Boat swamped, let's see if we can get it running...

[Rick Stephens]

Wow, that's ugly.

 

[nola mike]

So pressure tested the drive, and it was fine. No loss at 10 psi, lower limit of my gauge. Put a couple of pumps of air in (much less than 10 psi) and still had a good hiss coming out the next morning. Rotated prop during both tests. Split the drive, and removed impeller. Unfortunately (?) everything looked fine there as well:



That bend in the vane is me pressing on it. It was supple. Water pocket looked OK. So far pressure tested the lower separately, and it held. Plan to test the upper separately as well.

So moving on to one of my spare lowers, which had an ominous piece of duct tape reading "bad shift shaft seal". Which looked brand new, and I replaced a couple of years ago. Lost pressure, and cause found fairly quickly, nothing from the shift seal:



So now left trying to decide which lower to use, and saw what looked to be freeze damage in the same place on both:


The bearing carrier nut looks nicely corroded to the housing. Guessing it's holding things together. I don't think this should prevent me from using these? Plan to drill a relief and epoxy?

Lastly, I found out where the extra grease goes from that coupler zerk:


I bet there's some in the bilge too.

So still not sure why I got that overheat on muffs, wondering if I went a bit overboard here. It was fine on the water. The boat on land had a pretty good list to starboard; is it possible that the muffs were unable to generate enough pressure to fill the t stat housing enough and get through the t stat?

Going to bring one of the lowers home and replace the pump there, I won't be back here until memorial day. Still hopeful that I can get on the water.

 

[nola mike]

Another 2 step forward 1 step back day. Replaced the lower after replacing the water pump and seals. Couldn't adjust the shift cable. Found that there was way too much play in the lower unit shift mechanism. Adjusted the throttle and lower cable in a way that would make @achris very upset, but I was able to get in forward and reverse. Adjusted the carb and timing (it had moved to 20'). Got it in the water and ran a flawless 30 miles (mostly... Seemed slow out of the hole, but running great). Ran it to 43 mph with 5 on board, 4400 rpm with some throttle left. Feeling very nice. Moored the boat for a few hours, came back to find water in the bilge. Crap. Bellows look pristine. Pretty sure water wasn't there when I stopped. Terrified that the beating caused a transom leak.

 

[nola mike]

Alright, found my problem! I love stupid easy stuff. Interesting that I ran it like this all last season without noticing; it must have been like this since I installed the engine.

Also after yesterday finally installed a new (bigger) bilge pump and rewired most of my boat lift.

 

[flashback]

I had a similar situation this spring as well. I had water leaking out of the exhaust hoses and found most all the clamps loose. I could turn the screws by hand.

Glad you found it, much better than the transom..

 

[nola mike]

My neighbor posted this pic the other day of a boat a couple of doors down. So I did better than that guy.

 

[achris]

Ouch!

 

[Scott06]

Alright, found my problem! I love stupid easy stuff. Interesting that I ran it like this all last season without noticing; it must have been like this since I installed the engine.

Also after yesterday finally installed a new (bigger) bilge pump and rewired most of my boat lift.

View attachment 361618

they come loose. Last summer my neighbor was loosing PS fluid into the bilge return line off cooler had a loose clamp. when i went over the engine almost all the clamps on the cooling hoses were dangerously loose.

 

[nola mike]

Well, one leak fixed, another found

I was so pleased by finding the last leak that I got ahead of myself and cleaned/oiled teak and polished the boat before putting it back in. So, I saw water coming from the port side, relatively high up. First thought was the 6 screws from my ladder (though when I replaced the brackets I overdrilled, filled with resin, drilled out and screwed with 4200). Took a closer look and the corner took a beating. Thought it was superficial but I think it's deeper, could go all the way through. Also found a couple of almost-punctures underneath that were hidden by the trailer roller. Filled them all with pl marine adhesive (the duct tape of the sea) for diagnostic purposes. I got the boat lift finally working, it took more work than I had hoped. I'm still trying to find a dpst rotary switch to use as a safety cut off, if anyone knows where to get one lmk. I can find rocker switches but they seem easier to flip accidentally

 

[savery]

I'm still trying to find a dpst rotary switch to use as a safety cut off, if anyone knows where to get one lmk. I can find rocker switches but they seem easier to flip accidentally

I'm guessing you're working with 240V and 10 amps. I'd go for an industrial style disconnect switch that's NEMA 4 rated.

