Buying my second baja

[bajadreams]

Looking to purschase a used Baja 252 with the 454 Mag. My three questions are 1. Is there such a device that can be hooked to the motor to determine the total hours on the engine? 2. Where is the water pick ups on the outdrive on the Bravo I for the 99 year? Boat was on a boat house lift, but I did not see any. The lower end scag had some type of silver metal cover over it. Owner said he had Dealer install it to protect scag. 3) Is there such a thing, or is this a cover up?

[Baja340SF]

Im gonna start with the skeg question first. There is a product out there that does go over the Skeg to protect it. Its a stainless steel item that is just basicly thru bolted. More than likely the smashed off the bottom of the skeg and looked for an easy way out for a repair. If he hit it hard enough to break the skeg you should be carefull that no other damage was done to it. It wouldnt hurt to have somebody (dealer) look at it to give you an overall opinion.

I believe the water pickup on a 99 bravo 1 is on the lower unit on each side above the torpedeo looking gear case.

And as far as checking for the correct ammount of hours. I dunno? LOL.......id ask any merc dealer they should know.

good luck

[ckmansell]

Yes, a merc mechanic can hook up his computer to find out exactly the number of engine hours. I recommend you get it done. There are a lot of people who either unhook hour meters or just never fix them if they break. As far as your water pick-ups go, 1998-9 is about the time merc started going to the low water pick ups. The first versions were just added to the front of the bullet along with the originals, so some have two places for pick up. A short while later, they went with the low water only. If you do not see any where you are used to seeing them, them my guess is that they are on the front bottom of the bullet. Yes, they do make a skeg cover, but that doesn't mean there may be something to hide. Check very closely, however, even if the original skeg was damaged, it can be fixed, just keep it in mind when you make your offer. I might also add, hours themselves are not all bad. As a matter of fact it is harder on a boat to set than have hours put on it. It is how those hours were put on and how it was maintained. Demand this guys maintenance records. All reputable shops keep this on the boats they service. They will be happy to provide them to you, Hope this helps.
Curt

[bajadreams]

Thanks for the great anwsers! Great idea about contacting the shop they used for service. I ask about the hours because of two reasons. One, that the hour meter only shows 17, but the owner says it did not work for 4-6 hours and by the time Baja sent him the new meter, it started to work again. It is an older couple who own the boat on a lake and it was kept on a boat house lift. Everything else looks great on the boat. Very clean. Couldn't find any cracks in the gel coat, unless my '95 272. I just found this site, and I do have to say, IT ROCKS!