Holy, Moly The SUN!

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 07/27/2018 at 10:07 • Filed to: None

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It’s been overcast since Sunday, with few exceptions. With a dewpoint within a few degrees of the temperature, rain came and went at a whim, sometimes light drizzle and other times torrential downpours , although admittedly we do need the rain - it’s been a beautiful summer with sunny day after sunny day, which is nice for us humans, but the water table was hurting. So today it looks like this again :

This was actually taken last Friday ; I’m in my office wishing I was on the lake. Perhaps over the weekend.

First, I have to figure out why the boat ran like crap on Wednesday, after it ran perfectly the previous Friday and Saturday . It absolutely has to be related to the moisture; perhaps just literally condensation underneath the distributor cap. Or possibly some water in the fuel... but it ran consistently - but badly - at 25-30 mph; misfiring and just feeling underpowered. If it was ingesting water, it would run worse and worse, I would think, as it pulls more fuel (water) through the system. It also idles great and revs OK in neutral, but not under load , so it’s really pointing me toward ignition.

I’m going to the boat tonight, so I’ll check plug wires, cap/rotor, and drain some fuel from the water separating fuel filter to look for water there. I could maybe put fresh fuel in, but it’s around a half tank now. If there IS water in that ~18 gallons of fuel, I would want to get that mostly out before putting in fresh. It’s a challenge to find a place to put 39 gallons of fuel - I don’t have eight gas cans just kicking around, you know?

On Wednesday I would have checked the distributor cap but it’s held down with TORX screws. Why? I have a nice little tool set on the boat, but no Torx bits. Ah well, it started raining anyway.

Wish me luck!

Have a great weekend.

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 07/27/2018 at 10:12

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Boat question. My boat makes an awful whine noise, almost sounds like a bearing, when I am in the boat, alone running on plane and close to full throttle. Seems to get worse with speed/engine rpm. Doesn’t whine when in neutral and doesn’t whine when loaded with people/gear/skier. The lighter the boat is running the louder it is. Boat is a 1976 Lund 15' with a 70 hp Johnson.

Any thoughts? Lower unit need a rebuild? I just rebuilt the water pump but I don’t think that is the cause. Maybe the thrust bearing for the propeller? I’m at a loss.

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 07/27/2018 at 10:20

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Hard to tell without being able to hear it, but if you can try a different prop, give that a go. Do you have a spare? Or m aybe a shop would lend you one to try, assuming you don’t damage it? We used to do that for people, or maybe require a deposit if we didn’t know the person.

It just kinda strikes me as “prop sing” which is a real thing, and lots of boats make some whine at some particular speed due to some harmonic resonance in the drive; usually changing the prop “ cures” it.

I would also change the gear oil in the lower unit just for good measure. Check for metal shavings with a magnet.

If you can’t get a different prop, look yours over closely for any damage. Perfect brand-new props can do that too, but... it’s a thought.

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 07/27/2018 at 10:37

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I did the gear oil when I rebuilt the carbs. Kinda an annual maintenance thing. Plugs, carbs, oil. Anywho. The prop I have on it now did the same noise a bit last year, I think. I may have bent it in such a way to cause a resonant frequency issue but that would be related to prop speed and not load, no? Over the 4th I was running with three people in the boat to the dock to drop two off. Barely made the noise running on plane. I could hardly hear it. Running back solo the noise was clearly heard. It’s weird.

I have a couple other props I can throw on. All a bit beat up but they’ll be fine to run a test with. Gear oil had some metal on the magnet but it seemed about the same as last year. No idea if it is too much metal or not. No big flakes. All fine stuff.

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 07/27/2018 at 10:55

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How old is the outboard? Is it as old as the boat? Just curious. A little metal in the gear oil isn’t of real concern - that’s why you change it as often as you do, so you’re doing the right thing obviously. That doesn’t rule out the lower unit, but a little ground up metal is normal.

I wonder if the slightly higher RPM you’ll get with fewer people on board is just enough to make the noise appear? Even on my old 21' ski boat with a sledgehammer of an engine (Ford 351, 310hp) I’d get ~100 RPM more without a passenger - even a half-tank of fuel was different from full; maybe another ~100rpm.

I’ll be curious what happens when you change the prop.

Do you have anything like a depth finder that hangs off the transom? That’s a stretch, but you know. Weird things can happen with water passing through small passages in *just* the right way.

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 07/27/2018 at 11:05

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Motor is from ‘76. The boat definitely runs faster without people. It’ll lose a couple mph with three or so people in it. It’ll only do 22 with the higher pitch prop - a 15. It has a 13 on it so the boat only runs ~20ish. Probably high teens with people.

It had a depth finder. Pulled it off and patched the holes.

