Engine failure What caused it.

[Roughasguts]

Just wondering guy's most of us have had engine failure at Sea, but wondering what caused it ?

Seeing if we can get enough information here to either have the right spares or rig up a temporary fix, and some know how for the most common failures.

I have had several, that can be fixed at home but could be patched at sea.

Eg fuel pump gone, remedy pour fuel down carby from syphoning fuel in to Beer bottle and using my thumb as the fuel measuring device.

Welch plug rusted through, cut up some old cork from fishing line, and pushed it in to the block.

Heat exchanger rusted through, Had some car bog lying around in the boat, mixed that up and filled the hole.

Prop fell out the gearbox after putting in reverse, Bit off tape to hold the woodroofe key in place if i kept going forward no real problem. (in board shaft drive)

That's just a few of my adventures the worst was running out of Beer.

[ozscott]

2000 model 60hp stroke Merc 3 cyl. The main loom has a connector plug - much like a trailer multi-pin connector. Stopped dead - power to motor because it would trim and tilt but not start or run. Finally pulled plug and opened up the males with a sharp knife and put back together and it worked like a dream from that point on - the merc dealer talked me through it on the phone, it wasnt my idea. He said it wasnt that uncommon, but that the rest of that model (same with 50hp) was bullet proof. Typical Merc, great mechanically but can be let down by electrics.

Cheers

[Roughasguts]

ozscott, that's the sort of information the symptoms, diagnosis and the fix with a knife. Bet you wer pretty damned happy when you got her going.

[fishingrod]

BEAKDOWN ONE:
I was trolling at 2000rpm and my Evinrude just stopped dead. Instantly cutout, no cough or splutter. It was not ceased, but no life when cranked over & over and primed.

After about 10-15mins of checking deadmans, fuel connections, leads, main fuse and looking for anything loose or astray under the cowl I gave up and came home on my aux motor.

4 hours later i was bored $hit1ess doing 4 knots (too slow to troll) so decided to give main motor another go. I primed it hard and it started, but died.

Primed hard again and it started and died. Figured that it must have been the fuel pump so started it again and kept squeezing the primer bulb and it kept running . Thinking it was a combined fuel/oil VRO pump i poured oil into my spare portable tank to make 50:1 and tried to get her up on the plane. I managed to get home @4000rpm by moving the fuel tank close to the helm and continiously squeezing the primer bulb for the next 20mins. Was fishing one-up and ended up with a a sore back from reaching down to the bulb and sore fingers from all that priming.

Moral to the story? Im not sure.
I did have a pretty good attempt cranking and priming it when it originally cut out and there was NO sign of life. I was thinking a coil or power pack ignition type problem. If i was waiting for a tow I might have kept trying to start it while waiting and figured it out.

$400 later I had a new VRO installed and the compression test said no major damage done. I had the motor another 5 years and it "spat a ring which in turn broke a corner off a piston" (so im told) It was about 20 years old at this stage so i didnt fix it.

BREAKDOWN 2:
15hp Merc aux motor. Middle of winter but I still start my motors on the garden hose every 2-4 weeks. It was totally dead. Zero sign of life. Did similar checks to listed above.
Took it the local mechanic who I purchased it from brand new. Turns out that the round rubber "press to stop" button had a short inside (corrosion?) so it was never going to start no matter what I tried. Motor was about 1 month out of warranty so they made me pay for the repair. About $35 for the button and lead assembly from memory. Not sure on labour as i had a 12 months service done while it was there. Ive had the motor for another 6 years since then and it never had a repeat problem.

Moral to the story? I would NEVER have considered to look for a faulty stop switch if i was on the water. I do carry a multimeter, but a manual start 15hp has very little wiring to poke around and check. Im a electronics tech by trade and did not even consider checking the operation of the stop switches before taking it to the dealer.

[ozscott]

I certainly was Roughie...that motor was excellent apart from that.

[Roughasguts]

Interesting possibility there fishingrod, guess we never use our kill button or dead mans switch with the lanyard on it. Makes sence that if it's never used it's going to give us troble eventually.

