'80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Well I got her out on the Lake today after work and.................She started and ran and idled to her hearts content. So after giving everything a once over we (my Dad and I)headed out. After discovering a few snags with the upper helm we were off. Now at the lake there is a breakwater that extends about a 1/2 mile or so out from the boat launch. Now the breakwater is marked by some buoys because right now its covered by about 18 inches of water this is also a no wake zone. So I make my way out past the buoys and to the last marker. Then I slowly open it up past 2000rpm everything is fine get to 3000 and cough cough dead. Again cranking like no tomorrow but not catching.

So after getting towed back to the launch getting my dead again boat on its trailer I head back to the shop. Where after replacing the fuel water seperator I gether running again, however I believe that there is also a issue with the fuel pump as it does seem to be drawing any fuel through the filter. Its weird there is enough for it to run but it doesn't fill th ebowl on the filter , and by that my mean it looks dry no fuel in it whatso ever. Add to that the voltmeter has crashed again, multimeter still shows a chargeing situation but the guages are both in the red.

Arghhh its been a long day.

 

[legoman67]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

hmm, that sucks,

there isnt supposed to be fuel in the bowl if its like ours. Is the bowl screwed on the the end of the fuel pump? If so its designed to warn you if your pump is bad, ours have a little message in the bowl saying if fuel in here replace pump.

Also we had fuel pump issues when running on the ground, turns out the little rod that runs the fuel pump was bent, not activating it all the way. Its like a 10$ rod, and then some new gaskets. It pumped enough fuel to keep it idling, but as soon as we touched the throttle it would die... replaced the rod and it runs like a champ now.

 

[colobiker]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Tiwaz

that blows man....

hopefully you'll get it sorted out soon..


your getting closer.


is it carb trouble? the its flooding? like accelerator pump
dumping too much fuel.. then boat floods.


or.. this just popped into my head.. is it fuel slosh??

I built a 4 wheelin jeep years ago.. it would run great..
then once I got it up on the rocks and climing..
the fuel would slosh out of the bowl into the vents and down the
throught of the carb.. flooding instantly and it was a pita to re-start

maybe when the boat starts to get up on plane, the fuel level in the bowl is too high and the fuel rises out of the vents and dumps down the venturi....lower the level in the float bowl..

unless its a fuel injected engine.. then kindlly disregard the above advise

 

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Legoman67
No the bowl I was refering to is just the clear plastic casing for a inline fuel filter not the glass bowl off of the fuel pump. Actually this engine doesn't have that bowl but th eold engine did. I will be checking the actuating rod out though.

Colobiker
When it didn't start again last night it wasn't flooding there was no fuel getting to it. I had thought about fuel sloshing but the lake was fairly flat and I hadn't gotten up on plane yet (or at least it didn't feel like it).

I'll have my new parts in by friday so I should be able to test it out then. As always I am open to suggestions.

Thanks,

 

[25thmustang]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Good to hear she floated, and made her way alright, sorry to hear about the cough cough and being towed in. The truth is with ANY vehicle you will have issues. Just need to diagnose, replace and get her back on the water!

 

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

So, today we changed out the fuel filters again. I also added a second Racor fuel water separator with a drain bowl. We also tested the fuel pump( it was good, 7 psi) ,and blew out the pick up.

Then it was time to see that I really should have looked closer at the alternators that I have. Seems that not all merc 260s have the same one. Who Da thunk it? I guess that the "spare will be going up on craigslist.

After all of that I went back to the lake................and everything worked just fine. Well mostly the fish finder seems a bit spotty but the boat ran like a champ for the hour and a half that we had her out.

Now I can take the wife and kids for a short cruise tomorrow and then get down to the finishing work. Yep that's definitely a light I see at the end of this tunnel

 

[skargo]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Awesome to hear it's all coming together.

 

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Well Saturday didn't go quite as well. Everything started out OK but quickly went south, from there.

Saturday morning I came out and wired in new trailer lights( who would have thought that boat trailers need submersible lights?) and a new voltmeter. Then my wife and kids came out to go for a ride. I also need to point out at this was to be the first time that we had launched the boat together. Any how we launch without any hiccups I get the boat tied up and the blowers started she goes and parks the truck. The boat starts up no problem life is good.

