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  1. harringtondav

    When do tire size differences cause problems?

    I've been lucky and wear out tires four at a time. My two kids, not so lucky. Each have lost one tire from a set of half worn tires and replaced with a new tire. My worry is rotating the newer tire to the drive axle and overworking the differential bevel pinions/shafts from two different size...
  2. harringtondav

    Rant: Water slobs.

    This is a complaint w/o a solution. AKA a whine. Thinking about the next boating season and my largest gripe: water slobs. Our summer place is on a Miss river slough 200 meters above the end of a no-wake marker. The slough is maybe 75 yards wide With a 40 yard channel. We constantly see boaters...
  3. harringtondav

    Poor man's pressure brake bleeder

    I replaced my '99 Durango's master cylinder trying to get to the bottom of the brake pedal going nearly to the bottom. (earlier post). Even after bleeding the cylinder prior to assembly, I had plenty of air in the system. And the wife and her right foot were out of town for a few days. After...
  4. harringtondav

    Simple fire retardant for oily auto exhaust manifold?

    I recently flubbed and spilled most of a quart of engine oil on my Durango's 318 valve cover, intake and exhaust manifold. I cleaned up what I could and parked it beside the garage. In that short time the exhaust system was smoking heavily from the oil residue. I'm concerned it could catch fire...
  5. harringtondav

    Alpha 1 Gen 2 Lower Seals

    Here is my home made carrier puller.
  6. harringtondav

    980 hours on engines - compression test

    You'll still need something to "master" the bore gauge to zero at the spec. cyl bore size. An inexpensive digital caliper will get you w/in .001" to .0005". https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-digital-caliper-63711.html Set it to your bore size and lock the slide. Then rock the bore gauge in the...
  7. harringtondav

    Removing Mercruiser 4.3L

    Apparently people have better luck with that than I did. Three of four of my lags twisted off. Two of four in my pal's boat. I had no luck excavating the stumps. So I built two aluminum mount plates with tapped holes to secure the front mounts, and two clearance holes that held everything down...
  8. harringtondav

    20 yr old starter R&R. Test of age and perserverance

    '99 Durango's starter was telling me it was feeling poorly. So a 20% off Advance Auto online order and I had my reman Carquest $98 starter. Five - seven solenoid clicks w/fingers crossed and I was up on the ramps. The front diff. skid plate buzzed right off. I had it off before and gooped up the...
  9. harringtondav

    Another life rite of passage.......

    I'm off UHC insurance at midnight, then tomorrow on Medicare...plus supplement plans. Next is to live a looong life.
  10. harringtondav

    Causes for excessive brake pedal travel?

    '99 Durango. East central IA rust bucket, but it runs well and is a solid tow vehicle. The brake pedal travels farther than when new to grab. It holds OK with no leak down, but is a little too close to bottom for comfort. I previously replaced all rusted out brake lines, and bled them well, I...
  11. harringtondav

    High idle hunting and back firing on FrankenDeere snowblower

    Years ago I replaced the Tecumseh 5 hp Sno King engine on my snowblower with an 8 hp Tecumseh. It took some work to get the governor and linkage to maintain power and high idle under load. Problem is when I'm at no-load high idle the engine starts to hunt and surge, backfiring between surges...
  12. harringtondav

    Goodby until March 2019

    Shut down our Miss. river place for the winter today. Winterizing a house is similar to a stern drive. Purge water 100%, RV antifreeze in the drains and toilets. -20 deg winters. I'm not which would hurt the mo$t, cracked block or frozen pipes. The river is currently 4'+ over the safe level for...
  13. harringtondav

    DIY rub rail repair

    2017 I had a loosing encounter with a Miss river channel marker. About 12" of my '96 Larson's NLA rub rail was shattered. The insert was fine. Tocco metals carried a close profile, but not close enough for a partial match around the bow. Full boat rub rail and way too much insert was to cost...
  14. harringtondav

    How's this for ugly?

    Alpha 2 Coupler yoke from my pal's Rinker. The splines are twisted at the aft edge of the coupler. Bright wear mark - thinking coupler nose contact. Galling wear mark in the location of the gimbal brg shaft seal. Jet black gimbal bearing surface. Cliff's notes: 2016 Replaced gimbal brg and...
  15. harringtondav

    Tan water after softener regeneration

    This has been an "on and off" issue for years. It's back again. McClean/Fleck mechanical timer. I rebuilt the valve body and replaced the resin +- 10 yrs ago. Not much change. I increased the final rinse time by a few minutes. Still tan water. I use RE (rust eliminating) salt. I guess it works...
  16. harringtondav

    Alpha II trim cyl. upper pivot shaft vexes me

    Since day one I've had to drive out that long shaft at the top of the trim cyls. out when pulling the drive. It's a handful. The shaft always hangs up in the opposite cyl. shaft bore. I try backing that cyl with my hip, etc. Same cluster when I reinstall it. Any suggestions? My pal's pushes out...
  17. harringtondav

    Any stickies for an Alpha II removal stand?

    My 4.3 is winterized, and my back isn't improving. I'll be pulling the drive before it gets too cold. I'm planning to build a removal/storage stand on my favorite $11 Harbor Freight four wheel furniture cart. But before I reinvent the wheel I'd like to see how others have already done it. Any...
  18. harringtondav

    Mercuriser 260 overheat at low speed

    An earlier thread mentioned testing the drive's impeller pump output. Here is the process in my Manual #18. I checked #17 for the V8's and it had the same process and chart.
  19. harringtondav

    1995 Larson 174 SEI Complete Rebuild

    My 174 SEI's first transom layer goes to completely down to the bottom of the transom/bilge, tabbed in completely with a hole drilled for the drain thru both layers. Like Frisco Boaters' "Big Mistake". The second, forward layer is set up, but I don't know why. See pic below. I mention this...
  20. harringtondav

    How bad will this turn out?

    Last week I helped my bud winterize his 42' Bluewater Coastal Cruiser. The marina took care of the rest.....until yesterday. Apparently a fork truck bumped into a jack stand, or the boat itself. The marina is bringing in their insurance assessor. Anyone care to compile a damage report guess...
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