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

achris

More fish than mountain goat
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May 19, 2004
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27,468
The TB-IV is sealed. The only issue that could arise is the connectors. Pull the plug out and have a good look in. If it's nice and clean, then you can be pretty sure it's safe. If the sensor is the 3 wire variety, that's also pretty well sealed up. If it's the 2 wire, now's a great time to replace it (please, please, only OEM).... Your speakers are dead. Even without a drowning, speakers in boats don't last long, very moist air is a killer...
 

nola mike

Vice Admiral
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Apr 22, 2009
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The TB-IV is sealed. The only issue that could arise is the connectors. Pull the plug out and have a good look in. If it's nice and clean, then you can be pretty sure it's safe. If the sensor is the 3 wire variety, that's also pretty well sealed up. If it's the 2 wire, now's a great time to replace it (please, please, only OEM).... Your speakers are dead. Even without a drowning, speakers in boats don't last long, very moist air is a killer...
Yeah, connectors looked good. I cleaned them up anyway. The plug iirc looked pretty stout as well with a sealing o-ring. That's reassuring. Sensor is 3 wire. Wishful thinking about the speakers I know. You should have seen the connections on the amp. Trying real hard to not end up dead in the water. I feel like I can probably fix anything not mechanical/catastrophic enough to get home if I have the parts/tools. Initially thought my fuel pump was bad... Which would be bad. Might get a cheap auto pump as a backup to get me home. Actually that sounds like a good idea. And some jumper cables or a jump box.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Jul 23, 2011
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Or get towing insurance and call it an adventure...... Keep extra waters and beers for the tow Capt
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 10, 2002
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12,695
Boat US towing & trailer insurance saved my $450 the day my boat overheated 9 years ago….
 

Lou C

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That works! A customer died just outside the marina, The boat was getting beat from the waves and slamming against the break wall, I went out there and found the primer, they didn't know they had.... Got them back to the ramp.
Let’s hope it was the fuel pump not the customer that died!
 

Lou C

Supreme Mariner
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Nov 10, 2002
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Let me take this moment to mourn the loss of the supremely reliable mechanical fuel pump on late model
Vortec engines….I replaced one…after 30 years….for $80….I can get either the OE Carter or Sierra for either price.
In fact if I repower with a V8 I am thinking of going with a Pre Vortec/roller cam just for that reason….
 

nola mike

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Apr 22, 2009
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Thought the boat was running well... Today finally had enough confidence to do a WOT run. A touch choppy, not ideal, but only managed 41 mph/4500 rpm. No obvious running issues. Gonna check timing (really hoping it's off... But I don't think it is), then compression. Was hitting 48+ in the before days. I did rewire the stereo and installed a new amp... Thought I was into the fun stuff.

At least my boat lift is working better than the neighbor's
IMG_20220722_141152.jpg
 

nola mike

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So I rechecked the timing, and it seemed that every time I set it, it was off again when I rechecked it. It was 40' advanced at 1 point, then I couldn't find where it was when I was trying to check advance at 2k rpm...

So thought I got it, went out with 2 adults, 3 kids. Seemed sluggish out of the hole, and WOT was somewhere around 4300 and 38 mph. Gross. No misses or anything, felt very smooth once I was on plane.

Decided that my harbor freight timing light was junk, and ordered an electronic unit with a tach, getting here tomorrow.

Started thinking bad thoughts, so spent about 2 hours today compression testing (getting to those plugs is not fun). 150-153 on all cylinders except #1 (145, might not have cranked it enough) on a cold engine, so that's good.

Had thought I'd been running a touch rich, but my plugs look great.

Got the stereo going. Bought a $20 head unit just to see if a $20 head unit could be anything other than pure crap. BT, remote, phone app, flash card slot. Actually sounds great with a decent 4 channel amp. My speakers seemed to have survived the dunking.

IMG_20220731_135654.jpgIMG_20220731_135718.jpg
 

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Grub54891

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Jun 17, 2012
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Did you put new plugs in? Even though they look good don’t mean they are. Seen it happen more than once.
 

nola mike

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OK, got my fancy pants timing light today. Much easier to set digital than the tiny knob on the other one. Set to 8', verified 23' advance at 2500 rpm. It was bouncing though; not sure if this is normal? A couple of degrees in either direction, only at speed. Steady at idle. Thought it might be an occasional misfire; all the wires are at least sparking without misses. Also dialed in the mix screws better using the tach. Was a good bit quicker out of the hole. My low-ish speed bog/surge at 1k-1500 rpm mostly gone. I managed 43 mph at 4700 with just me on board. Oddly, got to 44 mph at 4600+ with 4 on board. I get very little except for a cool sound when the secondaries open, wondering if I need to change the jet (I'm running fatter than the factory calibration on both sides). Last season I managed 48 mph, but remembered that I had a 21p prop on there (19p now). Also fixed the nav lights. Now I think the only electrical connection I haven't messed with is the anchor light.

Went about 40 miles today with the fam, stopped at a new brewery (for you @Scott Danforth ) and had dinner at a new Mexican place. Overall ran great, only issue is that it had a hard time cold starting today, and also when warm. When warm it smelled very rich when it finally caught. Anyway, I think I'm *finally* back to pre-swamp functioning. I should definitely be getting more out of this engine than I am, but I think it's more of a tuning issue at this point. Gonna start a new thread, and let this one RIP!
 

Lou C

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Nov 10, 2002
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All's well that ends well as they used to say!
Mine didn't get swamped but the day that the small hose behind the engine popped off the P/S cooler, it filled the bilge with salt water and sprayed it all over the place. So I changed the starter, alternator and reterminated all the starter wiring and a few other things, after that & replacing all the rubber in the exhaust system, everything worked. That is, until the HGs started leaking 3 seasons later, due to the overheat that day.
That lead to my top end overhaul project, still running fine 5 years later.
 

Grub54891

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Well, fine tuning includes spark plugs. I’m not being anal about them but seen it enough times where performance issues were caused by the plugs, even tough they looked perfect.
 
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