I'm Buying a Nice 2004 Parker but with very Low Hours

[J876]

Hello everyone,

I'm in the process of buying a used 2004 Parker with 225hp Yamaha outboard. My concern is that this has very low hours (~200) for its age. The dealership said it was a trade in from a private owner. Last week their Yamaha certified mechanics opened the engine and saw the exhaust housing was indeed corroded so that was replaced. They insisted the corrosion was contained to the housing and nowhere else (claimed there was "pitting" but hadn't "broken through"). Compression testing they reported was ok.

I really like the boat and want to buy it but I'm very concerned with these low hours and assumed lack of maintenance by the former owner since any shop who winterizes the engine would've seen that corrosion and corrected it in the past. The dealership said they drained the fuel and I will have to fill it with fresh gas which is fine.

I'm having an independent certified Yamaha technician some to inspect it and repeat the compression test. Is there anything else I specifically need to look for? I only deposited a few thousand so far and before I put down the rest I just want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for a mess of future financial issues. If the independent technician says everything looks good am I in the clear? Or should I just get my deposit back and run the other way. Thanks for any advice!

 

[HOTPURSUIT]

My opinion is don't worry, the exhaust corrosion issue happens to most all Yamaha 225HP 2003 -2005, I have a 2004 2520 and I had my exhaust replaced last year. you can search that issue on this site its pretty common. Once the exhaust is replaced the issue is corrected and should never happen again. As far as the hours. some people buy boats and then never use them, it happens, if the boat looks like it was lightly used then that may be the case. As long as the compression is good, the oil looks clean and your mechanic gives it the thumbs up it would not bother me! Just have all of the fuel filters in the motor changed, new thermostats, plugs and grease all the fitting. I may be missing a few things but Im sure the other guys will have some good suggestions. The corrosion fix is in the $2,000- $3,000 range so if they took care of that its a big plus. I attached a some pictures showing all the exhaust parts they replace

 

[Brent]

It starts in the dry exhaust mid section and inspection will look at other parts. Mine started with oil leak from oil pan drive shaft seal and required more parts but the parts costs less now . SIM Yamaha has a kit online. We replaced F shape filter, high pump pump filter in vst , cleaned tank too and had the injectors cleaned at Flagship shop in a punta Gorda . Later fuel flow sender was replaced. Paddle wheel inside was not working . Now it runs super and quiet. When mid section exhaust corroded engine sounds increase and some notice it quickly but not me. Also check trim sender on port side of OB bracket. Pesty thing can break and the engine tilt switch on cowling isn't enclosed very well and can fail

 

[Brent]

Sim Yamaha has several maintenence tutorials and r excellent. Print them in color and save in binder and buy factory manual. If u want Yamaha diagnostic software which is useful and I paid 100 dollars for software and cable. Mine runs on old laptop running xp. Check ebay and Craigs list. Someone with good skills built the cable. Well made. Software pulls codes and hours too. . If code is found it may just point you to an issue then u trouble shoot it if this make sense. Good in its day