Hello and Help
 

Hello, and thanks for letting me join the forum. Last time i owned a boat was 40 years ago until yesterday. Recently retired and decided i needed a boat to enjoy the lakes in Oklahoma and to take kids and grandkids skiing and tubing. I found a 1995 Maraih Talrai 180 in really good condition. It has the Mercruiser 4.3L which was probably made right here in Stillwater, OK.

I am currently cleaning it up and getting ready to go. I have no manuals so i will likely ask a lot of very basic questions here. I will search first so i don't repeat too much.

First very basic questions are fuel type (pure gas, 10% ethanol, octane, etc.), oil weight and grade, gas tank capacity, and general maintenance routine.

Look forward to being apart of the owners club.

Dan G. (DannyD)

Re: Hello and Help
 

The '95 Talari 180 has a 30 gallon fuel tank and the 4.3L is the less powerful 6 cyl engine it could be purchased with.

I only use 91 octane minimum in my 4.3LX and try to stay away from ethanol wherever possible.

I use 15w - 40 Amsoil diesel oil in my engine and it gets changed every fall as part of my winterization routine. Some change their oil in the spring & fall but i dont bother with the spring change. Here is the dirty little secret. Look at the rating on the bottles of any marine oil. You will see that they contain a bunch of letters like SJ or SI. But the key is that they always also have a CH-4 rating. That means that they are certified for use in diesel engines. They use a standard diesel engine oil additive package that contains higher levels of anti-wear, anti-corrosion, and anti-foam agents than automotive oils. Combined with a shear resistant base oil, you now have a marine oil. Oh yeah, diesel oils already contain a shear resistant base oil designed to hold up under extreme pressure and load.

As for maintenance, I'll suggest you read the STICKY about buying a used Mariah in the Mariah Boats for Sale & Wanted forum. There are a number of things to look for if you want trouble free boating.

I'm not sure where you are located or whether or not you have to deal with cold temps in the winter but if you do, then make sure you get the boat engine winterized. There are a number of videos on You Tube if you want to learn to do it yourself.

Btw.... read the STICKY about Owners manuals at the top of the Introduction forms. They are essentially nothing more than general boating guides but there is a link in the STICKY to that same manual if you want to look thru it.

Re: Hello and Help
 

Thanks, Mikeyt. Good information. Mine is also the 4.3 LX Alpha I. Hope to take it out for first time this week end.

The gas tank is about 2/3 full according to gauge. Not sure how long it has been in there. According to owner most of it was put in fresh a couple of weeks ago but some from last year. I was considering putting in some Seafoam. See any harm in that?

Re: Hello and Help
 

I use Seafoam every spring and usually again in August / early Sept before i put the boat away for the winter in mid-late Sept