1998 Nitro 185 Sport SF Questions

[Eric R]

I just acquired a 185 Nitro and have some questions hopefully you guys can help with. I did some searching on here and found some help in other areas, but am stuck on the following. I'm pretty new to boats, so hopefully I don't sound too dumb.



I don't think either livewell works. Is it safe to have the boat in the water with the livewell pumps inoperable?



I cannot for the life of me figure out which buttons do what.. I have 3 to the left of the steering wheel and two on the right. I can hear one make noise in the back (bilge maybe?) but some of them do nothing at all. Some are rockers (3-way) and some are simply on-off switches.



The back of the transom has 4 holes above the drain hole. The farthest left has some sort of black screen/filter looking thing over it, the other 3 are open. Are these for the livewells? Are they save unplugged and open?



Is there supposed to be a seat in the back of the boat where the removable ski tower goes?



I really wish I had a manual to learn all the ins and outs of how this boat functions. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Eric R]

Also, my driver's seat needs to be refastened somehow; two of the up front screws are either stripped (likely) or just loose. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the seat off of the base/mount. Any suggestions there as well?

 

[Bob G.]

You should have 2 livewells. The front one uses a piece of PVC with a rubber grommet near the end to stick in the drain hole. There will be a corresponding switch on the dash for this livewell. Turn the main power switch on first. Turn on livewell switch until it flows out of the PVC tube. This livewell is weak and suitable for "wet" storage as water will come in when launching. You can try to plug the hole, I never bothered.



The rear livewell is the better of the two. First, turn the mechanical valve open/close to the right of the driver's seat to the closed or fill position. Then turn on the dash switch for the Rear livewell to On. There is a recirc switch for this livewell.



The switches are for power, lights, manual bilge pump and livewells. Open the back compartment and listen for the corresponding pump.



There should be 3 rear seats. The middle one flips forward to use a "cooler". The other 2 seats are removable to use as fishing seats. It is much easier to purchase separate seats front and back fishing.



I'm writing this from memory, I sold my Nitro to some guy in Texas!!



Hope you got that with a 150HP!!

 

[Kenny Benoit]

I have a 189 and one thing you may be asking about if they are similar is the SKi Pole hole. On a 189 there is a screw in insert to place in the hole where the Ski Pylon goes which allows you to place a fishing seat pedestal extension there for fishing off the back deck..

 

[Eric R]

Ahhh, I think that's what I'm missing. I need to find the screw-in insert/adapter. I don't think my seat extension was fitting into the same hole that the tow-bar was screwed into... Any idea where I can find one of these?

 

[Bob G.]

Mine was a 2000 and used a basic seat pole like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Attwood-11-Swivel-Eze-Boat-Seat-Post/16203711