Maybe my turn for new boat time

yall beat me to it....

boat looks like it need a pair of outboards? Not sure why i think that.

Pics
Will post others later after resize

More pics

Boat has sat mostly for almost 2 years. Measured the Bats and start was 12.7V and house 12.2V so plugged in charger. Bats are Odyssey Extreme so seeing if both will come back up (should be 12.9V)

Also missing the little air pump used for winterization. I'll contact them after letting the Bats charge for couple days, Bats might come back. Might even just buy the pump, it's about $20 something

The boat came out of the hole slowly but that could have been the salesman. Did notice with drive all the way down it's not tucked in even with transom, wonder if Formula installed blocks inside the trim rams?

Boat steering is stiff, Formula is checking into it but says it doesn't have power steering but has power assist. I mentioned that the steering is about the same with the motor off as well as running. Never seen one as stiff.

Hey @muc have any idea what would cause the new steering to be hard to turn, fluid was checked and it's full?

Just out of curiosity, well 2 actually.

First, what air pump? Is this like a quick winterizing kit?

Second, what kind of rack is on the helm?

Pump is small
https://www.boats.net/product/mercury/863057

Looks like standard rack as on all Bravo's

Oh, so bicycle pump.

I only ask as I tried one of the no feedback Helms on my restoration and hated it for the same reason. Stiff. Stiffer than the 40 year old detmar it replaced. I don't see why they'd use that on a power assist anyway, but just a thought.

Good point
I could use 1 of my bicycle or B-ball pumps to do the same thing.

Looking at the parts for the so called "power assist" it's the same parts many cars use so it should work the same as self contained unit

This had a clutch on the rack. No possible way to push the drive unless you turned the wheel. The power assist without that I would assume still moves, just woth the force needed to move the actuator tacked on, like a car.

@alldodge . . . You must be thrilled to have turned the page on the Chappy and have basically a new Formula. Hopefully the steering issue will get sorted out soon.

Do you have a local dealer for warranty support?

There are no Formula dealers just Mercury. I have discussed with Formula prior to purchase and they said they will authorize a local to do the work. The steering and Bat is regular Merc stuff

'spoke' many times does not end well.

Hope this boat is good for you!

Power steering, salesman is full of it. If anything a B3 would be easier to steer due to the counter rotating props.
Low fluid won't have any affect until it gets low enough to aerate the fluid - a couple of ounces won't do that.
Could be a few things, stiff mechanical cable from the helm, low pressure from the pump, bad "cylinder assembly-power steering" (that's Mercs official term for the rack on the transom) or maybe the swivel pins on the gimbal ring are too tight.
In the pic you posted of the engine compartment, I don't see the steering cable - maybe due to camera angle? - but a miss routed cable could cause your symptoms.
Power assisted steering vs power steering, that's seems to be splitting hairs. They are basically the same thing on a MerCruiser. Either way it should be buttery smooth. Probably want a good tech to diagnose. If you want some ideas on troubleshooting just ask and I will help, but under warranty - probably best to leave it to the dealer.
Had a wild one a few years ago. Same symptom as yours, ended up that the power steering cooler had froze just enough to crush the steering fluid passage but not enough to cause it to leak water. One of the few times I needed a power steering test gauge to diagnose stiff P/S.

I would suggest getting Mercs pump, this system doesn't take much air pressure, no reason to damage it over $26.49. Plus the pump looks cool in it's special holder!

I've been asked about disconnecting the MerCathode system because the boat will be lift stored. Yes you can, but there is really no reason to. This system uses almost no power when it's out of the water. So no upside, just possible downsides.

Have you hooked up your Techmate to pull the hours?

Thanks

Took the boat to dealer this AM and forgot to mention the steering issue. Will call tomorrow to advise, and agree it just doesn't seem right. The cable looks good and appears to go straight into the ram with no other bends, just smooth arc

Have not connected Techmate yet, but smartcraft shows 13 hours

They said they did not feel an issue with steering running on muffs pushing AF into the motor. Ok wonder how many seconds they had to check steering with only 4 gallons of AF. Buddy without water system and open cooling charged the same 4 gallons to winterize his open cooled motor.

Mentioned using -200F ( never found -200F) and used 4 gallons. OK, when dropping off I told manager the boat did not need the water system winterized because it had never been used and breaker was turned OFF.

Get home to check Bat voltages and turn Bat switch on, the hear a hum and notice the breaker for the water systems is on. Sent email asking what was done to my water system? Hope to hear tomorrow what they did

-200° is pretty thick to try and suck up with the impeller. 1 gal -200° mixed with 1 gal water = -100°, mix 1 gal -100° with 1 gal water = -50°.

It's possible the dealer did it like we do.
We charge a flat amount of non-tox to each winterize (I'm not sure what amount that is - it's a "can" job and I just click once and it populates the R.O. - I never have bothered to look how much $$ we charge) doesn't matter if closed or open cooling or even how many cylinders. When I last checked years ago we averaged 2.8 gal a boat one year and 3.2 the next year. So charging 4 gals would be about right.
We mix the -200° non-tox with water in a tub starting at -140°. Drain as much water from the engine that's easy and we back the boat in tub and run the engine until the thermostat opens. We lose some in each engine and the rest gets slowly diluted and we monitor it and try to keep above -90°. Adding more -200° as needed.

The water system.
I've never worked for a ThunderChicken dealer (ya that's right I said it, they were the competition!) but most of the boats I commissioned that had 3 or more fresh water fixtures would have 3-10 gals of -200° non-tox in the tank so the factory could test for leaks. The little boats were shipped dry, never been tested (that was the dealers job) so maybe your dealer ran the pump to check for non-tox or water at one of the faucets?
I learned to never trust the customer when they said it was never used. Always checked it myself.
You could take a quick look at your tank and see if there's any blue or green in it. Guessing it's under the helm - looks like the water fill is on the starboard midships. Or run one of the faucets with the pump on and see what spits out. I'm guessing that's what they did and forgot to turn off the breaker.

Could be, I do need to look more because not having a switch to turn pump on/off bothers me. Maybe its in the head because im sure its not on the helm.

The water pump does not have a switch, when Bat switch is turned on the pump comes on if the breaker is closed. Might have to do something about that later

The winch switches are at the bow only and under the winch hatch. The chain stop latch isn't the easiest to get at but is doable

Noticed the pin was pulled from extinguisher and upon more investigation found it's connected up by the helm



Now if I can just get the rubber covers to stay on the jumper terminals

Now a concern finding this bolt under the motor. It has a 10mm head and bolt is 8mm and length about 3/4 inch, and it's stainless.



Had the dealer replace the impeller and they had to remove the cool fuel module to get access to it. Fully understand removing the module but I'm thinking they dropped this one and didn't retrieve. I had a heck of a time getting it. I think it's part number 4010720 which there are 4 of them as item 8, note they look like there long in the pic but dimensions show otherwise.
Cool Fuel