Centurions Owners, Boat Reliability

Too all the centurion owners out there especially owners of newer boats (2000 and up)how reliable have your boats been? I am looking at the Avalanche and the Lightning, among other boats and I just want to know how sound the boats are mechanically. Including litte stuff that puts the boat in the shop.

I have had my 02 Hurricane now for 2 years and no problems so far. Very solid boat. Mine has never been in the shop other than oil changes and etc.

no complaints here either.

2004 60 hours has never left my lift except to board or barefoot! No complaints

2002 huricane no problems (knock on wood) 105 hours on it's second season. Well there was the ballast pump issue but I replaced the impellor and all is fine. More of a maintenace issue actually. I did notice that the new impellor from Jabsco was slighty smaller in height than the orignal, anyone else notice this?

2000 Elite V (Huricane/Lightning) July '00.
878 Hours, here is my list:

1 water pump (engine) at 400 hours.
1 ignition module/sensor (inside distibutor) at 825 hours.
That's it, still runs like new.

My only complaint is the gas tank isn't big enough at 38 gallons.
Chad, I always use the impellar that the dealer sells and I don't think it is a Jabsco...but I'll check cause I always have a spare on board.

Sorry for edit, but I did replace one of the ballast pumps... at about 300 hours.

(Message edited by nvsairwarrior on August 04, 2004)

(Message edited by nvsairwarrior on August 04, 2004)

2001 Elite Huricane

1 new tranny
1 new fuel pump
1 new impellor

this season I have about 100 hours last I did about 200hours

Impellors should be changed at least every 100 hours or every season, so you can't really blame that on Centurion.

We have 268 hours on our '03 Eclipse LaPoint and have been pretty happy with it. Only problems with the boat were with the alignment of the serpentine belt. After 4 trips to the dealer and 5 belts, the belt is finally aligned and we now have about 50 hours on the current belt with no sign of wear. Most of the problems we have had with our 2 Centurions can be attributed to the Mercruiser powerplant. If Centurion would switch to an Indmar or PCM power I think their reliablility ratings would skyrocket.

04 Avalanche and love it.

My 97 Elite-V is approaching 1100 hours. I bought it in 98 w/ 200 hours on it. Everything that has been repaired/replaced has been wear and tear items (impellar, belt, steering cable, cap/rotor, bilge pump, idler pulleys). Nothing major. Have only had to be towed back to the dock once, when the steering cable broke. All in all, it has been very reliable. Biggest repair was for a prop strike ($2K), but that doesn't really count against reliability. The things I am faced with right now that need attention are: all seat cushions need new vinyl skins due to cracking, V-drive has a slow oil leak, shaft needs new packing, and neutral safety switch is acting up.

So you should replace the impeller in the ballast pumps every 100 hours?

I can't see why you would do that, just let them fail, it won't cause your engine to overheat, and you would save enough money in the long run to just replace the ballast pump if the entire thing fails, if not then just replace the impeller at that time.

Now the raw water pump impeller, I think every 2 years or 200 hours should be fine, unless it is really sandy water you run in.

mercruiser recommends changing the raw water impeller every 100 doesnt it? IF not they should. Mine died at a click over 200 hours. We've got 30-40+ thousand dollar boats, why not buy the 20 dollar part???? cheap insurance, dont be cheap, it will save your ass in the long run because when mine died on the mercruiser it took the fuel pump along with it (overheated)...
food for thought

04 Cyclone, only 50 hours this year due to bad work sched, no problems yet

Robert, I was talking raw water impellor, not ballast pump.

we got a 2000 elite v drive with 290+ hours and nothing major, just a lot of little things. our bilge was leaking and would go on every 5 minutes for about 30 seconds. and one day we were driving to the lake, and we hit a big bump, and heard a loud thud and squeeking everytime we turned, and he stopped and looked, and we noticed that on the trailer we broke the leaf spring (on the trailers on the 1999 and 2000 trailers, I guess it only came with one on each side) other than that, nothing

03 Hurricane with 83 hours, only problem was a cracked ballast pump when new. Hasn't had a single problem.

we have a 04 airwarrior with about 50 hours no problems my friend ahs the same boat but year 01 - 02 only 1 prob and that was one of the ballast pumps we have the mercruser 350 mag 315hsp great engine