Fast351

Well, I think there is one for sure in the fuel cell around the high pressure pump, but not sure about the low pressure side...

Sounds like a low oil pressure condition caused the failure. Could be several causes. Low oil level is one, failed oil pump or broken oil pump driveshaft is one, or several other causes. It doesn't take very long, especially at higher RPM under load, to smoke a main bearing to the point of failure where the crank locks up. Assuming the cause is oil level, and not an oil pump failure, which is rare after that many hours, and your bilge wasn't full of oil when you checked it after the first noise, the oil must have gone out the exhaust. Could have been a hole in a piston, or maybe a broken ring land. As for the piston pin, not sure if they use floating pins on the 343, but pressed pins are pretty common on older V8s. In any case, glad you got it fixed!

My 2007 has a ballcock on the water intake (a big one with a red handle). My 2001 has a brass flush port, but the water goes out the bottom too. Thought about putting a valve on the input side of the flush valve to prevent that, but it still doesn't help with winterization. I just use a 5 gallon bucket with a hose. It has a plastic hose on it currently which kind of sucks because it hardens. This year I had to use a heat gun to soften it to get it over the trans cooler. I'll probably switch to a radiator hose next year. My procedure: warm up boat (used the lake this year). Change oil and filter. Drain block, intake screen holder, and manifolds. Replace plugs with freshly installed teflon tape. Hook up 5 gallon bucket with hose. Dump in 4 gallons of RV antifreeze, get last gallon ready. Start boat, let idle. Dump in 5th gallon of antifreeze as room allows. Shut off engine when bucket is empty. Remove bucket, install intake hose. I leave the antifreeze in the system to prevent corrosion. Some guys drain the excess. Spring time I just start it.

Had this issue with my 2007 211. I had my gauge replaced under warranty, but exactly the same as you. Gauge would not be visible if humid. PP would work fine. I would disassemble the gauge, get it REALLY dry, then conformal coat the board. That should stop the issue.

So where are the filters on a 2001 (year) 196? I know, I know, look it up. I have also always been of the "don't fix until there's a problem" opinion on fuel filters. They're probably cheap enough though that it's cheap insurance

I'll third (or fourth) the pontoon idea. They're pretty versatile. You can tube behind them if the motor is appropriately sized (kind of pointless behind my 25 HP toon but I use that for putting around our smallish lake). You can easily fish off them. They work good, not great, in rough water. And it's nice not to be crawling over seats to move from one end to the other. You can bring out your dog. You can just pressure wash the carpet at the end of the year to clean it. Looks for one with bigger tubes if you want better rough water handling. The newer ones all have 24"+ tubes, and float the platform higher. Nice thing about pontoons is depending on your need for creature comforts and newness, you can usually get one for $5K that's in decent shape. Oh, and with an outboard, they're cake to winterize too.

Pressure washer works the best. Short of that, laundry detergent, scrub, open the bilge plug, and rinse until the bubbles stop coming out of the carpet. Laundry detergent caution: a little goes a long ways.

Screen capture from vid I shot at sunrise the other day... Not great skiing but very pretty backlight...

My wife drives me on a regular basis. She even tolerates (but does not enjoy) getting up early to get the good water. Before moving to the lake, she was the boat loader. She's better at it than I am, and I have little interest in teaching her to trailer back. I tell you what though, if you've never loaded an inboard in 3-5 MPH current on a river, that's a whole different ballgame. Like I said, she's better at it than I am. Oh, and even though we have Perfect Pass now, back in the early days she drove me while wakeboarding behind an I/O. Steering, throttle, AND trim. Not a problem :smile:

@Obrienslalom The 196 has that same rooster (although maybe not as pronounced) as the 206 @22off. The 1994 Prostar I'm regularly behind has the same. Either of those boats you're either 15 or 28 off.

I've always started both feet in even when I was using a ski with a toe plate. Now I'm in double boots so no choice. I wouldn't do well behind a boat with inadequate power, but as soon as I feel pressure on the ski I drive my rear foot into the water and make the boat do the work. This seems to make the ski more stable until I get my body drag out of the water. I'm 6'2" 215# BTW. I tried for 3 or 4 boat sessions when I first learned to deep water start trying different methods and the one-foot dragging method only lead to spectacular amounts of lake water being ingested. Maybe I'm not coordinated enough...