[blaze]

2 failures on the same day
70hp evinrude, go to start the motor and no go (black box), no problems only a few k from boat ramp, start the aux and it to died (fuel pump), now get towed in
cheers
blaze

[Kerry]

Well roughasguts a lot of those "adventures" are nothing more than simply poor routine maintenance!

There are some simple things one can fix at sea but most are not and in essence it has much to do with the quality of onshore routine maintenance.

[bootyinblue]

Kerry,

The idea of this thread is to highlight things that can go wrong at sea and how they are diagnosed and repairs made if possible enabling boaties to get back to shore.

If you have no constructive input into motor breakdowns and subsequent 'quick fixes' to get you to shore then you have no need to submit any further posts.

Me personally, have ever only had the enine splutter a couple of times before dying. Problem on one occasion was an airlock in the fuel tank and on the second occasion an esky had slid back pinching the fuel hose....

[Kerry]

Booty, The highlight of this thread should not be to do with what can go wrong but in fact how wrong things can be prevented BEFORE THE EVENT!

[bootyinblue]

Well maybe you can start a new thread entitled 'Engine Maintenance' and share any knowledge you have in there.

This thread is rightly called Engine Failure, what caused it and will be a somewhat useful reference for when people, who may not be as scrupulous with maintenance issues find themselves floundering in a swell with no power.

[Kerry]

Booty, Quick fixes are really nothing more than poor excuses. Lets face it if you have to lift the cowl or engine hatch for chewing gum fixes then you have let yourself down, it's that simple!

[bootyinblue]

Yes, but a quick fix may be the difference between retrieving your boat at the boat ramp and retrieving it from the rocks at New Zealand.

Your constant bickering will serve only to hijack this informative thread and will hopefully be removed (again) by Ausfish administrators.

[Greg P]

I agree 100% with Kerry on the maintenance issue. Unless you really know the engine systems (fuel, electrics) you can get into a lot of trouble monkeying around with any type of engines at sea. If you have done all the PM items then you should really have no stupid thing go wrong. More time spent on PM means less time spent on reactive maintenance. If an ECM packs it in then there is not much you can do except call for help or start rowing when you are on the blue.

Booty I think everyone is entitled to their opinions in a forum like this. You are, I am and so is Kerry ::)

[bootyinblue]

' I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it'

HOWEVER, read the title of the thread!! Its not a forum about preventative maintenance, its about quick fixes when something does fail!

Its like posting about a sand anchor when the question is about a coral pick. Just the right information in the wrong location.

Take your preventative maintenance information and knock yourself out with a new thread spruiking all about it.......

[Kerry]

This is certainly not bickering booty and if you actually think so then maybe you should give the boats away.

There are some things that will absolutely stop you dead and things that are totally out of your normal control, these things have no fixes apart from calling in help but the typical things that stop most boaties are totally preventable and it's called PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE, PM for short.

It is typical arogrant attitudes like yours booty that serve no purpose what so ever and what's more administrators worth their salt know this :)

[ellicat]

Had a problem with the trim not going up on the Merc. The holding pin had come out and consequently the main pin at the top of the ram had worked its way out. When trimmed down the pin was crushing the wiring that comes out of the top of the trim motor. Eventually it shorted out. Was able to retain the main pin by using a split pin in place of the holding pin.

Nothing to do with preventative maintenance I guess....just a rough road trip.

I'm not mechanically minded so this is a good thread to pickup some tips. All the "PM" is done by my mechanic. Unfortunately he can't always come out with me.

A thread dedicated to "PM" would be good.;)

[Kerry]

So what does stupidity and ignorance have to do with engine failure?

Obviously a question for you booty seeing you have the chip on your shoulder :)

[BM]

Ellicat,

Your annual servicing of the engine should have picked up this problem. It's typically characterised by the loss of your trim guage reading.

Cheers

[ellicat]

Ellicat,

Your annual servicing of the engine should have picked up this problem. It's typically characterised by the loss of your trim guage reading.

Cheers

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a trim guage?
This happened 3 weeks ago. My annual service is due in 2 weeks time. So maybe/maybe not. If it should have been then I might need to have words. Thanks BM

[Kerry]

....My main failure was seized steering, found and fixed it on land, PM was to oil the steering shaft more often, and go boating more often....

