Simoniz
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2007
- Messages
- 242
So, I look after my boat quite well, but Im aware its probably due for some TLC. Its a 2000 model Baylner 1750 with 3.0l Merc, Alpha 1 Gen 2 drive. Spent its first few years of life in the sea but has been run in freshwater for the past 12 years. All bellows and water hose were replaced about 10 years ago (so I reckon ready to be done again) Impellor has been done about every 3 - 4 years, but just pinching a water hose on the engine at idle shows that the water pressure is good.
However I was running around the lake last week and ended up in a shallow area and after clearing the area. I raised the drive to the trailer position to pull some weeds of which had accumulated around the prop and drive leg. When I set off again and had the boat planing, I was surprised and puzzled to hear the exhaust much louder than normal momentarily, but then it settled down again to normal running, engine temp where it should be and nice and quiet as usual. A few miles further on while making some turns I started to hear the loud exhaust noise again and simultaneously a sound like a horn. Well the penny dropped and I shut the engine down straight away and had a look to see what had gone wrong.
Obviously low water flow was the issue. Thankfully I had fitted a temperature alarm to the exhaust of the boat several years ago which is what Im hoping saved the day. This consists of a temperature switch fixed to the exhaust downstream of the riser which, if the exhaust temp goes over about 60 deg C sounds the buzzer under the dash. Ive since worked out that if ever you hear a louder than normal exhaust noise from the boat, it means that theres not much water flowing through the relief ports on the outdrive, so the exhaust takes that way out, instead of exiting through the prop as it should.
On inspection the water hose on the drive felt loose and with a bit of a tug, came away from the lower pipe stub on leg. The boat is still in the water so I cant yet see exactly what has gone wrong, either the pipe has split annularly near to where ot was clamped onto the stub, or the jubilee clip has failed and allowed the pipe to come off. I think the split pipe is more likely, as the boat ran fine betwen the 2 events, which it wouldnt have dome if the pipe had come off completely, and if the pipe was on the point of failing, turning or raising the drive would pull any split open as the old stiff pipe was pulled out of its natural straight position.
Anyway, Im hoping that I shut off the motor before the overheat did any serious damage, but Im proposing to pull the head off and check for warping and see how the gasket is looking over the coming winter. Since the boat was in a salt environment for a few years, some of the head bolts are unrecognisable, ie they just look like a lump of rust, and so in any case I cant help but think it would hepl reliability to get rid of them and replace them with new ones. Thing is though, Im never going to get a socket on them as theres nothing left that resembles a bolt head, so Im planning on just drilling whats left of the heads away, and then winding out the shank of the bolts with a pipe wrench when the head is off. Anyone know how hard the steel of those bolts is going to be to drill?
Apart from that I plan to do all the stuff to make my boat reliable again, new bellows, pressure test drive, new gimbal bearing, check alignment, new impellor.
If anyones interested I might post some pics of what I find as I go on.
Ive done all that work before apart from pulling the head off and doing the gimbal bearing; are there any tips / pitfalls to either of those jobs that I could do with knowing about before I start?
Cheers!
However I was running around the lake last week and ended up in a shallow area and after clearing the area. I raised the drive to the trailer position to pull some weeds of which had accumulated around the prop and drive leg. When I set off again and had the boat planing, I was surprised and puzzled to hear the exhaust much louder than normal momentarily, but then it settled down again to normal running, engine temp where it should be and nice and quiet as usual. A few miles further on while making some turns I started to hear the loud exhaust noise again and simultaneously a sound like a horn. Well the penny dropped and I shut the engine down straight away and had a look to see what had gone wrong.
Obviously low water flow was the issue. Thankfully I had fitted a temperature alarm to the exhaust of the boat several years ago which is what Im hoping saved the day. This consists of a temperature switch fixed to the exhaust downstream of the riser which, if the exhaust temp goes over about 60 deg C sounds the buzzer under the dash. Ive since worked out that if ever you hear a louder than normal exhaust noise from the boat, it means that theres not much water flowing through the relief ports on the outdrive, so the exhaust takes that way out, instead of exiting through the prop as it should.
On inspection the water hose on the drive felt loose and with a bit of a tug, came away from the lower pipe stub on leg. The boat is still in the water so I cant yet see exactly what has gone wrong, either the pipe has split annularly near to where ot was clamped onto the stub, or the jubilee clip has failed and allowed the pipe to come off. I think the split pipe is more likely, as the boat ran fine betwen the 2 events, which it wouldnt have dome if the pipe had come off completely, and if the pipe was on the point of failing, turning or raising the drive would pull any split open as the old stiff pipe was pulled out of its natural straight position.
Anyway, Im hoping that I shut off the motor before the overheat did any serious damage, but Im proposing to pull the head off and check for warping and see how the gasket is looking over the coming winter. Since the boat was in a salt environment for a few years, some of the head bolts are unrecognisable, ie they just look like a lump of rust, and so in any case I cant help but think it would hepl reliability to get rid of them and replace them with new ones. Thing is though, Im never going to get a socket on them as theres nothing left that resembles a bolt head, so Im planning on just drilling whats left of the heads away, and then winding out the shank of the bolts with a pipe wrench when the head is off. Anyone know how hard the steel of those bolts is going to be to drill?
Apart from that I plan to do all the stuff to make my boat reliable again, new bellows, pressure test drive, new gimbal bearing, check alignment, new impellor.
If anyones interested I might post some pics of what I find as I go on.
Ive done all that work before apart from pulling the head off and doing the gimbal bearing; are there any tips / pitfalls to either of those jobs that I could do with knowing about before I start?
Cheers!
and I don't have to remember it as part of the maintenance schedule. Just use and forget.