FM is non-functioning. It swallows a DVD disc OK but then says 'bad disc' no matter what I insert. Bad head unit? If so, what is a valid replacement? The existing Clarion VZ309 seems to be an old model. What is everyone else have? I want to be able to watch movies before I go on a trip to Maine.
 
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