Check the new voltmeter, it is showing 12.5 volts at idle (600rpm) and picks up to @ 13 at 1000rpm so I figure we're good to go. The boats gauges are both showing deep into the red BTW. So after getting our stuff stowed away and the kids squared away we depart.

We cruise on out past the markers and open it up slowly. Soon I am turning 3700 rpm and showing 42kph (26mph) on the GPS, trim it a little bit and life is good. As I look down from the fly bridge the smile on the girls faces is worth all of the work that I have done so far.

As we are cruising along my wife takes over the helm so that I can check on the engine (new volt gauge is in the engine compartment) to my surprise it is now showing 11.5v. Hmmm I wonder this isn't good time to head back. So i take over driving again and turn the boat around ( actually a couple of turns because the girls were goggling so much). I had throttled back a little 3000rpm during the turns so now I accelerated once again to 3700. As I approached this rpm again there was a sudden surge and the engine revved to 4200 but we slowed down. As I brought the revs back to 3700 we continued to slow we were now only making about 15 kph (10mph or so). I was able to maintain this speed and rpm until we got back to the launch. Now while doing this I had my wife check the gauges inside the cabin for me and she reported that the tach there was only showing 2200 rpm?? The rest of the gauges all match each other, water temps stayed good oil pressure held at 30 and most of all there wasn't any noise from the leg or engine. If this was a car it could be best described as a slipping clutch. Now I know that there isn't a clutch to slip here so my question is what could it be?

I have also removed the alternator to have it tested (and rebuilt) I have also connected a new mechanical water temp gauge and mechanical oil pressure gauges as well as bought a new tach. I went with mechanical gauges to avoid the current gauges sending units and the boats wiring completely and they are all installed in the engine compartment. When I gett the alternator back I will test run the engine again. But i still need to shed some light on the "slipping" issue.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

My guess would be a spun coupler.

Your drive system is a lot like mine.. there's a cast coupler with a rubber center in it surrounding a spline nut that transfers power from the flywheel to the input shaft on the drive. It's centered on the flywheel pointing aft toward the opening in the transom plate. Check that if you can see it, if you can't look for rubber shavings in the bilge below it.

Older or poor condition couplers can twist the spline nut loose and then they only deliver partial power to the lower unit.

You may be interested to know that Mercruiser doesn't use that design for a coupler any more, but for the most part no retrofit to the new design is available.

Erik

 

[colobiker]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

interesting problems...

so.. one tach was showing 3700 rpm and the other 2200?? interesting.

sounds like you've got some serious wiring problems... but I am no expert.

 

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Below are some pictures of the engine coupler. I don't think that this is issue though as it showed no signs of wear when it was swapped in when I did the drive change. There are also no signs of any rubber bits in the bilge and there wasn't any rubber odor when we were coming back in. I assume that there would be if the couple was slipping but you know what they say about assuming.

A local guy that I was talking to suggested the prop hub slipping. I'll be honest I prefer this scenario because I won't have to pull the engine out to fix it but does that seem possible?

Oh and a pic of the engine "room" gauges.

 

[robthompson66]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

It could be a spun hub on your prop. That's the first thing that happened to me on my 30' larson cruiser that I just finished the resto on, but I didn't even get on plane, I have twins, and it was the stbd engine that spun the prop hub. I started pushing the throttles forward to get on plane and the stbd just revved after about 3500 rpms, after that I had to get back to the dock going about 8-10 knots. The prop sat for about 2 years while I was working on the boat and it probably just dried out. There was a little bit of rubber oozing out, but very little, so it wasn't obvious just by looking at it, so I had it rehubbed for about $55.00 I believe. A guy near my marina does it out of his garage for pretty cheap. rehubbing can range from that to around $100 per prop depending on what you have, and it a generic hub is available. The propeller shop will be able to tell you for sure if the hub is spun or not, but I think they have to remove the existing hub to determine that.

