Thinking of buying a 1994 ski nautique

That sounds like a pretty good price on a 94 with only 400 hours. By then, there is no wooden stringers to worry about rotting.

The only potential "Gotcha" is the Protec ignition, if that has it. But, they sell kits to convert it to a more traditional ignition with a distributor. But, you don't have to worry about that till it starts causing problems. The fact that it has a Carb and not EFI is actually a good thing for that vintage.

The wiring for the early 90s boats is less than steller, so you may find yourself adding additional grounds etc., but it's not a huge deal.

Pics?

If it's running well, it should have more than enough power for all of that.

FYI, you really don't need all that much power to pull a wakeboarder. Most of the power in the big wake boarding boats goes into moving all the on-board ballast and the boat itself. I've found it's very easy to give to much gas and pull the rope out of the boarder's hands. Easy does it.

A NWZ Ski Nautique is generally good for ~47mph with the Pro Boss (HO) 351w.

Its one of the best performing boats that CC ever made- plenty of power for just about anything you would want to do. 4 barefooters wouldnt be a problem.

Brock42 wrote: ...And what are some things to look for when purchasing the boat.

For that boat, with that drivetrain, at that price, the only thing that would really turn me off would be signs of heavy serious salt-water use and or abuse.

I'd check the hull condition, and look for bottom paint (a sign of salt water use). Give the engine a good looking over for signs of external rust.

Look at the prop, shaft and rudder. Check that the engine starts easily and idles well. Check that it gets up to speed without major hesitation. Check that it starts easily cold and starts easily after it's been warmed up.

Check that the swtiches and things work. But, given the era, they may not as stated above. Most of that stuff can be remedied.

No salt water use here is a link to the add.

Thanks again for all the help. Y'all were a huge help in
MY decision.

TRBenj wrote: A NWZ Ski Nautique is generally good for ~47mph with the Pro Boss (HO) 351w. Its one of the best performing boats that CC ever made- plenty of power for just about anything you would want to do. 4 barefooters wouldnt be a problem.

You could even pull 4 tubes with that boat.
Pete pulls tubes with a lot less hp than that.

If you decide not to pull the trigger please post the link so someone else may take a look.

Brock42 wrote: Thanks for all the advice I was just wanting to get other opinions because this is my first boat purchase and I was wanting it to last me several years.

Just to reinforce the others . . . A Ski Nautique will hold it's value more than other brands.

Your find sounds like a good deal. There may be some items to repair, but that is what this site is for. Everything except the tranny is owner repairable.

Love my 94 to death, if its the 285hp engine then you def have the protec system, which I wouldn't stress one bit over. There are a ton of people with way more hours still running the protec setup and if you keep an eye out parts aren't that hard to find for it. Or if you prefer you can just ditch it for $500 and a weekend's worth of work. And of course now that I say that I'm sure my protec will crap out next week just to spite me. CC says the Protec version supposedly gets more hp, I think I saw 260 vs. 285, but I've yet to hear anyone complain about a noticeable power loss when converting back to a regular distributor.

The NWZ hull, all fiberglass stringers, 1.23 tranny and walk through windshield had me specifically looking for this year nautique.

$9k is a good deal if its in decent shape. Welcome to the family.

Buuuut I did come across this today on ebay(I've actually been keeping an eye on it on craigslist) 98 Nautique

Foot_Fungus wrote: CC says the Protec version supposedly gets more hp, I think I saw 260 vs. 285, but I've yet to hear anyone complain about a noticeable power loss when converting back to a regular distributor. The NWZ hull, all fiberglass stringers, 1.23 tranny and walk through windshield had me specifically looking for this year nautique.

The Protec did not add any hp, at least the ratings that PCM published did not reflect that. The non-HO version was rated anywhere between 240-260hp (most commonly 240hp or 255hp) but the different ratings never seemed to line up with the ignition change. The HO (Pro Boss) versions were rated between 285hp and 310hp.

Most people report that the boat runs much better once they swap out the Protec for a conventional distributor... but of course, the people swapping out the system are the ones having trouble with it.

FYI, not all '94's have the walk through windshield... though I believe youre correct that this was the first year it was offered (on the closed bow).

It might be gone by Saturday - Everytime I found one for sale they were gone in a day or two.

These boats don't last on the market and get snatched up quick.