1987 Ski Centurion Tru Trac II - First Time Rebuild - Floor, Engine, Dash, etc.

[ACon977]

Wow Tim! You are a hero! Thank you so much! Looks like I know what I'm doing instead of working today just kidding, but definitely a good lunch break and read before bed!

Ok I lied,saw that it was a short article and read through it. Good stuff! Next time you're out in Denver definitely let me know and I'd love to pull you!

 

[Timr71]

We'll do it for sure. I'm going to update the Tru Trac thread on Centurion Crew with a number of years of these Water Ski boat buyers guides from the late 80s and early 90s. There's a fair amount of Ski Centurion coverage there. Reading the tests from the other years will give some additional insight into the design and function of these boats at that time. Keep truckin on the boat.

 

[ACon977]

Good call! Im sure there would be plenty of people interested in reading about the original tournament boats

 

[mr300z87]

In my younger days (mid 50s now) I thought about trying to buy a ski boat, besides my friends Ski Nautique, I has also done some skiing on the Delaware River behind a Master Craft with a bunch of barefooters, my thought were these boats were IT!! Fast forward 20 years a house, cars, kids divorce, 2nd marriage its finally time to go boating again. Living near the New Jersey shore (yes near where the TV show took place) and Barnegat Bay which is part of the Inter-Coastal water way that runs from NJ to Fl almost all inland, boats are plentiful so we buy an 18 ft bow rider. I quickly realized why I hardly ever see ski boats, after one season with an 18 ft and we were looking to go bigger, even the 21 ft was tough some days. I am now in a 250 Sundancer and there have been days we get beaten up headed home from our hangout spots. Although my area is a mecca of boating, the bay is big and wide where we are with no shelter and lots of boat traffic this is no place for and old school ski boat. Still there is something about a small boat with V8 inboard power (Muscle Boat) that is just bad to the bone.

I gave up snow skiing years ago because of a old ski injury to my left knee but still love to get out my buddy boat to do some old school slalom skiing. If we ever get out of this craziness I look foreword to some skiing this summer. In the mean time I will live vicariously through you younger guys so I hope to see some post of you tearing it up. BTW if I were closer would be happy to help with the engine issues. Stay Safe. Mike

PS sorry for the ramble going a little stir crazy mid way week 4 of quarantine.

 

[ACon977]

In my younger days (mid 50s now) I thought about trying to buy a ski boat, besides my friends Ski Nautique, I has also done some skiing on the Delaware River behind a Master Craft with a bunch of barefooters, my thought were these boats were IT!! Fast forward 20 years....

Thanks Mike! I really appreciate the sentiment! Luckily for my little boat, there isnt much water in Colorado, so we will likely just be on smaller lakes. Hopefully reducing the amount of rough water you had to endure on the East coast.

Honestly love to hear people rambling aside from myself, I feel like I blah blah a lot and post pictures that are unrelated to the boat sometimes. But thats all part of my life, we love to ski and I cant wait for the boat to be finished. but life wont slow down for anything.

And dont you worry, Ill be sure to get out and rip it behind the old/new girl! Super excited for that first set. Thanks again Mike, I really enjoyed the ramble!

 

[Timr71]

Hi MIke,

I'm sure Austin doesn't mind a little rambling and reminiscing here in his rebuild thread. I totally get what you're saying. My boat, also a Ski Centurion, is horrible in rough water. But running up a long smooth cove, it's like driving a German or Italian sports car. With boats, there's no one-boat-does-it-all well kind of vessel. What's good for cruising, isn't as good for skiing, etc. But there is many fun ways to be out on the water...and that includes the inter-coastal.

Back when I was in college, we were at the lake for the long 4th of July weekend, and my cousin had taken us to the site of his slalom ski club. The head driver was very skilled in maneuvering his mastercraft. So, he took me and my roommate for a thrill ride, and this is what we did. The two of us were sitting in the backwards facing observer seat, he told us to use both hands to hold on tight to the ski pylon. Then, he proceeded to drive the slalom course in the boat, not down the center like usual, he went around the pylons that the skier would pass. That's 6 hard turns at over 30mph! It was a ride for sure!

Stay safe and healthy, Mike!

 

[ACon977]

Hey all! Sorry for the long delay, work got super busy and of course got talked into a new Honey-Do project. Let's just say, she hits up Etsy every now and then.


But got some updates on the boat as well! Ended up taking the advice to not try and get the welsch plugs back in with the mounts on... So had to build a new hoist. Only trouble is we have a 7ft ceiling in the garage. So time to do some demo!





Also in the meantime got boards cut for the side storage, built the captains seat base, and got a few things delivered for the dash, water separator, and new NSS (even though I don't think the old one was the problem)

 

[archbuilder]

Lol, house is in the way of the boat project, no problem demo it and modify lol! That is a bit extreme, but whatever it takes. Why do I think the honey doo was required for permission to "work" on the garage lol! Looks good!

 

[Timr71]

Very nice. I may update my own thread today with pics of my Skylon and wakeboard rack fitment. We'll see. I ran a HM this morning with my usual sunday crew and rode mtn bikes yesterday with my son, so currently the couch has me in a tractor beam. After that, I've got to cut the grass to make the Admiral happy...then I can pull off the boat cover and crack open a beer. We'll see how the day unfolds.

 

[ACon977]

Lol, house is in the way of the boat project, no problem demo it and modify lol! That is a bit extreme, but whatever it takes. Why do I think the honey doo was required for permission to "work" on the garage lol! Looks good!

