86 Sea Ray Restoration [Splashed Oct 2017]

[Goldie627]

Also have heard of a guy drilling out his jetts....

 

[Goldie627]

The wierd part is every marine mechanic is scratching their head along with me, nobody is saying it could be this or it could be that....

 

[Rick Stephens]

I never 'drilled out' a jet. I own a set of reamers made for the job. They aren't expensive and they allow you to ease your way up with a proper smooth and tapered hole.

A note for you..... your problem isn't really a 'marine' issue. A good carb guy for cars is as likely as anyone to help as any marine mechanic. Maybe more so. There is nothing special about setting up a marine carb except maybe fewer parts available. But the carb works just the same. So if you end up with an issue with this mechanic, ask around about a good carburetor guy.

 

[Goldie627]

The owner was supposed to let me come pickup my boat this morning. Phone went straight to voice mail... :grumpy:

 

[Goldie627]

Rick, on my new oem carb, do you have any idea if its normal to have to adjust the float?

The new carb definetly has more top end than the old carb, but both carbs share the mid throttle lean condition.

also, im wondering if any added weight from the restoration has thrown off the air to fuel ratio in the mid throttle range? probably unlikey but im curious

 

[Rick Stephens]

Goldie,

I would not be surprised in the least if the float was off adjustment. And being lean means ya gotta fix it or burn pistons n valves.

I'm kind of put off by boatinfo being down. The manual from Mercruiser gives so much carburetor detail as to be THE best source for studying how your carb was built so I'd know how to advise you. Each and every carburetor design has specific places to go at inside them to calibrate in a given throttle setting/RPM zone. As a kid I was pretty good at Holley, last year I spent the time to get good at the Edelbrock/Weber that I installed on my 4.3L V6. Edelbrock publishes an excellent calibration guide, which is a good thing since the 4.3L Vortec is outside of any stock kit from Edelbrock. Meaning I HAD to calibrate everything from scratch since there was no OEM starting point for the 4.3L Vortec.

So when I listen to you describe this hesitation or stumbling, both in original and in new replacement, I can't help but think that I would be first, trying to find a manual that well describes how that particular carburetor was deigned and how to calibrate it, and second, then it would be root hog or die time, get in the middle of the carb and start playing with things that can be adjusted. The caution here is that I have heard main jets are not available *as* parts for that carb. I don't know that is true, but it would complicate my thinking some as you don't want to ream out mains only to find the engine stops stumbling midrange but now runs too rich at high range. And for sure, before I start playing ream games with the main jets, I want to do two spark plug inspections, one while the motor is stumbling and one while the motor is running strong at higher throttle setting. To do a spark plug inspection I run the motor until warm, then run the motor for at least 4 or 5 minutes at the setting we are testing, then just turn the key off without changing the throttle at all. Just flip it off and the motor should just die. Pull a middle plug and look at it closely. Lean or rich? Then run the motor at the higher more open setting where the motor runs great. Just turn the key off after the same 5 plus minutes of running. Pull the same plug - lean or rich? That will tell you what direction each should go.

I know this is tough on you right now. You taught yourself everything about restoring a fiberglass and wood boat. Last thing you expected after finding great compression numbers was that you would not get it running right, especially after tossing a new carb on it. Frustrating indeed.

 

[Goldie627]

Hello All!

I'm having a great summer so far enjoying my boat and fishing every chance I get. So far this lil guy is my biggest striper, he was keep-able at 18 inches but i tossed him back.

​
I dont want barely legal! I want a lou ferrigno freakishly huge monster striper!!!

Anyway, ive added Bennett auto leveling trim tabs and shallow water anchors. Bennett trim tabs are the truth!!! Dont hesitate if your on the fence, you will not be disappointed. They keep the bow down and smooth out an otherwise bouncy/choppy ride. They are a win!

Im here for some advice: The last two times out ive noticed this...

​Im getting a slow leak that i havent been able to locate, what i do know is the water puddles up on the bottom of the keyhole then after it gets too much volume for the key hole it trickles over the edge and down the transom-plate into the bilge. The keyhole is on a slight slope back so im not sure how much water is actually back there. Im kinda kicking my self because when i rebuid the transom i left the keyhole wood raw like it was originally. Oh well....

Some said leave it raw so it can breath and dry out, some said seal it... i made my choise... but the good thing is i caught it quick, now just isolating the leak is my problem. One good thing about restoring the boat is i know how to do everything! LMAO but in this case i dont know what to do first, any guidance is appreciated. I havent tried it on muffs yet but leaks while on the river while engine is on and while off

Since my restoration this is the first time ive ever had to take out my drain plug when trailoring the boat. Never had to remove the drain plug because bilge was always bone dry.

Only thing i can add which may or may not be related....

