New/Old Cajun

[Bugman63]

New to this site, have owned a 12' with a 9.9 Johnson before, but this is the first Cajun I bought with a Mercury 100 hp motor might be a 1989 or 1990. Boat is a 1990 17' bass boat. Can anyone tell me what to keep an eye on, I know there is no manual to it but any input would be great. bought for momma and I just to do lake fishing here in Florida, do not plan on saltwater. will post a pic this weekend, maybe someone then tell me if its a pro or sport. came with a Cajun " TrailBoss" trailer. tested it on the water and she screams has a Laser SS propeller. thank you for any advise

[Lipripper]

Hello and welcome to Ultimate Bass and glad to have you here. If you would when you have time please stop by here   Let Us Get To Know You  and introduce yourself to everyone. We have several members from down in Florida so maybe y'all could get together and do some fishing.

[Mike Cork]

A family friend had a cajun in this year time frame. I don't remember the models much at all. He never had the first problem out of it. The boat was very solid, handled rough water well (keeping in mind it's a 17' boat so no high speed travels over rolling waves). It was a very stable fishing platform for it's size as well.

With any boat of that age, maintenance is very important. Just keep things that need to be greased, greased (steering cables, throttle cables, ect). Replace lower unit oil regularly. Stay on top of the plugs and wires, all your basic tune up stuff. Letting things go until they break can be disastrous with older boats.

Keep a good coat of wax on her and have a great time.

[Bugman63]

Yes I did do that thank you, by the looks of this site it maybe my new computer home for sure

[Bugman63]

Thank you Mike, it looks sweet and rode well on test run, just don't know that much about up keep on her. I will post a picture this weekend for sure, its black and grey metallic, sparkles like crazy, hence naming her " Black Diamond "

[Mike Cork]

Taking care of the boat is just a matter of listening to her. If steering gets time or something doesn't feel right, look into it. I expect you won't have any troubles. Sounds like the previous owner really took care of it. Someone willing to keep the shine up more than likely keep the maintenance up too.

Find a good mechanic that you trust and let him/her perform bi annual checks if you're not comfortable. But boat maintenance is really simple and when you run into problems we have a bunch of folks that can help out

[Bugman63]

Taking care of the boat is just a matter of listening to her. If steering gets time or something doesn't feel right, look into it. I expect you won't have any troubles. Sounds like the previous owner really took care of it. Someone willing to keep the shine up more than likely keep the maintenance up too.

Find a good mechanic that you trust and let him/her perform bi annual checks if you're not comfortable. But boat maintenance is really simple and when you run into problems we have a bunch of folks that can help out

Thank you so much, and if anyone runs into problem, boat or vehicle in the Tampa, Florida area give me a shout and i will come to the rescue, so two more stupid question 1) where is the gas tank located on this baby and if the fuel gauge dosent work how do I tell if its out gas other than running out on the lake, that way I can disengage the auto oil pump 2) how the heck to get the cowling off the motor its a split cowling I cant find a lever

[Mike Cork]

On the cowling... it's been a long time since I've played with a split cowl. But check and see if there is a raise plate with the mercury emblem, it may be removable allowing access.

The one boat I'm familiar with, the gas tank was under the seats and you couldn't see it. If you're wanting to disconnect the VRO and need a starting point, I'd run it out of gas at low speed or on a hose in the drive way and go from their. Put ten gallons in and add oil appropriately. You'll have to keep a notebook and receipts to keep track of it.

Try posting these questions in this board and others can help that may not be looking at the Cajun Board
Outboard Motors
http://www.ultimatebass.com/bass-fishing-forum/index.php?board=406.0

[Oldfart9999]

Sounds like a nice find. If you can't find the info here then try google, just google your question, be specific. Welcome to the board!!
Rodney