n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

[ninhalo5]

Hi, just got a boat it's a 1987 procraft fish and ski 19 ft with a 150hp Mariner. This is my first boat of this style. I have a couple questions that I hope someone can answer, they should be fairly basic.

1st, the boat needs a new battery. There are several different types of batteries available, what should I get? Is the bigger the better?

2nd: When I get the battery, where do I sit it? On the aft of the boat there is a large door and under that door is the gas tank, a oil tank and the rest of the bilge and wires, but I don't see a plate or anything to rest the battery on. Do I just sit it wherever it fits?

3rd: When towing the boat what is the best position of this large motor? (I've read mixed reviews for smaller motors, some say down to relieve stress to the transom, some say 45 deg angle and some say all the way up) The engine is mounted to a turbo tilt transom bracket if that means anything.

4th: On the engine there is a manual lock which keeps the engine in the up position, I've read on other boats to only use that when you need the engine up for a length of time and not to use it when towing.

Thanks guys.

Jeff

 

[Texasmark]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

1 and 2. Where was the old battery sitting. If your engine sits for long periods between usage and charging then get a size 27. If not a 24. A maint. free saves you having to remember to check the cells and add water.

If the boat isn't constantly pounding and in service like commercial where it is pounded daily, get the cheapest WW or AZ has. You will probably get 2 or 3 years out of it anyway so you made your money and the 24 is less weight as is the cheap one....smaller plates...more gap between the bottom of them and the case....but that's good because when it starts sulfating up (starting to die), you have more room for the sulfate to fall and pile up in the bottom before it reaches the bottom of the plates and shorts out that cell.

Yes you should secure it. Battery cases come with straps and have two nylon attachment accessories. Was the old one secured? If so, use that.

3. If you have a 150 you have power trim. If you use your PT and tilt the engine up to about 45 degrees the dead weight of the engine is right above the transom, not hanging off the back. If you can see the engine from your rear view mirrow in the tow vehicle, fine. Just glance at it periodically to ensure that it is still up. Unless you have a trim failure, it will stay where you put it. I assure you that when you punch out of the hole with that many ponies, you are putting more of a twisting moment (of inertia) on that transom than you will ever do on a trailer with pneumatic tires and springs. Last transoms on high hp boats are made to support the engine whether it be dead weight or the torqueing moment. The hole shot is the hardest stress.

4. The little mickey mouse clip really was made for engines without trim and tilt. It was made for holding the lower unit of the engine out of the water while the boat is moored. With PTT the hydraulics does the holding. The clip was not intended for trailering and that is where a lot of people thought that they had to drop their engine to trailer.......if you could and the skeg didn't drag/hit the ground on a bump. Nowadays you don't on big engines.

HTH,

Mark

 

[ezmobee]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Get a transom saver for towing.

 

[ninhalo5]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Get a transom saver for towing.

Thanks, I will see about that. So I guess the perfect tilt hight/angle would be however long that saver is.

For the battery, there wasn't one already in the boat. The guy I bought the boat from just grabbed one of his car batteries and hooked the cables to it so we could run some tests and to raise the engine; he just sat it on the outside of the bilge door. I reckon I'll look a little further/harder and see if I can find anywhere a plate would have been mounted and go from there. It is possible I just over looked it being it's so cold outside.

I did buy a engine service manual online and seen for these engines the primary purpose of that clip/lock is for adding fluid to the hydraulics, which I think I might have to do as well. The engine slowly came down overnight, so I'm hoping that will be the extent of the pressure loss. The engine raises and lowers nicely and there are no noticeable leaks (at least on the outside).

Speaking of fluids is there a particular type of fluid I should use for the hydraulics? The manual did not state any type just hydraulic fluid, I read on another post some one use transmission fluid, but sounded strange to me.

Thanks alot

 

[brnschoneck]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

u will wanna use tilt /trim fliud they have it on here or walmart carries quik silver ???u may have to install a batt box for ur batt, me i just put in like a bracket and strap it down u dont want it moving it around and it will wen u go on plane beleive u meee !!! just be carefull u dont use to long of screws or put it anywhere ur gnna put a hole in the hull ??? BE XTRA CAREFULL ID IMAGINE THE BATT POST LEADS WILL LEAD U TO ABOUT WHERE IT SHOULD GO !!!