When this all started i ran the boat with an extremely loose alternator belt. and i mean super loose, Same day had some hydrilla stuck on the out drive. Didn't realize either symptom till heading back to the doc. probably unrelated but thought id throw it in there.

Thanks guys

 

[Goldie627]

one more thing, leak drops down just bellow the left bottom exaust pipe bolt..

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Hey man, glad to see you back. Honestly the leak could be a lot of things, you just have to narrow them down. Could be trim sender wire grommet, sea water tube grommet, to bellows.....(gasp).

i was able to narrow a leak I had down be using a WiFi bore scope. You can get these pretty cheap and they get into small areas. For me, I didn’t have my 2 lower mounting bolts sealed tight. The bore scope helped to get me in the right area.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

one more thing, leak drops down just bellow the left bottom exaust pipe bolt..

In the alpha drives there’s a vent hole just under drive shaft in the gimbal housing that drains water out of the u-joint bellows.....if water gets in there. It’s in the center between the top two exhaust pipe bolts, transom plate side. If the u-joint bellows are leaking, you’d get water out that vent.

 

[Goldie627]

In the alpha drives there’s a vent hole just under drive shaft in the gimbal housing that drains water out of the u-joint bellows.....if water gets in there. It’s in the center between the top two exhaust pipe bolts, transom plate side. If the u-joint bellows are leaking, you’d get water out that vent.

Yikes.... thanks chuck. So i guess ill start by pulling the outdrive, checking the rubber o rings on the yoke and checking for water sitting in that u joint bellow...

Might as well recheck my alignment while the drive is off

Also will try to check tork on exhaust pipe bolts if room allows

 

[Goldie627]

I did the best external examination i could of the bellows and didn't find any water, i didnt think i would because its a trickle and sometimes an intermittent trickle so im thinking it may need to be under some kind of force/pressure to make the leak happen.

Anywho.... i pulled the outdrive and the u joint bellow was dry as a bone. Only thing that was there was the oil i slathered on the yoke o rings and the grease i added during installation of the drive.



thanks guys any advice where to go from here?

 

[chevymaher]

There is a boot on the other side to check. But this side is literally in the water.

 

[mickyryan]

I packed that area and surrounding area with grease to minimise contact with water, also i greased my imput flange to seal that as well and replaced the shaft seals for shifting arm, mine was dry when i reopened it

 

[Goldie627]

There is a boot on the other side to check. But this side is literally in the water.

So if the u joint bellow is dry and there is water under the shift cable in the bell housing it's safe to say the shift cable bellow has failed?

my bellows have probably one year of service and from what I've read they should at least give you 5 to six years...

but in my case I run mostly rivers and sloughs and ca delta, I've had a few local guys say that when you run in those places no telling what limb or floating debris or vegitation could puncture a bellow... sounds plausible

secondly, shift cable shifts fine and has one year of service, can I do just the shift cable bellow without doing the shift cable? Or is it easier to do both lower shift cable and shift cable bellow at the same time?

 

[Goldie627]

I packed that area and surrounding area with grease to minimise contact with water, also i greased my imput flange to seal that as well and replaced the shaft seals for shifting arm, mine was dry when i reopened it

Thanks Micky , did you literally pack it? Would take probably two cups of grease or did you line the area with grease?

I cant remember but I wanna say I did the shift shaft bushings when I rebuilt the gimbal housing, I think rick recommended it and I'm pretty sure i did it if i remember right i hadda press them in

 

[chevymaher]

I went through this with mine before my splash. I took the engine cover out. Put it in the water where nobody cared and it could sit tied to the trailer still. Laid on the deck with a bright flashlight and a mirror. Mine ended up being a lower through bolt the one with the anode. And the water supply through the gimble.

2 trips trying to find it. Then left the doghouse/engine cover off. Wow it is alot wasier when you can see it.

 

[Baylinerchuck]

What Chev said is perfect advice. I did the same thing and used a bore scope. Unfortunately for me, this time it was the u-joint bellows leaking. Luckily for you yours are dry. Does it leak all the time, or only when running?

 

[mickyryan]

Thanks Micky , did you literally pack it? Would take probably two cups of grease or did you line the area with grease?

I cant remember but I wanna say I did the shift shaft bushings when I rebuilt the gimbal housing, I think rick recommended it and I'm pretty sure i did it if i remember right i hadda press them in

I packed mine and slathered the part that goes into the bellows with that small quarter inch square o ring and btw it takes 17 pumps of a grease gun to fill a gimble bearing

 

[Goldie627]

What Chev said is perfect advice. I did the same thing and used a bore scope. Unfortunately for me, this time it was the u-joint bellows leaking. Luckily for you yours are dry. Does it leak all the time, or only when running?

Hey chuck it leaks all the time motor running or not.