Now that is very true

BUT

What is your contingency (yes something actually put in place BEFORE you got to sea) for say failed steering at sea? Having things in place is the difference between a failure and a stuffup.

And if you think PM and engine failures don't go together in the same thread then stay home!

[BM]

Ellicat, your trim guage is a dash mounted guage showing a relative position of the engine. Wanky really for an outboard as you can simply turn your head and look!

You may not have a trim gauge fitted to your dash and possibly no to the engine either.

Your engine sounds like it has the later style power trim (approx 1984-current) which comprises a long central ram and two short rams either side of that. At the top of the long "tilt" ram and on the port side there is normally a black plastic, circular device attached by two self tappers with wires protruding from it. This is the trim sender and it is nothing more than a variable resistor. It has a "tang" protruding from it that is about 3mm wide and 10mm long which fits into a slot in the large pin that retains the tilt ram in the swivel bracket. This large pin is retained by a much smaller type "roll" pin which locks the large pin in place so as the engine tilts up and down, the slot in the large pin moves in accordance with the motion of the engine. Does that make sense???

As soon as the roll pin that locks the large is lost the large pin tends to rotate int he swivel bracket as the engine trims up and down and if a trim gauge is fitted the readings become erratic or inconsistent.

Hope I haven't confused you and sorry to Jeff for "stuffing up" the thread....

Cheers

[buggerit]

This is just like watching an episode of "Bush Mechanics" only with water and no wheels . The way i see things is , everyone , once a member of this group , has the right to give their opinion , whether that opinion is right or wrong . I personally think this is a great thread and find both sides informative , both the "quick fix " and the "preventative ". Let"s stop arguing and keep the experiences coming , hopefully we might all learn something we previously didn't know .

Just my say Kev

Ps.. No more fighting or you both will be sent to your rooms with no supper .

[jeffrey_h]

BM, it was not you that stuffed it up, Kerry had made a comment then Booty came in swinging.

Kerry, "What is your contingency (yes something actually put in place BEFORE you got to sea) for say failed steering at sea?".... I tried to move the motor over the day before we were to go out, found the problem, cancelled boating and fixed it.
I know what it took to fix it and that could not have been done at sea.

"PM and engine failures would go together in the same thread, no?" .. That means that I think that they do, YES?

Booty and Kerry have gone to bed!


Good Night, I've got to get up at 5.

Jeffrey

[Angla]

My old Evinrude 115hp would not start one day on the water. Cranked it till the batteries were flat. Tried to pull start it . Finally clicked to the choke not working when I pushed the key in. I think a pin had broken after only 26 years of service. So I replaced the pin with a bit of wire and did the pull start thing. Yahoo and off home we went, like three hours later.

Left some blood, sweat and swear words there.

Stupid little thing should have been picked up on regular maintenance NOT.

PS 2 x new batteries went in shortly after too.

I just put it down to one of those things that happen.

Another time the main negative had worked out of the crimp ( at the motor block ) but still touched every time I was on dry land. Put it in the water twice and it would not go. Back on land, no worries. I found that by just pulling all the wire joints and connectors and happened to see it move away from the crimp lug.

Sold the boat and bought a new one after that With the wife's blessing

Chris

[Roughasguts]

Wow this thread has taken off hasn't it.

But mainly in the wrong direction. What I was hoping for was very common break downs which you can't see by maintainence. So far it looks like fuel pump is a big offender in the break down department. I have been thinking of having a 25 litre tank to run me boat for the shorter trips, 1/4 fill the cruise tank to keep it fresh and fill the 25 litre tank as reserve. I guess the bonus is I could hook it up high on my rocket launcher and use as a gravity fed fuel tank if the fuel pump quits.

Follwed close by electrical buttons, and switches that wouldn't normally get used.

Geez Kerry don't know why you have gone down the maintainance track, even you would know a brand new part properly installed can fail in no time.

What I'm getting at is on the spot diagnosis, and quick patch for un forseen engine failure at sea. Not catastrophic engine failure as such, or promoting lack of engine, boat electrical maintainance as you describe, when I was between 13- 16 years old in my borrowed fathers boats.
I'm sure the ol'e bugger sent me out to learn for me self, but I loved every moment of the break downs, for me heaps of fun.