Haha the garage height is SUPER frustrating so one of my summer projects is to lift it 2' and get a new door. Then the boat could fit in without any worries and the Admiral could park her car in there as well.

Always have to keep the boss happy with her projects, but I do really want the boat to be in the water this summer!

 

[ACon977]

Very nice. I may update my own thread today with pics of my Skylon and wakeboard rack fitment. We'll see. I ran a HM this morning with my usual sunday crew and rode mtn bikes yesterday with my son, so currently the couch has me in a tractor beam. After that, I've got to cut the grass to make the Admiral happy...then I can pull off the boat cover and crack open a beer. We'll see how the day unfolds.

Sounds like a nice progression!

 

[ACon977]

Alright. So lots of small steps tonight.

1. Got the exhaust manifolds back on.
2. Re attached all the water hoses
3. Installed new NSS
4. Installed the new fuel filter
5. Rewired the starter and main electrical.
6. Reinstalled the alternator.

well that list felt longer in my head.

But regardless. I hooked up the battery and tried to get it to turn over, no dice. I'm still getting 9v at the ign\sol terminal on the key and only 4.5 at the starter. So I checked resistance and it was barely anything. Then I took the signal wire off the starter and checked that during crank. Without it being attached to the starter I had my full 12.5.

So then it's my starter? Out of curiosity I jumpered from my hot on the engine to the starter wire and the engine turned over just fine. But refuses to with the key... What am I missing?

 

[ACon977]

This is a very simplified diagram of the circuits I'm testing and the voltages I'm getting. Along with approximate wire sizes.



Anyone have advice as to what is going on? Do you think it's wire gauge being too small?

I'm jumpering from A to B when it cranks fine

 

[zroe89]

Can you jumper it at the solenoid for the starter and see if it cranks then?

You may also want to check and make sure that you are not trying to energize the starter solenoid that you are using as your A and B terminals as a bad starter solenoid could also be sapping you for power. To prove this you could try connecting all of your B terminal points isolated out in the air making sure they don't short to anything. Maybe run a small bolt through them and then wrap them in electrical tape. From your diagram you are just using point B as a connection point anyway correct?

I'll go look and see if I still have the instructions for installing my Arco starter, unfortunately I couldn't find their instructions on their website.

 

[ACon977]

Can you jumper it at the solenoid for the starter and see if it cranks then?

You may also want to check and make sure that you are not trying to energize the starter solenoid that you are using as your A and B terminals as a bad starter solenoid could also be sapping you for power. To prove this you could try connecting all of your B terminal points isolated out in the air making sure they don't short to anything. Maybe run a small bolt through them and then wrap them in electrical tape. From your diagram you are just using point B as a connection point anyway correct?

I'll go look and see if I still have the instructions for installing my Arco starter, unfortunately I couldn't find their instructions on their website.

Thanks! Yea jumpering at the starter solenoid or jumpering at the external solenoid (noted A & B, although Im bypassing this solenoid) both work to turn over the engine fine. But at that point Im basically just shorting out the key.

 

[ACon977]

AHA!! I believe I've got it figured out!

So, I believe my issue was that the gauge wire that was in the starter solenoid circuit was too small.I came to this conclusion after my testing yesterday where I was able to get 12v at the starter solenoid without the wire hooked up. But when I hooked up the wire, the voltage dropped down to 4.5v since the wire through the ignition circuit couldnt carry enough current.
So what I was doing when I jumpered from the "A" to "B" was giving the same voltage, but allowing for the starter to pull a higher current since the cable from the battery is HUGE and has plenty enough to allow the current to pass through.

But that is why there is a slave relay close to the starter! Duh. :facepalm:

How I hooked up the slave Relay:

1. I attached the battery cable to the "power" IN of the relay (yes I know there isnt truly an IN or OUT) and then also hooked up the cable that supplies the rest of the boat with power.
2. Then hooked up the small wire from the NSS (which is on my IGN circuit from the key) to the "trigger" IN on the relay since this is where the voltage would come from the key being turned.
3. Then grounded the "trigger" OUT to the engine block to complete that circuit and tested to make sure the relay worked. Good to go.
4. Lastly I have the "power" OUT terminal which I hooked up my main starter power (10g wire), and the starter solenoid power (14 or 16g wire).

Hopefully that makes sense. So now I have 12v of power coming from the main battery cable to the starter only when the key is turned to the IGN (or SOL I dont remember now) position. This is my new (dumbed down) wiring diagram.


This got the boat cranking over real strong every time. Great break from work :laugh:

 

[ACon977]

The reamaining question I have is this. What is the Ballast resistor for? Right now it is shorted out (both cables on one terminal). Should I wire it back in between my orange and purple wires?

 

[mr300z87]

BTW On the MerCruiser GM starter I have in my shop there are 2 small terminals on the solenoid. I am pointing to the one that activates the starter in the photo. When mounted it is the one closest to the block. Not sure how Ford starter are.
If it is different forget I said anything LOL

 

[mr300z87]

Disregard, I did not refresh the thread before posting. Cant wait to hear some engine noise!!!!

 

[ACon977]

Disregard, I did not refresh the thread before posting. Cant wait to hear some engine noise!!!!

No worries! Yea I saw a few of those type starters when I was looking up people having starter issues, but mine is one of three prong. So a tad different!