First Boat

[protour]

Re: First Boat

Again thanks for all the info. I never discussed anything of a warranty, but I'd hate to take it back for a lookee-see when they are 3 hours from me.

Update on the compression. I ran it a little on the lake today, and after I got home and let it idle some more, these were the readings.
Port (top to bottom): 88, 90, 90 / old was 80, 82, 79
Starboard (top to bottom): 88, 90, 90 / old was 80, 82, 88

Also, I started pulling plug wires while it was running, and only managed to shock myself a lot (except for the top left, so I'll swap power packs to see if it follows). The engine never changed no matter what plug wire I pulled.

I'm gonna do the sea foam tomorrow or the day after when I get a small container rigged up to suck the mixture. Fortunately, the hose is zipped tied on the barb with just the right amount of force to let it come on/off with a little pressure, so I won't have any problem with that.

This all takes me back to working on my 77 camaro.....love it.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: First Boat

While you are purchasing the sea foam, get a spark-gap tester, they are less than $10 and will tell you if that cylinder is indeed firing properly or not.

 

[protour]

Re: First Boat

I was getting ready to warm the boat up for the seafoam treatment, and as I squeezed the oil bulb I heard a gushing sound; I hadn't previously squeezed it to date. I noticed oil running down the engine, so I pop the cover to see where it's coming from, and there is no hose where the fitting enters the engine cowling, nor is there a loose hose. I don't see any male fittings to even hook a hose to. The fuel line runs through an inline filter and then into a small round housing that feeds lines to the carburetors.
Any idea where this oil line should be hooked up to? I didn't think 2-strokes could run on straight gas, so I'm wondering if the entire gas tank was premixed.

 

[b.gagnon]

Re: First Boat

Try to pull a gas sample from the tank to see if it has any oil in it. Hopefully the line popped off when you squeezed the bulb!
Usually when the automatic oiling system is disconnected, it is totally removed from the boat and not left sitting with oil in it.
If there was no oil getting to the motor when running, you should have heard a warning alarm go off. At the very least a over heat alarm would sound (this is assuming that all the warning systems are functioning). You should take more pictures of the oiling unit many people here should be able to tell you if it has been purposely bypassed. For now all we can do is hope that your low compression numbers are due to carbon build-up and not overheating.
Good luck!

 

[protour]

Re: First Boat

This is slowly turning into a repair thread. I don't know what else to take pictures of other than the area where the fuel line connects to the clam shell looking thing. I found 2 loose wires near the red cylinder (warning device?), but they feed back to the boat, so I will have to chase them down. I'm gonna try and get a manual today or tomorrow.

As far as overheating, the stream of water that comes from the engine was never hot, so I hope that's a good sign of not overheating.

If a hose popped off, I can't find it. I've lifted everything I can get my hands on, but mayb I just don't know what I'm touching yet......more to follow.

 

[b.gagnon]

Re: First Boat

It's starting to look like someone purposely disconnected the VRO pump. The loose wires come from the oil tank and are part of the oil alarm system.
I think that this thread should be moved to the repair forum for more detailed responses. If you can move the red plug and take more direct pictures of the input and output of the VRO pump.

 

[protour]

Re: First Boat

Alright, I finally got somewhere with this. I had to go to Oklahoma City today, and found a shop called Hole Shot Marine, the guy there kicked arse. He had the same engine as mine and I got to take a look-see.

My VRO has been disabled, and there is premix in the main tank, at least until I put 10 gallons of regular gas in it after I bought it (I have oil now to add to it). The aft part of the VRO, that would have the oil line, has been removed and has a plug to block it. The loose elecctrical connection mentioned earlier in the post is the connection to the VRO. I believe the 2 loose wires are for the trim guage.....since that doesn't work, and that's where the wires on the engine I was looking at went.
I guess I should remove the oil tank and hose until I get another VRO since it's just dead weight back there.
Gonna do the seafoam, and will post new compression numbers soon.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: First Boat

Are you sure the VRO is inoperable?

Lots of people disable them simply because they don't trust them. You can rebuild the unit that is there if indeed it isn't working.

Good thing you found this out before you ran pure gas through it; all else would have been a moot point then!!!

Keep us posted with your results.​

 

[protour]

Re: First Boat

Yeah, it's disabled. The wiring from the VRO is gone, along with the section that the oil line would have run to. The passage has a threaded plug to prevent air from being drawn in.
I put about 1.5 pints of oil into the gas tank since I had put roughly 10-11 gallons of gas in. I ran seafoam for 15 minutes....got the neighbors all stirred up.....and will restart tomorrow afternoon.
It's been a steep 2 week learning curve with my first boat, but I'm glad everyone here is so helpful. I didn't even know what a VRO was 36 hours ago.

 

[protour]

Re: First Boat

Some good news today. I seafoamed the engine with a 1 gallon mix. It used it up in 15 minutes. Then the engine sat for 19 hours. On the lake, the thing picked up like a bat outta hell and planed in what felt like 3 or 4 secs. It topped out at 46 mph @ 5200 rpm. The weird thing is that the compression numbers stayed the same. Should I just leave well enough alone for now? Also, instead of always dying when placing it in gear, it only did it once or twice while idling along in gear, so the seafoam did something good. I think I will seafoam again in a couple days, but do it on the lake so I don't get the neighborhood nervous again.

 

[Rudy Brown]

Re: First Boat

Great!! Seafoam that sucker again. It took my motor 3 times untill all the carbon was gone. My compression #'s range from 126-131 after. Lots of good advise here.

 

[studlymandingo]

Mosquito Control

Mosquito Control

SeaFoam it again....It's good for mosquito control!!!