Incidently I haven't had a break down at sea for over 20 years, but would like to keep abreast of more current motors and anything else to look out for or be aware of. Do you see anything wrong with that ?

What I would like is for boaters and there familys to be safe and the skipper confident on some easy fix running repairs while on the water.
If you know what to expect and how to patch, then Hopfully then no one gets put off boating.

Cheers.

[BM]

One of my customers had a bit of trouble when fishing at the "Rip" (entrance to Port Phillip Bay, Vic). Could not start his 90 Evinrude. He perilously changed sparkplugs thinking they might have been the trouble (dangling off the boat in up to 300ft of water).

Still wouldn't start. Tried to call me but my phone and I were not in the same location.

After some controlled panic he sheepishly discovered he had somehow bumped his ignition kill switch lanyard off the control box.........

Clipped it back on and away he went.

There ya go Rags. We on track? :)

[ellicat]

Thanks BM. A pic paints a thousand words. You can see the spilt pin etc. The trim motor on the starboard side has the wiring coming out the top.
I thought the guage might have been a mechanics tool:-[. Obviously I don't have one.

[Roughasguts]

Thanks BM, that lanyard is a common one as well.

Also you raise a good point about the panic and not thinking things out calmly and properly first.
The wife is probably screaming and she's putting Pfd's on the kids, it's also best to drop the anchor if your drifting away from the ramp. Ever tried those paddles for propulsion.

The ignition switch where you key goes in, could also do with a squirt of WD 40 to keep it clean as well.

Now if your going to change your plugs at Sea, and your hanging off the boat. Best use a lanyard tied off to the tools and boat. A safety line on your self as well, I have dived in once oe twice and the tide is pretty damned fast at times and it's a while before you catch up with the boat.

[STUIE63]

rags you describe it perfectly. I pulled the pick went to start the motor and no go.The missus is saying we are drifting further out to sea.I say well put the bloody pick back in. 15 minutes later figure out it is water in the kill switch shorting it out.take kill switch apart and go home only problem was i couldn't stop the motor back at the ramp so disconected buddy tank and let run out of fuel. motor was a 79 model 25hp johnno.
Stuie

[bootyinblue]

Wow this thread has taken off hasn't it.

But mainly in the wrong direction. What I was hoping for was very common break downs which you can't see by maintainence.
Cheers.

Yea sorry Roughie,

I tried to keep the thread on track, but select others decided to spruik on about prevention is always better than cure, of which I have no argument with. BUT that is subject material for another thread and not this one which has very informatively identified several areas to begin your fault finding missions when you are drifting off in the wrong direction to where you trailer is!!

[Roughasguts]

Thats cool booty, no need to apologise.
If we get some good information together and compile a check list and some good methods of quick fix. After all a check list might be the go when things are pear shaped. Don't need to miss something that could get us on our way.

[BM]

Rags,

I don't think he was ACTUALLY in the drink but hanging perilously off the back of the boat......

I shudder to think of the sitaution... cowl off, 80kg hanging aft on a Cruisecraft Stinger 506 (which sit low in the water at the stern to begin with), SALT water lapping over the lower cowl, not to mention the personal safety issues also..........

Ellicat,

Wrong side brother...... Shoot me a pic of the same location but on the port side.

Cheers

[ozscott]

...I have accidentally pulled the kill switch lanyard on my 94 115 yammy...only time the yammy 'broke down'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[leezor]

I spun the bush in a Laser II prop once 3/4 of the way to Hamilton Island, had to get towed back to Shute Harbour. The prop was on a 200hp Merc pushing a Haines 600R.
The prop wasn't all that old, so short of carrying a spare is there any way of picking this fault before it happens?

[FNQCairns]

I spun the bush in a Laser II prop once 3/4 of the way to Hamilton Island, had to get towed back to Shute Harbour. The prop was on a 200hp Merc pushing a Haines 600R.
The prop wasn't all that old, so short of carrying a spare is there any way of picking this fault before it happens?