This is where I run the bunks on both my Nautiques. They sit just about under where the stringers that support the engine are. I figure that's the bulk of the weight, and it's worked well for the last couple years. You just need to be careful not to go too far under power and get the boat sideways into the lift. I pinged the prop on the ski boat once on the side of the upright.

I like the O'Neill hybrid (have one myself). I like how long the sealing surface is on my arms and legs. My buddy has a baggy type drysuit. The seals just don't seem as sturdy, especially the neck seal. I skied in 39 degree water this spring two days after the ice came off, and had zero issues with cold.

@Stevie Boy It really depends on how diligent the owner is with maintenance. Generally speaking 2000 hours should be expected out of a marine V8 that has had reasonable maintenance. 3000 hours isn't out of the question but I would consider that near worn out. @ESPNSkier put the heads on and run it. The amount of labor saved in doing a complete teardown right now isn't that great. You could always yank it this winter if it bothers you.

The other thing about flipping that piston is that the rods are NOT symmetrical. The chamfer on the crank side of the rod has a bigger radius than the side that contact the adjacent rod. That means you have to flip the rod in the piston. This is not something you can do by hand without special tools since the piston pin is pressed into the rod. Machine shops use a special torch jig to heat up the small end of the rod so the pin can be pushed out. Personally I'd leave it. Who knows what kind of strange wear patterns you could develop by putting a piston in that's used.

@DW I use a Davis Vantage Pro w/Cumulus software back end. You can see it here: http://www.fast351.com/weather/

I had to wake my wife up Sunday morning to go skiing when I saw the water conditions. She's not real appreciative of me waking her up at 7:15 to go out. My ski buddy on the lake was busy, otherwise we usually hit the dawn patrol. But after a week of rain, I figured I might as well take advantage of it. Get out, take my set, and started getting pelted in the eyes by the mist coming down. Got back on the lift, and the wind picked up something fierce. Whitecaps, the whole works. Look at the weather station, this is what I saw:

Most trailer jacks may not have a grease zerk, but you should grease the crank gears. All mine have always had a removable cap on the top and you'll see the gears inside. Just slather some grease on there.

Temp: mid 80s, no wind, and sunny. Water: eh, don't care much, you're only in it 30 seconds. Over 65 is nice, no wetsuit required.

They must really be out of things to police if this is what makes the news. I am curious tho. If they used a boat to pull instead of a sled, would there still be a problem? If not, why is the skier being charged with anything at all? Being from Minnesota, I am confused by the fun police on the other side of the cheddar curtain...

Yep, I did a ton of research when I bought my 2001. $25K sounds right to me. If it's absolutely pristine with a color combo that someone really wants you may get a couple grand more out of it. Another thing that can depreciate it is use near an ocean. If there is even a chance it touched saltwater it's usually worth a little less ($1-$2K). Galvanized trailer is a good indicator of this. I've attached my spreadsheet that I built when I was researching SN196s. This was a year and a half ago, but prices haven't moved. The fact that it's spring time actually helps a little actually. There isn't a boat that's real close to what you have since the hours are so low, but it gives you a good idea.

We ski on the lake we live on. I am also a little bit of a weather buff, so I have my own weather station that updates every 5 seconds (on Wunderground) or every 15 on my website Weather Page. I know which directions of wind are tolerable and which cause problems. Anything under 3 MPH is great obviously, and up to 10 is OK depending on direction. I also use the NOAA hourly wind forecast which during the summer is amazingly accurate as far as 72 hours out. Of course that doesn't solve the boats on the lake situation, but then that changes moment to moment. One day I will have a lake view camera too. Just need to get it set up.

Am I missing it or is there no pricing info there?

I don't know if it fits the bill for your seating requirements, but I remember when I was shopping for my 196 two years ago that there were a few 206s I ran across under 20K. I think that boat was released in MY 04 so it'll be newer, which is nice to keep the wrenching down to a minimum. Just thought I'd throw out another option for you...

I'm trying to muster sympathy for you hot water skiers, I honestly am, but I'm having a pretty hard time considering my ski site is covered in two feet of ice right now.