Badger4life2410
Cadet
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2012
- Messages
- 9
Hello all, my name is Mike Wood. ?folks call me Woody?.
I kept stumbling on to this site as I tried to research a problem I was having. More and more I began to look around and I liked what I saw so I decided to become a member. Currently I have a bit of a project going. My father, who is pushing 80 and headed down hill, gifted me an 18 ft 1969 Century Buccaneer with a Mercruiser Inboard/Outboard Stern Drive.
Now upfront I have to say a couple of things; Although this boat is nice, ?it?s better than anything I have ever owned?, it hasn?t been in the water in over 5 years and it will take more than just a few dollars to fix it up. I am ashamed to say that even with all my endeavors at age 50 I am still living pay check to pay check and will desperately try to acquire the skills necessary to complete this task. I doubt this boat will ever amount to much as far as market value goes but it carries a huge value of sentiment. I never knew my father much as I grew up. He was in the military during the Vietnam War era and just as he retired from the Air Force I rebelliously joined the Army. ?I know, I know, Should of went with the Air Force!? 30 years later I have literally been around the world and continue to be embedded with the military. I spent close to 16 years overseas and one day I decided I wanted to be an American again. I finely landed about 300 miles away from my dad and enjoy his company now as much as ever. Hopefully, this boat will serve as a fond reminder of him for many years to come.
Back to the boat!
After a few maintenance checks and an impromptu mini-service I took the boat out on the water to see where we stood. I spent about an hour learning how to use the 3 position trim switch but still had to stand on the motor to get the trim to go down. So that was problem number one. It started up quickly and after I spent awhile cruising close to the dock I took it to open water and opened it up. I must say at first I was rather impressed. It ran just fine right up to around 35 miles then all of a sudden the engine just cut power. I quickly grabbed the throttle and brought it back to neutral. To my surprise the engine was still idling. Everything seemed to check out and I could not find any problems so I opened her up and cruised around some more. It shot right out of the hole and was on plain quickly. After several minutes of full speed, wham! All forward propulsion gone instantly. This process was consistent. If I idled around there was no problem but it only sustained full power for several minutes. Of course I suspected fuel supply as the culprit. That was problem number two.
I brought it back home and tore into the fuel system. He had stored the boat with the fuel tank disconnected and drained but the fuel tank was horrible inside. I replaced the fuel lines and cleaned out the tank best as I could. At home it ran just fine. I took it to the lake this weekend. Same, Same! Stand on the motor to get it to go down, motor quits after a few minutes of full power. Sometimes it took a while to start again but if I kept my hand on the throttle I could quickly go back to neutral and take off again. During one of these waiting periods, I heard water leaking. I looked in the hull and found a leak coming from the bellows around the drive shaft. I took it back home and yep, Bellows are shot. So there is Problem #3.
With the help of the service manual I took the Stern Drive off. Found multiple problems in this area. The upper gear oil is contaminated heavily with water, the
U-joints are extremely rusted, and the internal water cooling system is heavily coated with a calcium crust.
I think I can figure out problems number 1 through 3, ?I?m now leaning towards an air restriction problem for the sudden loss of power?, but will gladly except any advice on everything. Like, what might be the cause of the water contamination? How does a person clean calcium from coolant galleys? And man the amount of special tools needed for all of this is mind cramping.
I believe I have a pre-Alpha 1 Stern Drive with a 160 hp Mercruiser. I say I believe it is a pre-alpha 1 because the owner?s manual just calls it a Mercuriser stern drive. On the internet I see the term used as pre-alpha. Right now I am looking for a service kit to buy but am slowly figuring all this out.
Sorry this rant took so long but it was kind of a way for me to organize my thoughts and develop a path forward. I hope to have the boat floatable again by spring and see if the Ol? Man wants to do a little Crappie fishing. Have a good one, Woody.
I kept stumbling on to this site as I tried to research a problem I was having. More and more I began to look around and I liked what I saw so I decided to become a member. Currently I have a bit of a project going. My father, who is pushing 80 and headed down hill, gifted me an 18 ft 1969 Century Buccaneer with a Mercruiser Inboard/Outboard Stern Drive.
Now upfront I have to say a couple of things; Although this boat is nice, ?it?s better than anything I have ever owned?, it hasn?t been in the water in over 5 years and it will take more than just a few dollars to fix it up. I am ashamed to say that even with all my endeavors at age 50 I am still living pay check to pay check and will desperately try to acquire the skills necessary to complete this task. I doubt this boat will ever amount to much as far as market value goes but it carries a huge value of sentiment. I never knew my father much as I grew up. He was in the military during the Vietnam War era and just as he retired from the Air Force I rebelliously joined the Army. ?I know, I know, Should of went with the Air Force!? 30 years later I have literally been around the world and continue to be embedded with the military. I spent close to 16 years overseas and one day I decided I wanted to be an American again. I finely landed about 300 miles away from my dad and enjoy his company now as much as ever. Hopefully, this boat will serve as a fond reminder of him for many years to come.
Back to the boat!
After a few maintenance checks and an impromptu mini-service I took the boat out on the water to see where we stood. I spent about an hour learning how to use the 3 position trim switch but still had to stand on the motor to get the trim to go down. So that was problem number one. It started up quickly and after I spent awhile cruising close to the dock I took it to open water and opened it up. I must say at first I was rather impressed. It ran just fine right up to around 35 miles then all of a sudden the engine just cut power. I quickly grabbed the throttle and brought it back to neutral. To my surprise the engine was still idling. Everything seemed to check out and I could not find any problems so I opened her up and cruised around some more. It shot right out of the hole and was on plain quickly. After several minutes of full speed, wham! All forward propulsion gone instantly. This process was consistent. If I idled around there was no problem but it only sustained full power for several minutes. Of course I suspected fuel supply as the culprit. That was problem number two.
I brought it back home and tore into the fuel system. He had stored the boat with the fuel tank disconnected and drained but the fuel tank was horrible inside. I replaced the fuel lines and cleaned out the tank best as I could. At home it ran just fine. I took it to the lake this weekend. Same, Same! Stand on the motor to get it to go down, motor quits after a few minutes of full power. Sometimes it took a while to start again but if I kept my hand on the throttle I could quickly go back to neutral and take off again. During one of these waiting periods, I heard water leaking. I looked in the hull and found a leak coming from the bellows around the drive shaft. I took it back home and yep, Bellows are shot. So there is Problem #3.
With the help of the service manual I took the Stern Drive off. Found multiple problems in this area. The upper gear oil is contaminated heavily with water, the
U-joints are extremely rusted, and the internal water cooling system is heavily coated with a calcium crust.
I think I can figure out problems number 1 through 3, ?I?m now leaning towards an air restriction problem for the sudden loss of power?, but will gladly except any advice on everything. Like, what might be the cause of the water contamination? How does a person clean calcium from coolant galleys? And man the amount of special tools needed for all of this is mind cramping.
I believe I have a pre-Alpha 1 Stern Drive with a 160 hp Mercruiser. I say I believe it is a pre-alpha 1 because the owner?s manual just calls it a Mercuriser stern drive. On the internet I see the term used as pre-alpha. Right now I am looking for a service kit to buy but am slowly figuring all this out.
Sorry this rant took so long but it was kind of a way for me to organize my thoughts and develop a path forward. I hope to have the boat floatable again by spring and see if the Ol? Man wants to do a little Crappie fishing. Have a good one, Woody.