Finally got it wet

[Neverquit]

After messing with the boat all winter; ball gears, water pump, fish finder, battery, trolling motor, trailer winch, new prop, fluids and a hundred other small things we went out to a local lake to test things out.

Overall things went well though there was a hesitation/miss on the 140 and the fish finder would not read depth.
Figured I messed up installing the transducer but as it turned out all I had to do was access the menu and tell the Helix the transducer was there then it worked great and read depth to full throttle but unit would randomly shut off when starting engine.

Next problem was full throttle was only getting the boat up to 30.9 MPH at 2900 RPM.

Went back to dock to load up then the leg would not tilt up, got it on the trailer and out of the way of the ramp, played and wiggled with wiring and up it went so at least good enough to get back home.

Cleaning and polishing all the solenoid connections made no difference.
Pulled the tilt motor, tore it apart, cleaned it and put it back together, no improvement, still intermittent click click click.

Took apart clutch assembly, cleaned and reset everything = better but still the odd click click.

Pulled tilt motor again and found the rivet that holds the metal strap for the overload protection was loose and allowing the contacts to move out of alignment.
Centered the contacts and tightened the rivet, put it back together and it works like a charm.

On to the engine;
Compression test showed cylinder 3 30 lbs lower than the rest.
Pulled valve cover, reset valves and compression came up to where the others are.

Spark plug gap .010 too small, re-gaped.

Points good.

Timing- no idea where it was as distributor was loose, fixed and set timing.

Test ran in water trough and set up carburetor.

Ran new feed and fuse for fish finder direct from battery.

Was going to take it out again today but the rain and weather said otherwise, maybe tomorrow.

Hope to see higher RPM and MPH this time round.

 

[Watermann]

Those shakedown cruises sure can cause a guy lots of work :lol:

You have too much voltage drop to run electronics off your starting battery, they need their own house battery.

 

[bchaney]

Congrats on getting her in the water! I hope your work resolves the issue on the motor, sounds like you resolved a couple issues while diagnosing so it's gotta run better at least. If you're still having issues with the fish finder I have read that the wiring should be run separately - if it's too close to a power wire you may get some interference. Good luck.

 

[Neverquit]

• Well we took her out again today, started off great, then the fun began.
  
  Managed to hit 35 MPH on the GPS this time but still only 3200-3300 RPM, so the tune up did some good.
  
  Tilt motor worked great but I am think I need to locktite the hex screw adjuster for the clutch pack.
  
  When I set it the specs said 140-160 lbs.
  I set it then adjusted the screw so when I hung my 180 lb keester on the end of it it would stay put.
  
  Out on the lake it started off fine but after a while the leg was lifting slightly,at the end of the day from hell it took another 1/2 to 3/4 turn to get it back to this spec.
  
  On to the day from hell;
  
  Launched just fine, shallow water so used the trolling motor to pull us into deeper water before lowering the leg.
  
  Shifter working properly now, fish finder not dying every time the engine was started.
  
  Ran about 4 miles North of the launch and suddenly nothing, engine shut down like you turned a switch off.
  
  Went to check if something had wrapped around the prop and noticed the leg was up maybe 1/8 of the way and the engine did not want to turn over as quick as it should.
  
  New starting battery that was charged the day before so low battery was not the problem.
  
  Being that it shut down fast under full load the temp gauge climbed to about 230 so my next thought was that because the leg was not all the way down maybe I was not getting water to the engine and it was heat seizing.
  
  Left the lid open on the engine for about 10 minutes and tried it again, this time it fired right up, turned the boat around and made it a 1/2 mile before it died again like a switch was shut off, temp was where it should be but as it would not do much more than a rurr, rurr, rurr when the key was turned my thoughts went to I got it too hot the first time and hurt something bad.
  
  Time for plan B, maybe the battery has an issue so I swapped batteries with the one from the trolling motor, same thing barley turning the engine over so likely something is screwed up good.
  
  On to plan C which is my old faithful Min Kota 3 HP electric trolling motor, hooked it to the deep cycle battery and started our way back to the launch.
  
  Now on my old Aroliner (346 lbs + gear) this motor would move me along at a nice trolling speed with half throttle all day long so 4 miles should be no big deal for the battery.
  
  WRONG put the same motor on a 2000 lb slob going into the wind and waves and the battery was done inside of 2 miles.
  
  OK no problem I swapped out the battery with the small starting battery, well that got us another mile through the waves before it said sorry dude I am done.
  
