My 2006 Monterey 194 Sports with 5Lt V8

[nimbus 0]

Hi Folks,

I have just bought a late 2006 Monterey 194 sports fitted with a 275HP V8 Volvo Penta engine and SX-M stern drive. It’s done 408hrs and has been fitted with a brand new stern drive and transom assembly with only 50 hrs of use. The boat hit a log in the Hawksbury, river north of Sydney.

The engine was removed to inspect the transom structure and the marine engineers demanded that the whole assembly be replaced at a cost of $21,000, paid by the insurance.

Have I done the right thing!!???

It cost me $29,000 without the trailer.

The boat will be moored in salt water at my daughter’s jetty north of Sydney.

This is my first boat, so I have spent about 6 months researching what boating is all about and what I should buy.

 

I decided on a Volvo powered boat for the simple reason that the raw water pump is so easy to replace from within the boat and would take me about 3hrs. When compared to the absolutely impractical and stupid arrangement on the Mercury Alpha drive which requires that the boat be removed from the water and the seals broken in the drive in order to get at the water pump.

 

I would like some advice on the following:

Would it be practical or sensible to fit a closed cooling water system now that the boat will be living in salt water . I am a competent mechanical engineer so this would not be a problem.

The exhaust manifolds and risers have not been replaced. However they were inspected about 70hrs ago, by a qualified marine engineer who replaced a couple of riser bolts and of course new gaskets.

I have spoken to him and he said that in his opinion they were good for another 100 hors. The boat has been meticulously looked after and flushed after every trip.

[kelleyja 0]

My biggest concern would be mooring that boat in salt water full time. Personally I wouldn't keep a sterndrive powered boat in salt water. The zincs, coatings and anti corrosion efforts help, but in the end the saltwater always wins. Since the drive and transom assembly will have more contact with the water you'll likely be replacing them before the manifolds and risers.

 

You can certainly fit that boat with freshwater cooling, usually the closed cooling systems still take in raw water then dump it via the manifolds and risers. So in most cases you'd just be protecting the block.

 

If it were my money I'd put it into a trailer or a boat lift and keep the whole thing out of the water. Flush it with fresh water after every run and the whole thing will last many years.

[Rip5 0]

If you already have that many hours on the boat, and your risers are still good, I would not think closed cooling would be a practical

addition. You can usually expect 3-4 years out of risers/manifolds in salt water. Anything longer than that is a plus. And, it will be

cheaper to replace the riser/manifolds then adding closed cooling.

 

I think it may have been overkill to replace the sterndrive and engine for just hitting an obstruction. But it is a safe alternative for

your mechanic to replace everything, then they are not liable for any eventual failures. Very fortunate your insurance covered the loss.

[nimbus 0]

Hi Folks,

I hear what you are both saying and it makes sense. Unfortnately Kelleyja my daughter's house does not have any room for a trailer, but it does have a fantastic jetty and pontoon which makes it so easy to get in the boat and take off in a matter of minuites!! In fact the boat came with an excellent trailer which I negotiated with the seller of the boat to keep at a discounted price for the baot.

Every one I have talked to seem to have the same opinions of salt water, nasty stuff.

That is why I reasoned that maybe converting to a closed water system would reduce the problem. Then all I have to worry about is the heat exchanger and risers.

[nimbus 0]

 

I think it may have been overkill to replace the sterndrive and engine for just hitting an obstruction. But it is a safe alternative for

your mechanic to replace everything, then they are not liable for any eventual failures. Very fortunate your insurance covered the loss.

 

In fact the seller of the boat hit a log at skiing speed. his insurance coffed up the cost of repair, so I believe that I got a good deal, at least in Australia where everything boating seems to cost more that twice as much as the US.

[nimbus 0]

Hi Folks,

I do have a real problem that I hope someone can help me with.

On the 194 sports the intrument binnicle in the cockpit has very obtrusive projections over the three instrument pods.

Allso the windscreen is very low angled over the cockpit. which leaves very little vertical height between the windscreen and the top of the instument pods.

This makes it very difficult to mount a decent size GPS/Terain chart plotter.

The marine supply shop in Sydney were very helpful and sugested I look at the "RAM Mounts" supports which are designed for all difficult mounting applications. They do indeed have a mass of options to choose from.

The problem is which one would be suitable for the 194?, Has anyone used these mounts? and which one did you pick??

I believe the RAM-109VSB or RAM-109VU would be the best choice, where the mounting is screwed to the side of the cockpit just in front of

the throttle lever.

[Rip5 0]

 

I believe the RAM-109VSB or RAM-109VU would be the best choice

This

[nimbus 0]

I actually bought a RAM-109. However it was still too high to get the screen into a reasonable position on the LHS and impossible to fit on the RHS,

So I got to thinking and made use of the can/drinks holder on the RHS.

I machined up a plastic insert with a hole in it to take my own fabricated bracket for the RayMarine GPS, it keeps the screen down low and out of the way on the RHS and is very rigid yet adjustable.

My biggest problem now is figuring out how to remove the trim on the RHS of the boat so as to thread a transducer cable up to the instrument panel from the engine bay.

There are two self tap screws at the bottom of the trim which I removed, now the trim will move back and forth and swivel but it will not detach from the side of the boat. What is the secret??