Good luck, hope it's just the prop.
Rob

 

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Ok I have been working on it really I have. Just not into taking pictures of an inprogress paint job. But now that I am finished ( or so I thought) painting I decided to tackle ethe rub rail. Its thirty years old pitted gouged and ugly. Its also anodized.So i gather my supplies and start stripping it clean.

Yup oven cleaner.

This is what I had to start with After sanding out the biggest scratches.At this point I am going to go ahead and state the obvious for any of us that should have ridden the short bus to the shop today. Oven clean is bad for your new paint job. But it is also bad (which is good) for the anodizing, I spread it on with a toothbrush and let it sit for about 4-5 mins then give it a good scrub with a green scotch brite pad and wipe it off. Yes it leaves a cloudy mess behind but I am going to polish it out anyway.

This is after the oven cleaner and scotch brite pad. You can see the damage to the paint above the rail.
Following the scotch brite I sanded it down with 320, 400, and 600 grit wet/dry paper ( not very picture worthy). Then it was time to get out the polisher. Starting a stiff pad and tripoli I progressed through whit ediamond and a fine cut green bar before finally polishing it out with Flitz metal polish.

So far after a short 10 hours thats what I came up with today.

As you can see I am now missing the through hull fittings Because the stainless ones that I ordered Haven't come in yet. Hopefully this week with the new rubber insert for the rub rail.

 

[seven up]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

This has been a pleasant thread to read from the start. Alot of sparkle is now evident on a boat that was more or less abandoned. Congratulations. Enjoy.

 

[Tiwaz]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

This has been a pleasant thread to read from the start. Alot of sparkle is now evident on a boat that was more or less abandoned. Congratulations. Enjoy.

Thanks.

 

[richard3rd]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Hey just stumbled across this forum and this thread, very interesting I must say. I just got the same boat. It's a little rough but not to far gone. It currently has the twin 470's and I've been told by 2 marine tech's that they are not worth fixing, so I'm thinking about going with a single 350/Bravo drive. I'll try to get some pictures up soon. If I can help you out in anyway let me know.

 

[mooregm5]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Looking good Tiwaz! Giving me great ideas.

Hey just stumbled across this forum and this thread, very interesting I must say. I just got the same boat. It's a little rough but not to far gone. It currently has the twin 470's and I've been told by 2 marine tech's that they are not worth fixing, so I'm thinking about going with a single 350/Bravo drive. I'll try to get some pictures up soon. If I can help you out in anyway let me know.

Twin 470s seem like alot of power! I also have the same boat and am finishing a similar conversion. I had old twin 305s and am putting in a single 350. I cut the old wood transom out, epoxied new wood in and glassed the holes. I just have to finish the new stringers/mounts and the boat will finally be in the water. I have a nice donor boat so I have all new freshwater equipment to put in. I hope to get another 5-10 years without much issue. If you are considering a similar project, I would strongly suggest removing the old wood, it probably has some rot on it anyways. I was surprised how many screw holes leaked in the transom.

 

[skargo]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

Looking good Tiwaz! Giving me great ideas.



Twin 470s seem like alot of power! I also have the same boat and am finishing a similar conversion. I had old twin 305s and am putting in a single 350. I cut the old wood transom out, epoxied new wood in and glassed the holes. I just have to finish the new stringers/mounts and the boat will finally be in the water. I have a nice donor boat so I have all new freshwater equipment to put in. I hope to get another 5-10 years without much issue. If you are considering a similar project, I would strongly suggest removing the old wood, it probably has some rot on it anyways. I was surprised how many screw holes leaked in the transom.

470's are the 3.7 bombs that are rated at 170hp.

 

[mooregm5]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

470's are the 3.7 bombs that are rated at 170hp.

You learn something new everyday. I knew 2x470 cubic inches sounded quite a bit much, my twin 305s were more than plenty. The stern would sit pretty deep in the water and the transom would be pushed right off. Sure would make on fast boat though for the 1 hour you get out of it before going through the fuel tank.

 

[skargo]

Re: '80 Sea Ray 270 Sedan Bridge

haha, I hear that!