  Oars yes we had them, albeit a last resort let's give it a try, Ya right, might as well try blowing through a straw to get us back to the dock, the wind would not even let us get the boat turned in the right direction with two of us giving it our all let alone make any headway.
  
  Time for plan D, Removed a battery cable off the engine and used it as a jumper to connect the two weak 12 volt batteries in series, surprisingly enough the two of them put together were enough to get us another 3/4 mile to our destination before they said were done.
  
  Knowing this may be a possibility we stayed close to shore on the same side of the lake as the dock.
  
  Defeated and out of options we tied up on shore and after figuring out our position on the fish finder/gps we figured we had just over a half a mile to the truck.
  
  1/2 hour treck later through muskeg and deadfall we made it back to the truck.
  
  30 miles back home then loaded up the old Aroliner that had not run since last fall, stole a battery out of the yard truck, filled her with fresh gas and new plugs, loaded up a 300 foot towline and an old 1938 Evinrude trolling motor for a hail Mary back up, test ran both motors real quick and back to the lake we went.
  
  Nothing more than the usual B.S. problems unloading and loading in the wind and both boats were on there way back home.
  
  Got the Starcraft back in the shop and put a charger on it, 20 minutes later turned the key and it fired right up for about 3 seconds then died, repeat and the same thing, briefly the engine sounded great then a very pronounced squeal coming from the middle/lower leg.
  
  Not sure exactly what is piled up down there but worst case scenario it is still better than having to do the engine on it.
  
  Summary;
  Couple of bites so there are fish in the lake.
  Probably do not have to pull the engine.
  We are home safe healthy and happy.
  The Good Lord is still looking out for us.

Post Reply

 

[Watermann]

Good lord what a miserable event that was, glad you made it back safe. Sounds like there's something up with the lower unit maybe but the shutting down makes me wonder.

 

[Neverquit]

Took the leg off this morning and tore it apart.

With the leg off the engine fired right up and sounds fine.

Pinion bearing behind the ball gear is toast.

Pinion gears are fine, looking at it based on the amount of oil that was in it low oil was the cause of failure.

Now where did the oil go? It was filled when I put the leg back on, no noticeable oil stains to be found.

Right now I have the upper case resting on a 2x4 on the bench with the cavity as full of motor oil as I can get it, hope to figure out where it is going to after lunch.

 

[Watermann]

Was there any water in the gear case, showing milky oil? You are filling it from the bottom hole in the case until it runs out the vent correct?

 

[Neverquit]

Not really any water to speak of in the oil.

Yes it was filled bottom up and checked on the dipstick the day after filling.

What I found when I removed the lower pinion shaft housing (1985 OMC 140 400 stringer) was one seal 981268 with a broken spring (correct seal).
And one seal 981196 which comes up as a ball gear seal where it does not belong in the lowest position on the pinion shaft.

Further inspection revealed a oily film on the impeller and pump housing.

I figure whoever put the wrong seal in got away with it for a while as the upper of the 2 seals was correct, when the spring on the upper seal gave up the lower seal might just as well not have been there as the lip of the wrong seal was not contacting the shaft.

As the oil was leaking down into the water pump, running through the cooling system then out the exhaust it never showed any sign of external leakage.

Everything torn down now and I will be replacing bearings and races on both shafts, 4 seals, 2 O-rings, pinion shaft nut. ball gear nut and cap and shims as required.

 

[classiccat]

Neverquit Putting your handle to the test!!

 

[Neverquit]

Neverquit Putting your handle to the test!!

Pretty much, on most other forums I frequent my username is determined.

It was taken when I joined here so I had to improvise.

 

[bchaney]

Wow, that is quite a day on the lake and a series of problems to solve. Glad you passed the test and still have a positive attitude. I guess the aroliner worked as a tow vehicle? Hope the oil seal fixes your issue.

 

[Neverquit]

Yes the Aroliner was the tow/rescue boat, you sure could tell it had a load behind it especially when the Starcraft bucked a wave.

Got all the seals, gaskets, shims etc ordered today.

Just waiting on one more call before I order the bearings, they are not cheap but on a good day I am so I pulled all of mine to get the Timken numbers off them and source them that way. (had to pull the old ones off anyways)

The upper bearing on the vertical shaft is numerically identical to what GM and Mopar used for wheel bearings back in the 70's and less than half the price.