The metal is a bit weird . The hours I put on the boat are actually pretty low, probably 5-10 a year I guess. We spend most of our time at anchor, soaking up the sun. But again, I have no frame of reference to know if the amount of metal I’m seeing is normal for the age/hours. I guess it is. I’ve heard a lot of good things about older outboards if you just do basic maintenance . It has been beat up over the years though. I don’t know. I’m not keeping the boat much longer, so I’m just going to keep changing the oil until it dies or I sell it.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > functionoverfashion 07/27/2018 at 11:15

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I’ m dying for a boat. I posted about going to look at a Yamaha Exciter (because I’m insane) but the wife dropped a Veto hammer. Probably looking at next year for something.

I just wanna go fast on water.

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 07/27/2018 at 11:27

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The old motors are good, until they’re not. They are simple , and pretty tough. New ones are incredibly expensive. Yeah, just keep changing the oil and don’t worry about the metal then. It could be more than normal, but if it’s not shavings that could like, cut your fingers, it’s probably not worth concern.

Props are always an interesting one on small outboard boats. If you always run a boat loaded, yeah, you want a lower pitch prop to allow the engine to spin up and get on plane. But then if you run it WOT empty, you could over-rev the engine with too small of a prop. The higher pitch will of course get you better top end speed empty, but it could struggle to spin up and get you on plane with weight . Sounds like you already know this though.

The prop on my boat (a 21' wakeboard boat) is under-pitched so that the boat will perform with weight. I can hit the rev limiter with just a couple people in the boat, running WOT on calm water, and my top speed is only about 44, for a boat with 330hp. But it’s not made for speed.

Future next gen S2000 owner > functionoverfashion 07/27/2018 at 11:59

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I’ve dug up some old manuals, due to altitude, I’m running what the manufacturer recommends. The previous owner ran a 15, which is recommended at sea level. Work fine for the most part but we had issues at idle when loading the boat. The motor would die. Much better loading characteristics with the 13. I am having an idle-power transition issue that I can’t figure out. If you idle and go to full power the motor struggles and cuts out. If you rev it in neutral and then go to full power you are fine. Or if you are in a no-wake zone and are just off idle - maybe a couple hundred rpm and go full throttle you are okay. It is only the true idle to full power that does it.

Either way, the boat is on it’s last legs. Going soft. But it was a good starter boat and I won’t lose any serious amount of money with it. It could sink and I wouldn’t be upset over it.

Looking at something like this for the next boat, whenever that happens.

https://denver.craigslist.org/boa/d/rinker-246-cuddy-cabin-350-mag/6642949916.html

functionoverfashion > Future next gen S2000 owner 07/27/2018 at 13:01

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Yeah it’s weird stuff like that - the hesitation issue - that make an older motor challenging. You could spend hours chasing the issue, only to end up right back where you started. And if you’re paying labor, it’s very quickly not worth it.

Sounds like you’ve got the right idea with the boat. If you lost it tomorrow, you’ve gotten your money out of it, so to speak.

That Rinker would be a nice upgrade!!

functionoverfashion > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/27/2018 at 13:07

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Those jet boats are quick, and fun. The thing I don’t like is how you don’t really have steering as you come down off the throttle. As long as you’re used to that, it’s OK. Some aren’t like that, but the few I’ve driven required some throttle for steering to work at all.

They’re good for shallow areas, too, because of the jet drive of course. I’d still take a regular outboard over the jet drive, just because there’s a lot of power lost to the jet as opposed to a propeller. For example, you can convert a 90hp Mercury outboard to a jet drive, and it will now be rated at 60hp.

Fortunately for me, my wife and I met on a lake, and have always been around / had boats, so it’s kind of built-in to our whole deal. Not that my purchase last year wasn’t met with a degree of skepticism. But it has proven to be a solid choice, as I am extremely particular and I was sure I was getting a good boat for a reasonable (market value, not a great deal) price. Our kids love it, too - that seals it.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > functionoverfashion 07/30/2018 at 11:58

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Oh she grew up at the lake we’d be using it on and the kids go nuts for being out there. Her complaints are driven by the cost of it so we’re holding off for now.

Off-power steering is definitely not a thing on jet boats from the 90's. But you CAN help it with cobra rudders (and a few other brands) . I hear they can be a massive improvement for off-power.

A good benefit to the Yamaha’s too is that they have jet clean outs that you can access from the top for when they inevitably suck in seaweed. Sea-Doos don’t.

I’ve considered an I/O but I’m just not a fan of outboards. Part of the equation is that when we go out on the lake there are 3 other boats going every time. 2 pontoons and 1 small speedboat (older 70s/80s style i/0 that is a 5 seater). I like the idea of the jet boats for doing fun spins. and the Exciter is big enough to put people up front as well. I originally wanted a jet ski but she wanted something more family friendly that we could all be on at once.