Mostly nope, sometimes a person may get a warning as it might slip when hot and under strain but seem Ok when it has cooled down, total failure is just around the corner.

The new props with the spaceage material hub that is supposed to deform and go plastic under severe impact does away with this, but they are more agricultural on some engines -esp the merc 3cyl engines.

cheers fnq

[peterbo3]

The spun prop is totally out of your control. I have seen one go at less than 100 hours & others hang in for many years. A spare is really the only fix but that is not always possible at sea.

[leezor]

Yeah, with my current luck the $1000 spare prop would end at the bottom of the Coral Sea.

[ozscott]

I used to carry a spare for each Merc I had - alloy props. I now have a Stainless swinging on the end of the Yammy 115 and even though the bush could go as per above, there is much less chance of smashing off a blade...at the cost of a spare I am not going to get a spare! If I saw an alloy, even a bit worn I would get it reconditioned and carry it, but only for the right price..

[mako101]

Yep theres no feeling quite like when your motor dies at sea and there is not a soul in sight!! and you didn`t think you`d need a thing called a marine radio.
My brother and me were out one time and I was having a smoke so he took the controls and started to idle along for some reason, I was right at the point of gettin real annoyed and just as I said what the hell are ya doin the motor just died.
We looked at each other with THAT look and just knew the damn thing would not start again, anyhow after twenty minutes or so and my brother pointing out that there is what looks like a very big tiger in the very murky water beneath the boat (probably a sandbar), we managed to flag someone down and get a tow.
After being towed a few k`s I got the motor going by messing with the choke and trying all kinds of quick fixes.
Anyhow made it all the way to the ramp only for the motor to stall again when idling toward the ramp and then the starter motor decided to completely sht itself.
Just one of those days when it seemed someone upstairs was sending me a message to be prepared and never take the ocean for granted.

[Roughasguts]

Hmmmm Spun hub on your prop haven't thought about that one for a while.

Just sitting out the back yard looking at me boat doing nothing in the garage as usual, and noticed, there is a splined washer behind the prop nut, now that washer is fixed to the prop shaft via the splines.

Then you take a look inside the prop hub or exhaust tube and you see 3 spreaders from the outside casing of the rubber hub,to the inside of the prop.

Hmmm so if I got me a mild steel splined washer and welded 3' 3/4 inch inch mild steel strap on the out side of me washer to reach inside the prop exhaust tube. And once that is put in place the splined washer will lock the prop in place.

Might be advisable to have some rubber hose put over the steel strap to take some of the shock out of it. But i'm sure it will get you home at a reduced speed.

Wouldn't be a hard part to make, as soon as I find a splined washer, and me bloody arm gets out of plaster I will make one me thinks. Be damned side easier to carry that as a spare than a 12kg $800.00 spare prop.

Thanks fella's spinning a hub 20 miles, or 2 miles out would be a real bummer.

[FNQCairns]

Gut's sounds like a workable idea, the though that scares me is what you already highlighted if the splined washer did fail it would make a mess of the shaft, can 2 splined washers be made to work both front and back with some machining? having a little trouble visualising it all at my desk, if so it would double the strip-ing force needed, suspect the washer even if milder than the shaft would still wreck it.

cheers fnq

[Roughasguts]

Hi FNQ, was thinking the same thing moments ago before I logged in.
Two washers might be a better idea, lining them up might be a bit harder to do though.

Now that would devistate me If the spline on the shaft got twisted, hopfully the mild steel would go first and not do any damage, but then would it be to weak ?lot's of torque is going to go through the prop the moment you drop it in gear, theres a reason why that splined shaft is so long.

Then again look at a manual gearbox only one case hardened tooth does all the work.

[FNQCairns]

Yeah too much for me to make sense out of esp as the consequences are so large, may be a bettter idea to move toward a torque flow hub or equiv and be done with it if heading way offshore.

Seen a few prop shafts break over the years, never me thankfully and owners say they didn't hit anything that the noticed.

cheers fnq

[blaze]

spare alloy prop would be better than a bodgy job and cost less in the long run and far easier to fit in a metre of slop
cheers
blaze
ps get a floating prop spanner

[Roughasguts]

Yup me thinks your right blaze, what about those placcy ones for a temp, are they cheaper.

