Couple Questions

[stubbsboogie]

Hey guys I hope all of your 2010's are going well.

I have a couple of questions as boating season is about to start here in North FL.

1. When you pull the drain plugs on the block manifolds ect the instructions are to take a piece of wire and poke around real good to insure that any trash is out of there for effective draining. I did that and was just wondering what that trash actually is. It is a fresh water boat and has been in salt only once. So what is that stuff that comes out?

2.we actually got to go out the other day after our record cold snap here in FL. Came in drained the motor washed waxed cleaned boat reremoved the batteries put the covers on. Snap on covers, full mooring covers and a big blue tarp that wraps the entire boat trailer and all. So after doing all this I was staring at the boat the next day and noticed I had forgotten to put the drive all the way down. It cannot get water in it at all so freezing is not an issue but I have heard that it is hard on things to leave the drive tilted up.
So do I need to go take all the covers off and reinstall the bateries to tilt the drive down. Or can I leave it until late Feb when the boat goes in for its annual service?

Sorry if these questions seem silly to you but this is my first I/O and I have only had it for a few months.

 

[Tig]

Re: Couple Questions

Most (all?) drives and motors have a bypass on the power trim and tilt. The ones I have seen are screw type plugs on the side of the tilt/trim unit. A large flat screw driver is used to turn the screw in the indicated direction. This allows the hydraulic fluid to bypass and the motor can be lowered and raised manually. You may find this info in the owners manual.
I hope this helps.
If you tell us the year make and model of the drive someone will be able to give you more specific information and perhaps even a picture.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Couple Questions

The junk you are loseening with a wire in the drain hole is typically just rust and sediment. If you have a lot of it, you can clean it out more effectively using the following technique:

Leave the engine running at idle on muffs
Leave one block drain plug out
Using a rubber tipped nozzle, give the drain hole an occasional blast with compressed air.
Allow water to drain until it runs clear and repeat the compressed air blast.
Eventually, the water will be clear after the compressed air blast, at that point put the plug in and do the same procedure on the other side of the engine (if applicable).

The water will be pretty darn warm, so be prepared for mild scalding if you opt not to wear gloves. Eye protection is a really good idea too.

I did this and was amazed at how much crap my boat had picked up in 7 years of running in "clear" fresh water.

 

[stubbsboogie]

Re: Couple Questions

Thanks for the info guys.

Mischeif that sounds likea really good idea. There was not much crap that came out I was just wondering what it was. Whether it was dirt or corrrosion.
I will try that next time I work on it.

As far as the drive goes I will look at it tomorrow, since I cant boat I will just look at it
Hopefully I can find the place to manually move it. Or really since it is only going to be there for about a month do I need to even worry about it?
It is an 06 Merc 4.3 Alpha one Gen II

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Couple Questions

Crud amount varies, depending on the water you rn in. Here in the Illinois River, it was sand that came out. Not much, but enough to slow the water's exit. If you remove the plug and you get a full stream of water, then you didn't really have anything blocking it.

You are worrying about nothing in regards to your outdrive. They are meant to be stored up. Yes, after years it will help wear out your drive shaft bellows faster, but not after a month! Calm down, and stop worrying, okay?

 

[stubbsboogie]

Re: Couple Questions

Thanks Till
I feel like I do worry about it too much but as I said earlier this is my first I/O. I am scared to death of doing something wrong with it. Always been an OB guy.

I will leave it alone.

 

[Don S]

Re: Couple Questions

You might want to head over to the IO section, and have a look at the stickies at the top of the forum. Probably find a lot of information you might like reading before the season starts.

 

[lakshacain]

Re: Couple Questions

Hi stubbsboogie,
Your couple question are quiet sensible