The other bearings are also common and were used in standard transmissions and other automotive applications.

 

[Neverquit]

Bearings showed up today, all SKF and the right ones to boot.

Pressed 3 on today and will have to wait until my gaskets and shims show up to finish it up.

Just as well, lots of rain in the forecast for the rest of the week and for fathers day the kids bought tickets for my wife and I to go see the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in concert tomorrow.

Might not get the boat wet but we will still get to enjoy Fishing In The Dark.

 

[Watermann]

Nice you found a work around for bearing replacements. Have fun at the concert, that will be a great time!

 

[Neverquit]

Last of the parts showed up Thursday, set up the gears, assembled and hung the leg.

Hooked everything up and test ran it for a 1/2 hour on Friday and all was good.

Sunday we loaded up and took it back to the lake.

Was out on the water for about 3 hours before the weather started getting nasty.

Everything worked well this time out but I am still not able to get any more than 3300 RPM out of it.

No problem for it to do 5000 RPM in the test tank, I feel the engine is making the horsepower it was designed to.

The last time out with 2 of us and minimal gear, 3300 RPM and 35 MPH (GPS) was the best it would do.

Yesterday it was loaded down with 5 people and gear plus 2 extra big AGM batteries for the trolling motor.

Exact same results 3300 RPM and 3500 MPH with an additional 700 lbs on board.

I am assuming the next step will be a smaller prop, currently running a 14 x 19 on it.

I have a tough looking 13 x 17 I can try on it but I have no idea if that is too small or not.

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[Watermann]

Check carb linkage to make sure the butterflies are opening all the way.

How is the hole shot with the 19p prop?

 

[Neverquit]

Linkage travel is fine.

With the 19p prop I would say probably no more than 10 seconds to get up on plane in the chop with the full load yesterday.

Guessing half that time with only 2 of us in it.

I pulled off and tore down the carb this morning that the previous owner said he had replaced, the crud inside of it makes me think that if he did replace the carb it was with an unknown used one.

Ordering a kit for it right now, will boil it out and go through it once the kit gets here.

Might have to give the 14 x 19 one more try before I swap it around.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah I was suspecting fuel related or dropped cylinder because that light boat with the 140 should be able to spin a 19p well into it's WOT RPM range. 42-4800 RPMs range I believe you'd have to change a whole bunch of pitch at the standard 200 RPMs gained per inch of pitch drop. To get 1000 RPMs that would be 5" of pitch... no way. If all checks out, maybe the tach is off unless of course you can tell by ear the RPMs are close to matching the tach.

 

[Neverquit]

Carb kit finally showed up and of course the power valve and jets that were supposed to come with it were not in the box.

Messed around for an hour and a half to clean up the old parts well enough to reuse them.

Put it on and test ran it for 1/2 hour, running smoother and more responsive than before so need to plan a trip to the lake to see what kind of RPM's it will do under load now.
Going to leave the 14 x 19 on it for now so I have an accurate comparison.

Took the small boat out Friday to catch some supper, lost one cylinder after about an hour, fortunately the old Chrysler 45 on it started and ran well enough on one cylinder to finish the day.

Yanked the flywheel yesterday and dressed and set the points, half hour running in the test tank and it is ready for another trip.

My wife did a good job of showing me how to fish, somehow she managed to pull in two fish on one line, we were anchored and still fishing off a ledge, she had a 2 hook pickerel rig on her line with a minnow on each.

Good thing they were only about 2 lbs each as it is near impossible to scoop up two pike at once with a small net.

 

[Neverquit]

Yeah I was suspecting fuel related or dropped cylinder because that light boat with the 140 should be able to spin a 19p well into it's WOT RPM range. 42-4800 RPMs range I believe you'd have to change a whole bunch of pitch at the standard 200 RPMs gained per inch of pitch drop. To get 1000 RPMs that would be 5" of pitch... no way. If all checks out, maybe the tach is off unless of course you can tell by ear the RPMs are close to matching the tach.

I have been turning wrenches for over 30 years, I can guess low RPM's pretty accurately but there is no way my ear is going to be of much use at the higher RPM's.

As far as the tach on the boat goes it reads within 50 RPM of my OTC inductive pick up meter and the OTC reads spot on to my infra red reflective strip Snap on tachometer.
Yes overkill for working on boats but as I used to repair a lot of aircraft ground power generators for a living I still have all these fun toys in my tool box to play with so may as well use them.