89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Ok its running real nice. How hot should those exhaust manifolds get? Should they be hot to the point where you can only touch them for a couple seconds?
 

fscuttle

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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

The exhaust bellows were open for years while it was shrink wrapped. I have a feeling the exhaust is clogged with acorns from squirrels getting in there. I found a rotted piece of acorn on the ground under the outlet. Whats the best thing to do if thats the case? Take the risers off and try to back flush it somehow?
 

GT1000000

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Jul 13, 2011
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Definitely no expert when it comes I/O setups, but I didn't see enough water pouring out the exhaust...
As far as I know, you should be able to touch the risers without getting scorched...
Make sure you have a good impeller in the lower unit pumping lots of water and make sure the entire cooling system is flowing freely...if there is a thermostat in the system, make sure it is working properly or replace it...
You don't want to fry the new dog...
 

zool

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Aug 19, 2012
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

I agree with GT, you need to trace the whole cooling system, looks like your raw water cooled. Not sure how far, if at all you disassembled the drive, but mine had a salt buildup with almost complete blockage in the small neck area where the s hose connects to the elbow on the intermediate (page 23 in the manual, #3)..I would check there 1st, which may involve removing the lower to remove the falling debris, if you do, keep track of the shims!. You can check it by disconnecting the s hose elbow (2 allen screws), and poke down in the tube area..

BBL
 

fscuttle

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Jul 9, 2012
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Im running it without a thermostat. The impeller is brand new and i had the hose running directly into the impeller intake hose. I may have not had the hose on strong enough but my gut feeling is that the exhaust bellows is clogged up with rotted acorns and rodent debris. Gonna try it with the hose on full tomorrow. The risers are definitely hotter than i remember. I may have to take the risers off and blast a power washer from the bottom up and see what comes out.
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

I also replaced the neck on the outdrive where the intake hose attaches. There was no salt residue to be seen. Thanks for the input. Ill post what i find tomorrow,
 

zool

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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Well it is good to hear it up and running anyway, you're almost there, congrats.
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Ok its cooling fine and plenty of water coming out the back. I didn't have the hose on strong enough. The outdrive engages and it seems to be nice and quiet just a slight whirring noise which i assume is normal. The impeller seems to be wobbling a bit. I used the old bushing and i didnt have the original bolt and washer for the support bar so maybe thats why. The pulley and balancer are smooth. The trim is working now too for some reason but the tilt up and down are not. I hear the relay clicking so i know its not the switch.Im probably going to try a new relay first. The wiring diagram in the manual covers trim but not tilt. Mine has separate switches for the two.
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Had the impeller in wrong. one dowel wasnt lined up.
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
Messages
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

Ok now i have a real problem. The trim up stopped working again but trim down still works.Tilt down doesn't work and tilt up drops the volt meter down to 0. If i hold tilt up on for a few seconds the trim gauge gets hot and starts to smoke. What do you think short to ground somewhere?
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

My fuel tanks are not removable. One of them you cant even get near. If i could do it over i would have just bought another boat.
 

chriscraft254

Commander
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
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2,445
Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

My fuel tanks are not removable. One of them you cant even get near. If i could do it over i would have just bought another boat.

What do you mean fuel tank(s)? Should just be a 115 gallon tank in the center of rear deck under coffin lid. No?
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
Messages
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

It has a 45 gallon additional aux tank that was listed as an option on the original order sheet. The hoses go down under the fish box but i cant even see the tank. Not that big a deal i can just use the main tank. But that had at least 60 gallons in it when the boat was stored and im afraid to see what kind of sludge is going to be at the bottom. I'm going to take out the sender and have a look as soon as i get a break in the rain. I wasn't really serious about buying another boat. I love this boat but the thought occurred to me that if i had i could have been using it all summer instead of working on this one.
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
Messages
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

And this short in the trim system is really driving me nuts. Its the volvo trim system that can be trimmed negative with the square gauge. Even the marina sounds a little reluctant to look at it.
 

fscuttle

Seaman
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Jul 9, 2012
Messages
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Re: 89 Chris Craft Sea Hawk 254

When i have the time i'm going to enlarge my scuppers like you did. These drain painfully slow.
 
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