[John Easley]

Thanks, Rob. That’s a fine-looking boat you have.

[John Easley]

Nice sport fisher you have there. Ours was a 1986 42′ Catalina aft cabin.

[John Easley]

Thanks, Rob. Yes, we’re more in the comfort cruising category. Our most recent boat is a 42’ Chris Craft that was repowered with 330 hp 6BTAs. Loved those (except the impeller/raw water pump location). Our typical approach to travel is to run it up to about 2300 rpm for about five minutes after we hit open water and then back down to about 8.6 knots or 10 mph for the rest of the day. Smooth, comfortable, wonderful fuel economy. We’ll be taking the same approach with the next boat. At the moment, we’re pretty settled on the 53’ Carver Voyager Pilothouse with 6CBTs. Should meet all our needs.

[John Easley]

Great information! Thanks for the clarification, Tony and Phillip. If we are looking at a boat with such discoloration, we will ask more specific questions about the use and maintenance before making a decision about walking away or not.

[John Easley]

Okay, so some is normal. But the photos in that YachtWorld ad depict what appears to be more than normal and seem to indicate the engine has been worked harder than necessary. Could be over-propping (the broker didn’t list the pitch of the props on that particular boat or any details about the servicing record) or pushing the engines too hard or lack of proper maintenance. Interesting. We regularly pushed my 36,000 lb boat on plane with 6BTA 330 hp engines and never saw any discoloration but we stayed on top of maintenance, too. Thanks for the speedy responses. Good food for thought.

[John Easley]

Hi Tony,

Your reputation is obviously deserved. Thanks for the information and the photos.

The 6CTA looks easy to work on, easy access.

The close up photo of the seawater pump on the QSM looks like the dipstick tube and the oil filler tube could be in the way of using an impeller puller. However, the overall photo taken from the front left corner of that engine makes it appear as if there may be more room to work in between the seawater pump and the oil filler tube. What are your thoughts? Easy enough to pull the impeller, assuming there is room to squeeze my body in there?

[Author]

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