Belt broke on lake information

[andrewterri]

Before I get slammed for posting this when I already fixed the problem, I wanted to put up information for someone else who gets stranded after this happens to them. This forum has helped me so much I wanted to share what little I know to help someone else. While at the lake my belt broke on my 89 3.0 causing a loss of power steering, alternator, and most importantly the water pump. I immediately went to and searched titles and could not find anything. I am sure the information is there somewhere, but I did not have time to read every post. Before letting me have it everyone, I had my wife, our 3 daughters ages 7-12, and our one and half year old going for a ride when this failure happened. It was near 100 degrees with no shade so time was of the essence. Now, to the important information, if you were in my situation and found this post; at least with the 3.0 from 1989, you can run your engine at idle and slightly above idle in gear to get you to shore without any significant overheating. My engine only ran about 10-15 degrees higher which brought it to approximately 155-160. I ran the boat for approximately 25 minutes to get back to the dock while keeping a close eye on the temp gauge. Remember to cut any accessories that you do not need I,e,,, radio, non essential lights, or kids phone charger :facepalm:. You will not have an alternator and will need the battery power should your engine cut out or you have other unexpected problems. If your boat has power steering I suggest you practice turning a little while making it back to the dock if you are not use to handling your boat without power steering because when you lost your belt you also lost your power steering. You want to be comfortable before you enter a dock or marina environment to make sure everyone stays safe and there are no oopses. Another important note, once you realize you lost a belt, I found out when I heard the pop and saw the battery gauge drop to 12 volts because it was no longer showing the alternator output but rather the battery level, you want to remove the broken belt from the engine compartment. You might have to look around and outside the compartment as I found mine next to the trim motor. The last thing you want is the belt getting wrapped around the pulley and whipping around tearing wires or damaging fuel lines. While I am not sure this would be possible, do you want to find out? Just remember, idle your boat in gear and watch your temp gauge, this is where you doing your maintenance and changing the impeller and not going cheap on a small battery pays off

 

[tpenfield]

When you loose the v-belt or serpentine belt on an Alpha drive, you still have water being pumped up to the engine which will provide some cooling. What is missing is the recirculating of water through the engine block, which more aggressively pulls heat out of the engine.

the same thing would apply to a Bravo drive, as long as the sea water pump belt was still intact.

If you loose complete water flow to the engine, it will only be able to go about 30 seconds before over heating.

 

[poconojoe]

After reading your post, I think I'll buy a spare belt!

 

[gm280]

There are so many things that could happen while on the water. Trying to be prepared for each and everyone of the possibilities would take another boat to carry everything along. That's not to say don't carry anything. Carry a spare belt and plugs are always a good idea for I/O setups. But a better idea is to look over the boat and engine well before you take it out. And inspect things that are more prone to problems like belts and such. Of course there is no way to stop or prevent everything that could happen, but a general overview could solve problems before they happen. JMHO

 

[stonyloam]

Since you have to mess with the front mount when you change the belt a lot of guys put a second belt in place, so that if the belt fails on the water you can just slip the new one on. just make up a little tool kit to carry ont the boat and you are all set.

 

[achris]

Nice job getting back. The rules are, you do what you need to do. Engines can be repaired or replaced, people can't. Anyone wants to argue that I'll stand with andrewterri.

Ok. Spare belts. The 3 litre, and the 120 and 165 before it, have an enclosing front mount that makes it incredibly difficult to fit a new belt at sea. Having a spare belt onboard is very close to useless. What I had on my 165 was the spare belt already threaded up ready to be fitted, but tied back to avoid interferring with the spinny bits. If I ever needed to use it, it was only a matter of cutting a couple of cable ties, loosening the alternator and slipping the belt on.

To get a new belt in place you need to remove the spacer of the front engine mount, near the alternator, slip 2 belts on and refit the spacer. What I would recommend is that you brace up and take the weight of the front of the engine before removing the spacer.

Chris. ...

 

[boatman37]

We did something similar when my son raced karts. He ran a water cooled engine and the pump was driver off a belt (pretty much a large o-ring) that went around the axle. To replace it the whole axle had to come out so we put a few spares on and used electrical tape to tape the spares to the axle.

I have a spare set of belts i keep on the boat but mine are pretty easy to change if i need to. i installed new ones this spring and left the old ones on the boat with my spares filters and fluids

 

[tpenfield]

It seems that we are continually hearing that boats are breaking 'out on the lake' here on iBoats. I am beginning to think that lakes are pretty rough on boats

 

[achris]

Yeah well, boats take a pounding out on the lake, what with those centimeter high waves and all.

 

[interalian]

Guess you guys haven't heard of the old pantyhose trick. Maybe because so few ladies wear them anymore. But I digress...

Just take a leg from a pair of pantyhose, tie tightly around the crank and waterpump pulleys, then knot and trim off the excess so it doesn't catch on anything. Don't try to run the alternator or power steering - it won't drive them. It'll get you back to shore with a cool motor and a hot story.

 

[Maclin]

Guess you guys haven't heard of the old pantyhose trick. Maybe because so few ladies wear them anymore. But I digress...

Just take a leg from a pair of pantyhose, tie tightly around the crank and waterpump pulleys, then knot and trim off the excess so it doesn't catch on anything. Don't try to run the alternator or power steering - it won't drive them. It'll get you back to shore with a cool motor and a hot story.

Quick thinking coming up with that when your wife found the pantyhose after a guys only fishing trip... :laugh:

j/k My grandpa actually did that once, it was not panthose back then but some scarves or something I think.

 

[andrewterri]

My plan was to take shoe laces we had with us and braid them. Many straps for life jackets, ropes, and a lot of other things that can get you back to shore. County thinking

 

[fishrdan]

Guess you guys haven't heard of the old pantyhose trick.

Zip ties are the new pantyhose....

I once made it back from the lake on zip ties when my truck broke the water pump belt. Anything over 2500RPM would break the zip-ties, and I had to replace them a couple of times.

 

[andrewterri]

Would not have thought of zip ties. That is a good idea. Combine the zip tie and shoe lace, braid the lace around the zip tie and it would give you traction and added strength.