jabberw0cky
Recruit
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2007
- Messages
- 5
Boat:
2002 Tige 20V - V-Drive Inboard wakeboarding boat
350 Mag MPI Ski engine (see parts/diagrams here, if it helps: http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury_parts/10508.cfm)
Background:
We've had squeeking noises coming from the serpentine belt on our engine intermittently for some time now. Running a bar of soap along the belt always quiets it down for a period, but then it comes back later. Yesterday I purchased a new belt to put on, and planned to do it while we were out on the water.
We went out last night, and the Engine started fine, we were out for about 30 minutes, pulled our son skiing without any problems. Turned off the engine, and filled two ballast bags on the port side in the V-Drive storage locker in preparation for wakesurfing (older bags, so maybe combined weight of about 600lb). When we next started the engine, it had a hard time starting, was turning over but not actually starting. Finally, when it did start, loud squealing sounds came from the engine compartment. When I opened up the engine compartment, I could see that the pulleys and belt were not moving, so the only thing moving was the crankshaft pully, but the serpentine belt was not moving with it, and this was the source of the noise. Turned off the engine, and let it sit for a second, and then tried again - with the same response. Loosened the serpentine belt, and moved each pulley by hand - all moved fine (2 idler pulleys, alternator pulley, water pump pully), except the seawater pickup pump pulley, which I was able to turn but with difficulty - which I thought was probably normal? Re-tightened belt and tried again, with same outcome, lots of noise and no movement. I removed the belt and put on the new one that I had purchased earlier that day. Tried again and this time the pulleys and belt moved, but still not quite at the speed of the crankshaft pulley, so still some squealing. Turned off engine and tried again and this time the same result, no movement of belt and lots of squealing. By this time I finally thought the crankshaft pulley is very hot, so let's let it cool down and try again. We waited 10 minutes, and I used a spray water bottle to spray the crankshaft pulley to try to help it cool down. Then we tried again and the same result. Finally, I called the water patrol and had them tow us back to the dock so we could pull it out of the water and go home (in a very bad mood). I emptied the ballast bags before getting towed over, of course. I figured at this point that probably what had happened was that the seawater pump impeller had burned up or something and was preventing the seawater pump from operating and rotating, hence the belt not moving and the squealing from the crankshaft pulley.
Once we arrived at the dock, I backed the truck down and put the trailer in the water. I then tried starting the boat one more time, figuring it wouldn't be any worse than before. Of course, at this point it started up just great, belt moved fine and all pulleys in sync. I let it run to operating temperature (about 175) and verified that it stayed there, and didn't overheat - so I assumed that the impeller and seawater pump must be working fine.
So, my questions are many:
- Any idea why the boat would behave this way? A friends boat did almost the exact same thing a while ago, but after a short while, it started back up and everything was fine. We wondered at the time if something had gotten sucked up into the seawater pump and jammed the impeller - and then finally worked its way through?
- I don't believe it should have anything to do with the situation, but could loading the port side of the boat down with ballast have anything to do with the start of the symptoms? I wondered if maybe some oily water in the bilge could have splashed up on the belt and made it slippery - leading to the initial slipping?
- If everything is working okay now - should I take it in to a mechanic and have him check it out. And if so, what should I ask him to check/ replace?
I have another unrelated question regarding transmission fluid level, but I'll ask that in a separate thread later.
Thanks,
Jared
2002 Tige 20V - V-Drive Inboard wakeboarding boat
350 Mag MPI Ski engine (see parts/diagrams here, if it helps: http://www.crowleymarine.com/mercury_parts/10508.cfm)
Background:
We've had squeeking noises coming from the serpentine belt on our engine intermittently for some time now. Running a bar of soap along the belt always quiets it down for a period, but then it comes back later. Yesterday I purchased a new belt to put on, and planned to do it while we were out on the water.
We went out last night, and the Engine started fine, we were out for about 30 minutes, pulled our son skiing without any problems. Turned off the engine, and filled two ballast bags on the port side in the V-Drive storage locker in preparation for wakesurfing (older bags, so maybe combined weight of about 600lb). When we next started the engine, it had a hard time starting, was turning over but not actually starting. Finally, when it did start, loud squealing sounds came from the engine compartment. When I opened up the engine compartment, I could see that the pulleys and belt were not moving, so the only thing moving was the crankshaft pully, but the serpentine belt was not moving with it, and this was the source of the noise. Turned off the engine, and let it sit for a second, and then tried again - with the same response. Loosened the serpentine belt, and moved each pulley by hand - all moved fine (2 idler pulleys, alternator pulley, water pump pully), except the seawater pickup pump pulley, which I was able to turn but with difficulty - which I thought was probably normal? Re-tightened belt and tried again, with same outcome, lots of noise and no movement. I removed the belt and put on the new one that I had purchased earlier that day. Tried again and this time the pulleys and belt moved, but still not quite at the speed of the crankshaft pulley, so still some squealing. Turned off engine and tried again and this time the same result, no movement of belt and lots of squealing. By this time I finally thought the crankshaft pulley is very hot, so let's let it cool down and try again. We waited 10 minutes, and I used a spray water bottle to spray the crankshaft pulley to try to help it cool down. Then we tried again and the same result. Finally, I called the water patrol and had them tow us back to the dock so we could pull it out of the water and go home (in a very bad mood). I emptied the ballast bags before getting towed over, of course. I figured at this point that probably what had happened was that the seawater pump impeller had burned up or something and was preventing the seawater pump from operating and rotating, hence the belt not moving and the squealing from the crankshaft pulley.
Once we arrived at the dock, I backed the truck down and put the trailer in the water. I then tried starting the boat one more time, figuring it wouldn't be any worse than before. Of course, at this point it started up just great, belt moved fine and all pulleys in sync. I let it run to operating temperature (about 175) and verified that it stayed there, and didn't overheat - so I assumed that the impeller and seawater pump must be working fine.
So, my questions are many:
- Any idea why the boat would behave this way? A friends boat did almost the exact same thing a while ago, but after a short while, it started back up and everything was fine. We wondered at the time if something had gotten sucked up into the seawater pump and jammed the impeller - and then finally worked its way through?
- I don't believe it should have anything to do with the situation, but could loading the port side of the boat down with ballast have anything to do with the start of the symptoms? I wondered if maybe some oily water in the bilge could have splashed up on the belt and made it slippery - leading to the initial slipping?
- If everything is working okay now - should I take it in to a mechanic and have him check it out. And if so, what should I ask him to check/ replace?
I have another unrelated question regarding transmission fluid level, but I'll ask that in a separate thread later.
Thanks,
Jared
don't worry, it will wear off by itself, yes I'd say check out your seawater pump, IMO something got caught in it tempoarily.
