i purchased a 1989 4 winns boat from boatarama about 2 months ago.  it was advertised as having had the engine completely rebuilt. this i thought was great.  and they had a warranty.  strange thing was that they required a 1000$ deposit and said that if you came and looked at it and you weren't happy with the way the engine ran you could walk away from the deal, minus the 1000$ of course.

i am new to ebay and it seems there are constantly some type of scams going on, so i thought this had something to do with all of that.

i won the item but couldn't get in touch with them during the 3 day period they said the deposit had to be paid.  the auction had no phone number.  i though this was kind of strange.  i found the number on the web and called them.  the person i spoke to said that i could just bring the full amount when i came down.  later they called back and said i did need to send the deposit right away, and i did.

when i went to pick up the boat they started it up and it seemed to run fine.  i did notice that there was oil in the bottom of the boat and with a little checking saw that there was an active oil leak on the top of the engine when it was running.  eventually the mechanic pulled the valve cover and replaced the gasket which was askew.  again it seemed odd that there should be such a major leak that they didn't discover it earlier, but with the new gasket there was no leak.

they loaded it on my trailer.  they were always polite and helpful.  they explained that it needed a break in period, which i understood because i have rebuilt a few auto engines myself years ago.  they said all the bearings had been replaced, the cylinders bored and new pistons put in.

when i got home i put it in the water and started it up.  it was somewhat hesitant but did start and i and my sister slowly drove for about 15 min down the canal. then it died and would not start again.  after being towed back to the landing and getting it home i charged the batteries.  they had gone dead very quickly.  we got it running again for a short period of time but it died again.

we took the flame arrestor off and noticed that the carburetor constantly dripped gas even when  the engine was off.  i was sorely disappointed and was going to bring it into the local boat shop.  however i decided to write to boatarama to let them know what was going on and to tell them that i would write this guide and seek whatever other redress was available to me.  i told them that the horn didn't work, the lights didn't work, the speakers were blown, the needle had fallen off of the tachometer, the ignition switch was loose, there were extra keys that fit nothing and the starter was making a horrendous noise.  also the batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge very well. 

john asked that i hold off bringing the boat in and said i should bring it back to his shop.  it was a very very long drive but i agreed to bring it back because i believed they would at least get it running right.

after i picked the boat up again, after they rebuilt the carburetor only.  they said that the only thing warranted was the engine rebuild.  again this sounded very strange because there was no way to see if the engine would run for any decent period of time when the carburetor did not work and the starter seemed likely to stop working at any time.

this time the engine ran for about 2 minutes.  i took off the flame arrestor and the carburetor was again dripping gasoline.  in addition to this it appeared to have some brown fluid draining from various places.  i am not sure if this was water or what.

they did SELL me a tachometer while i was there.  it is new, still unopened but i will believe it works only when it is hooked up.

i have written joe about this matter but it has been 3 days without any sign of an answer.  anyone wish to ask me a question about this feel free to call louis 225-235-3862