Visit an electrical supply house, a lot of these switches and contacts are customizable and mix and match, they can help you configure exactly what you need.

Here's an example:

https://www.gordonelectricsupply.co...truding-Black-Handle-Single-22Mm-Hole/6128735

https://www.gordonelectricsupply.com/p/Square-D-Vls3P016D1-3-Pole-16A-Ul508-D-S-Door-Mount/6128775

 

[nola mike]

I'm guessing you're working with 240V and 10 amps. I'd go for an industrial style disconnect switch that's NEMA 4 rated.

Visit an electrical supply house, a lot of these switches and contacts are customizable and mix and match, they can help you configure exactly what you need.

Here's an example:

https://www.gordonelectricsupply.co...truding-Black-Handle-Single-22Mm-Hole/6128735

https://www.gordonelectricsupply.com/p/Square-D-Vls3P016D1-3-Pole-16A-Ul508-D-S-Door-Mount/6128775

Nope, 2 dc motors switched by relays. I want dpst so that I can switch both circuits at the same time. Amperage through the circuits is minimal, only enough to switch the relays

 

[savery]

In that case the one I posted is a bit overkill, lol

Any of these work?

IP65, 3A DC:
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/moujen/M22S-T22SF02-Y/16362337

IP66, 8A DC, but it's 3 position (off/off/on)
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/omron-automation-and-safety/A22NS-3RM-NBA-G101-NN/5603115

Here's a keyed version, IP67, 10A DC, also 3 position (off/off/on)
https://www.digikey.com/en/products...aIDoBcAEAWArAWgIwE4AMAYgHRZ5klYDMJeAHCALoC+QA

 

[todhunter]

You tried looking at Digikey? If the sheer volume of switches overwhelms you, even after filtering, I would either send an email asking for help, pick up the phone, or post on their forum. They are usually pretty responsive.

*EDIT* Didn't even see that @savery recommended Digikey as well till I posted!

 

[nola mike]

Good to know about that site. I already had ordered the rocker switch, which should be fine.

I *think* that those holes were the source of the leak. My cover apparently became porous after the scrubbing that it took, so got water in the boat overnight, which made ruling it out definitively wasn't possible. I'll keep an eye on it.

Going to repair the holes, I think PB should be fine. The largest gash in the corner is about 1.5", and the other 2 are small (< 0.5") holes on the bottom.

My wife was very adamant that any boat repair made with "duct tape of the sea" was not something that she would consider sea worthy.

 

[Scott Danforth]

My wife was very adamant that any boat repair made with "duct tape of the sea" was not something that she would consider sea worthy.

Smart woman

 

[nola mike]

Smart woman

Our friends think her taste in men is suspect.

2 glorious days alone down here. Spent another $50 on gas, which is less fun when you're alone. Running pretty well, there's a certain RPM that it doesn't seem happy at (12-1500 or so), but settles out OK. It's very slight though, don't remember if it was there last year. Lower unit may need replaced, the shifting is pretty precarious. I've McRednecked it as much as possible, there's just too much slop in there. Would like to take a break at some point though.

Boat is leak free, so I'll get to a more proper repair soon. Can I just throw some marine tex in the damaged sections? Tracking down small quantities of resin/gel coat is a pain.

I continue to find bad wiring, stuff I haven't tried out yet.
Bad blower wiring. Replaced.
Bad horn switch. Awaiting new one.
Just realized I haven't checked my lights. Not feeling good about them, ha.
Stereo system is trashed. I need tunes soon.
Depth/fish finder wires replaced. Now I know how deep it is, which is convenient.
Made a new mooring cover yesterday, came out nice.
Finished the wiring/new switch on the lift. Working well now.
Separate/new issue with the fuel gauge. Weight of the V6 is making the problem of the gauge always reading full (until it's almost empty) worse. Also, cleaning up all the connections also makes it want to read full. Don't know if there's a fix. I messed with the sender a bit today. I should be down at least 10 US gallons (27 US gal tank--for you @achris), but gas was spurting out the holes when moored.


This...is a lot of work.
First real test tomorrow, will be having guests.