 

[mpsyamaha]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

As far as the battery... arent there cables ran to where it used to sit? seems like if you look hard enough you could find where the batt was mounted in the past.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Marine batteries are usually in boxes. There is a strap or two that secure them to the deck. Using the battery cables as a guide, search the length of them for the straps. I recomend a 24 series Marine Starting battery. If you have extra electronics, go with a 27 series battery.

Transom savers are unnecessary if you have PTT, IMHO. Tilt the motor aless than 1/2 way up and she won't bounce much, and will clear obstacles in the road.

Dextron II ATF is the correct PTT fluid.

 

[ninhalo5]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

As far as the battery... arent there cables ran to where it used to sit? seems like if you look hard enough you could find where the batt was mounted in the past.

Well I Think I found it, there was a plastic battery box back there. and a velcro strap which I believe was to hold down the battery. Funny thing is those were both found on the port side and the battery cables are all starboard and not long enough to reach much further than where they are. Possibly the wires have been shortened, but all the power seems to work fine.

I tried the 27 series battery and it was too big to fit back there so I traded for a 24, which I have not tried yet, but the 24 looks more like the plastic battery box's size.

Thanks everyone, now I think my next step will be to change out the lower end oil, Refill and bleed the trim system and it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and get new spark plugs and possibly change out the fuel filters.

Do you guys have any other suggestions on what might be a good idea to do before spring gets here? I want to be fully ready to go once that warmer weather hits

 

[Chris1956]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Pump some grease into the fittings. Refill the oil reservoir on the motor and the boat.

 

[ninhalo5]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Pump some grease into the fittings. Refill the oil reservoir on the motor and the boat.

Will do, have to see if I can find them

Just had a quick thought, one of the absolute most important parts of the motor is the water pump. Is there a sure fire sign that it is failing? or is it one of those when you hear it grinding and see some smoke it's time to replace it and the rest of the engine?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Some say the water pump impeller should be changed annually. I do mine every 2-3 years. If you don't know when it was last done, you should do it. If you're running your boat and overheat buzzer goes off, you stop it immediately.

 

[ninhalo5]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Some say the water pump impeller should be changed annually. I do mine every 2-3 years. If you don't know when it was last done, you should do it. If you're running your boat and overheat buzzer goes off, you stop it immediately.

Good to know, I'm not sure if mine has a buzzer, I'll have to look into that. Thanks

 

[Chris1956]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Usually that motor would have an overheat buzzer. Look for the buzzer under the dash. Of course it could be in the merControl itself. Remove the motor hood and find the wires that go to the overheat sensors on the heads. Sometimes Merc puts an overheat sensor on one head and a temp sender o the other head. If the two sensors are tied together on the terminal block, they are both overheat sensors. Turn on the key and ground them and listen for the buzzer.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

That engine has a tell tale. It's purpose it to tell you that your water pump is pumping. The stream obviously gets heavier as a function of rpms. It may or may not be plumbed off the thermostat.

If plumbed off the top of the block directly you can follow the tube from the top center (of the block) 90 degree ell through the tube to the right side lower cowling. When the engine block fills with water it will squirt water out of this tube. On launching the boat, if you crank the engine and go through a minute or two of warm up the stream should be visible from the helm before you finish.

If plumbed off the stat, as some are, son's was till I moved it to the top, you have to wait for the stat to open. So you won't get water for awhile (ambient and engine temperature dependent) until the stat opens. Course when it opens initially it cools off so it closes back. So you have a dribble of water then nothing then a dribble and on and on. Once you get going enough to keep the block water hot enough (143F opening temp) you will get a solid stream strengthening with rpms.

HTH,
Mark

 

[ninhalo5]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

Well, I guess I do have a buzzer of some sort. When I hit the master switch something under the dash buzzes for a second or two.

New question, how loud do the live well pumps supposed to be? When I hit any of my pump switches I don't hear anything. I'm thinking I should be able to hear them and maybe they are faulty or there's bad wiring somewhere. Same with the bilge pump. There's a new bilge pump but I don't hear anything. I did find a blown fuse on the dash but I think that was for the aerator, I don't recall off hand.

Would be nice to have an owners manual to figure out how everything works. I'm not even sure how to get the water into the wells. All I know is there is a white port directly under the front well on the port side keel.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: n00b Procraft fish and ski boat basic questions

All the pumps are audible if you are adjacent to them. What I did when I got my used boat was to follow the plumbing and experiment with the switches on the dash. I had 3 switches which were bilge, fill, and drain for he LWs. Livewells are set up differently in different boats as to fill level and fill/drain procedure. You just have to play with it and learn what you have if you can't find accurate outside help.

Mark