How'd you know he's looking for another boat? I've been seeing more and more 260s pop up for sale around MI, IN, and IL for less so I'm trying not to rush into a purchase.

How often should the coolant be replaced and is there a procedure to do this? I've done this on a car more times than I can count but is probably totally different on a boat.

6 years out of the coolant, 7 tops

boatnt, I was told that you might know something about this boat for sale in Antioch: 2000 PowerQuest 260 Legend

This is exactly what I'm looking for but it doesn't have an hour meter. It is original owner though. Apparently he spent a lot of time in Chain O Lakes up there and had to install a sea strainer because of all the mud ingestion from the shallow lakes? Not sure what to think of that but let me know if you have any info. Thanks.

dont know the owner but know where he keeps the boats..its about 5 minutes from my house and he keeps it on a lift with a canopy,,driving by the boat (last summer)looked clean,,plenty of marinas in the area were he could go and have ecm scanned for hours

I guess he lives 1.5 hours away from where it is being stored. What are your thoughts on the mud ingestion? Would that cause any damage or abnormal wear pre-strainer? He made it sound like he had to dump the mud out of the strainer so it seems like he was ingesting a lot.

sounds like strainer did its job,,kept it from going inside the engine...
i would not worry about it happens alot depending where you boat,,sand,mud,sea weed

On a 496 you remove the 2 coolant drain plugs on the block that are just above the oil pan and below the knock sensors on either side of the block. You then refill through the coolant reservoir.

Boatnt, you wouldn't happen to have access to the device that could get an engine hour readout would you? It doesn't have an hour meter. I live about 260 miles away from the boat, not sure if it would be worth the trip unless I could find a way to get the hours.

622 hours, and the lower unit has some serious wear on it. I think I'll pass, thanks guys.