 

[Scott Danforth]

www.fgci.com for small quantities of resin and gel

 

[nola mike]

Just when I think I can let this thread die...
Good news: Boat doesn't seem to be leaking anymore. Going to remove the marine adhesive and just plug with marine tex. Not sure why I thought that I wanted to screw around with poly resin.
Bad news: More electrical gremlins. Made it about 6 miles off shore today before I had the sickening engine cut off boat dead in the water feeling with a stout wind blowing me off shore. This time my fuel pump relay was toast. My 11 year old asked me some questions about electricity, and told me that he had learned about electromagnets in school. Took the opportunity to cut open my relay and show him the electromagnet and how the relay (didn't) work. So that was actually fun. We also had packed some beers and snacks, so just dropped anchor and chilled for a bit. Jumped the pump off the battery and made it home. I think I have literally cleaned/replaced every electrical connection/device in the boat at this point. Only mission critical thing I can think of is the ignition components; if something fails there it's un-mcguyverable. Wondering if I need to worry about that at this point? Do I buy a backup TB 4 module and sensor? Sucks that I did this swap partly in the name of reliability...
Also discovered that if I move the boat too far forward on the lift, the bunks will rip my depth finder transducer out of the hull.

 

[Scott06]

Just when I think I can let this thread die...
Good news: Boat doesn't seem to be leaking anymore. Going to remove the marine adhesive and just plug with marine tex. Not sure why I thought that I wanted to screw around with poly resin.
Bad news: More electrical gremlins. Made it about 6 miles off shore today before I had the sickening engine cut off boat dead in the water feeling with a stout wind blowing me off shore. This time my fuel pump relay was toast. My 11 year old asked me some questions about electricity, and told me that he had learned about electromagnets in school. Took the opportunity to cut open my relay and show him the electromagnet and how the relay (didn't) work. So that was actually fun. We also had packed some beers and snacks, so just dropped anchor and chilled for a bit. Jumped the pump off the battery and made it home. I think I have literally cleaned/replaced every electrical connection/device in the boat at this point. Only mission critical thing I can think of is the ignition components; if something fails there it's un-mcguyverable. Wondering if I need to worry about that at this point? Do I buy a backup TB 4 module and sensor? Sucks that I did this swap partly in the name of reliability...
Also discovered that if I move the boat too far forward on the lift, the bunks will rip my depth finder transducer out of the hull.

Youve come a long way with this , most other folks would have left it rotting in the yard…keep going…

i would carry an extra fuel pump relay and i do keep a tb module and distributor sensor on my boat. I got a used module off ebay for like $200, had a spare distributor off my old engine. also keep a spare set of plugs cap and rotor fuses some crimp wire connectors length of wire spare drive belt.
I have a big plastic tub with my tools and spares engine oil, gear oil, spare prop hub and fittings.… maybe over prepared but i have had to change a prop floating in a life jacket in middle of the lake, just gotta make sure not to drop the thrust washer….

 

[nola mike]

Youve come a long way with this , most other folks would have left it rotting in the yard…keep going…

i would carry an extra fuel pump relay and i do keep a tb module and distributor sensor on my boat. I got a used module off ebay for like $200, had a spare distributor off my old engine. also keep a spare set of plugs cap and rotor fuses some crimp wire connectors length of wire spare drive belt.
I have a big plastic tub with my tools and spares engine oil, gear oil, spare prop hub and fittings.… maybe over prepared but i have had to change a prop floating in a life jacket in middle of the lake, just gotta make sure not to drop the thrust washer….

Yeah, at this point it's personal. If I had any sense I would have cashed in my chips on a boat that I bought for 4k 13 years ago. This same attitude unfortunately applies to every aspect of my life, which is why I'm always stressed about getting things done. Wondering if it would be worth upgrading to tb5 and keeping the 4 as a spare. The tb5 seems a lot harder to find though. I did replace my corroded horn button with a pretty jazzy led lit button (horn is a mechanical air horn that plays la cucuaracha). It's a crowd pleaser. I'm hoping I can do something "fun" next--my whole stereo system is of course toast as well. I have a spare head unit and amp that's waiting to go in, although I guess I need to see if the speakers are dead as well. Between this and my vegetable garden I've put in 6 figures worth of time this year. I also have a 3hp outboard that hasn't been run in 20 plus years that I've been planning to keep on board as a kicker... Another project. Although I checked the gear oil today as well, no water, so at least that's encouraging.