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View Full Version : '97 Sweet 16--questions



8-ball
12-17-2006, 02:55 PM
Gentlemen, Bought a '97 Sweet 16 with 4.3 a few months ago and am wondering if anyone knows the approx. weight with full tank of gas. Live on lakefront and am looking at electric lifts to keep clean and out of water at dockside.
Also, b4 winterizing, started to have "wandering" problem with tach needle at slow speeds which went away at 3,000 and above. Any ideas ??
And one more ---sorry----- turns out I was misled by seller as to being "only a fresh water" boat as my local marina says it has seen quite a bit of salt but is still in good condition. Any ideas as to what sort of problems I may be up against in the future , (from salt) and how will I recognize these problems b4 they cause major headaches ?? Any "precautionary" steps I should be thinking about now b4 the salt rears it's ugly head ??
I appreciate all your help and LOVE this site !!! All you guys always seem very helpful in helping out fellow Donzi owners, and for this I am gratefull. !!
" if you're behind me, you're behind the 8-ball " !!!!!

BGH18
12-17-2006, 03:14 PM
Your boat should weigh aprox 2500# and I think it has a 30 gallon tank. Where abouts are you at on Indian Lake? I have thought about going up there sometime...Good luck with your boat!!

sctiberio
12-17-2006, 07:59 PM
Salt water problems depend how well it was taken care of. I bought a used Sweet Sixteen third hand. The first owner flushed the boat after every use, supposedly, for the four years he owned it. The second owner owned it for a year and i don't believe he flushed it at all. I immediately had problems with overheating and and have spent numerous hours and dollars trying to solve the problem. I may have finally solved the problem with replacing the head gaskets. The old gaskets looked good when I removed them, but there were areas of rust on the heads between some of the water ports and the cylinders. The theory is that small amounts of vapor were leaking into the water jacket and causing the problem. I won't know for sure untill I reassemble and fire her up.

CrackerJack
12-17-2006, 08:24 PM
We have a 96' that had a 4.3L before we replaced the engine, due to the gaskets on the risers going bad and leaking. This is a little known or documented problem with the riser gaskets, that are supposed to be replaced at approx. 200 hours I believe. We ran mostly in salt water and flushed it every time out, however our problem was at 220 hours. We now have a SBC 350.