dieselmatt1

im looking at a 1998 fountain 29 with twin 454. less than 100 hours. 45k
am i going to run in problems with having twins as far as working on them like changing plugs and oil?
i have read a couple diffrent posts and just cant seem to get a straight anserw.
what is the talk of water coming in from the tail end in the engine compartment?

this boat looks like a 2009 not a 1998 any help please

Run_em_hard

Side-by-side twins are fun to work on, especially in a 26' boat Changing the oil isn't anymore of a task but plugs is a little harder than a single engine boat.

As far as the water question, I believe that I have hear talk about how deep the transom sits in the water when anchored and waves going over the transom. I think this is what you are talking about.

sommerfliesby

Changing sea-pumps is where it's gonna suck...my first boat was a 29 PQ with 454s...required an extended headstand and was a MAJOR PITA.

StraightJacket

Working on it is easy if you can have someone else do it for you most of the time. Ask the above haha

seafordguy

I don't have any experience in Fountains, but in my Cig with Twin Big Blocks I can tell you the plugs don't look like a pleasant job, and I doubt they will be in any twin engine boat that isn't staggered. Still Doable though.

As for oil changes - see how the engines are set up. Some have hoses that run from the bottom of the pan through the transom and you can change it that way, and some have to be pumped out through the dipstick.

Me - I installed fittings in my pans with a hose on them so I just hook it up to a pump and rip it out.

There is has been some discussion on here in the past about boats taking in water through the rub rail and over the back on some of the smaller fountains with twin BB's that sit real low in the back, and some of the 42's with triple BB's that also sit real low. I can't comment on it other than that because I dont know anything - just remember reading some threads on it. You might want to search that out, but I don't think it is a problem in many cases.

Wildman_grafix

I little water will come in by the rub rail but it is not a big problem.

Side by sides are a pain to work on, not just the 29.

poiuy10

Diesel, if your worried about changing spark plugs.... you shouldnt be, you should only be changing them once a year maybe. ( if your engines are running smoothly ) Had my Fountain for ten years and loved every minute of it, even when tearing both engines down to re-build. I would agree the bilge pumps would be a b**ch, but they usually dont go out that often. I dont buy much with the worry of how easy its going to be to work on, I worry about how it will perform for my needs. If there is something you cant do yourself, theres someone out there willing to do it for ya, at a price but that goes with anything. Good Luck with your search and Go with a Fountain, you wont be disappointed.

carcrash

I'd go single, twin staggered, or outboard.

Maintenance is the biggest expense of owning a boat.

Side-by-side twins are just a royal PITA to do most maintenance actions. While a Fountain is probably as easy as any twin, its still unacceptable IMHO.

Bad access to anything that is not on top, and that is A LOT of important mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, structural, and rubber items: LOTS of things you WILL need to maintain, repair, and replace.

Changing the oil is about the only thing that is really easy: get the pump and fitting that screws on the end of the oil dip stick, then you just pump the oil out.

Other than the side-by-side twin issue common to any sport boat, a Fountain is a very good boat: they are generally simple, so less stuff to clean, maintain, repair, or remove to repair other stuff. Its high quality gear, well installed. Spare parts are almost always immediately available from Fountain at low prices (that was a pleasant surprise to me!).

Fountain has good manufacturing processes: how you do stuff has a big impact on the quality of the finished product. Fountain keeps tweaking everything, so the boats keep getting better. They might look the same, but the newer ones are better in probably every way.

They are built structurally VERY well: that vinylester resin is the best stuff available (arguable better than epoxy, as its much easier to repair). The stitched multi-axis glass fabric is substantially better than woven material. Vinylester+stitched multi-axis glass is probably better than carbon or kevlar for offshore performance boats because it is substantially tougher -- not quite as stiff, but it can absorb many times as much impact energy than Carbon, and a bit more than Kevlar. Where carbon blows up on you, the Fountain-style of glass construction absorbs the energy, spreads it throughout the structure, and keeps on going.

Pantera1

The water in the rear of the fountains was coming in the blower vent holes and swamping some boats..I believe they changed that so it would only be certain years and im sure its more prevelant in a 27 with twins.. they sit real bow high at rest..

Indy

Someone who's owned one should chime in, I've heard that the singles are much better balanced. Don't forget, it's really a 26' boat max once you take the beak, swim platform, and notch out. Pretty small for a twin BB application.