[blaze]

dearer guts

[Kerry]

The spun prop is totally out of your control. I have seen one go at less than 100 hours & others hang in for many years. A spare is really the only fix but that is not always possible at sea.

Gidday Pete :D Well I'm going to disagree! A spun prop is just about certain for the clowns who (1) have a "hole shot" mentallity and think they have to go from 0 to 5 grand in one foul swoop, don't ya just luv the term "hole shot" bit of a w&nk really and (2) the heroes who think boats should be out of the water more than on it!

Again totally predicticable if not a hero, forgets all the BS about holeshots and index's their prop/s and actually bother to check it as part of regular maintenance.

Regards, Kerry.

[Kerry]

Hmmmm Spun hub on your prop haven't thought about that one for a while.

Just sitting out the back yard looking at me boat doing nothing in the garage as usual, and noticed, there is a splined washer behind the prop nut, now that washer is fixed to the prop shaft via the splines.

Then you take a look inside the prop hub or exhaust tube and you see 3 spreaders from the outside casing of the rubber hub,to the inside of the prop.

Hmmm so if I got me a mild steel splined washer and welded 3' 3/4 inch inch mild steel strap on the out side of me washer to reach inside the prop exhaust tube. And once that is put in place the splined washer will lock the prop in place.

Might be advisable to have some rubber hose put over the steel strap to take some of the shock out of it. But i'm sure it will get you home at a reduced speed.

Wouldn't be a hard part to make, as soon as I find a splined washer, and me bloody arm gets out of plaster I will make one me thinks. Be damned side easier to carry that as a spare than a 12kg $800.00 spare prop.

Thanks fella's spinning a hub 20 miles, or 2 miles out would be a real bummer.

Your actually dangerous and your comments are quite frankly ridiculous!

Never heard so much BS and if anybody even thinks of doing such a thing then they deserve all they get . This is absolute stupidity as that's what the prop bush is for DH, to stop you from blowing the guts out of your engine/gearbox if you do actually hit something solid ::) :-X

[finga]

:D :D ;D this thread is getting interesting.
Sad really.
I carry a spare prop, a prop spanner, bungs, my tool box, some fuel hose, primer bulb and a few other goodies in the big boat just in case. That time has never happened though touch wood (tapping myself on the noggin').
Get to know your boat and motor and you may be able to get yourself out of a little pickle on the water. Just maybe though :)
How many carry a spare joiner and some oil for the hydrolic steering just in case??
I don't. I haven't got hydrolic steering:'(

[FNQCairns]

Kerry think Gut's was just chewing the fat on an idea, bit like talking out loud, good place to do it too.

Although I do really like Gut's idea of the bikini clad models trained to shinny out along the tilted engine leg at a moments notice and effect a prop replacement:)

cheers fnq

[bastard]

Why not let vmr tow you back,isnt that why we join,you cant carry every spare in the world,as long as you give them some cash at the end and show them some respect i think they actually enjoy the time on the water.How come people on here argue so much why dont yous just meet up on a weekend and sort it out and thats that.There is nothing more frustrating then arguing over a computer screen,or pm each other so every won doesnt have to listen.

[Roughasguts]

Hi Kerry geez you crack me up.

The idea was a temp fix, for if you spin your hub 20 miles out at sea.
Not a permanent replacement for the bush. Just some idea to get the boat going again, some one else may have a better idea.

Obviously you don't. Sounds to me if it ain't in a service manual you wouldn't think of any other possibilities.

Hell yeah I've done some dangerous things in my time, And with all that experiance now i'm a safety officer, go figure, Har har with a broken arm.

[Roughasguts]

Gidday Pete :D Well I'm going to disagree! A spun prop is just about certain for the clowns who (1) have a "hole shot" mentallity and think they have to go from 0 to 5 grand in one foul swoop, don't ya just luv the term "hole shot" bit of a w&nk really and (2) the heroes who think boats should be out of the water more than on it!

Again totally predicticable if not a hero, forgets all the BS about holeshots and index's their prop/s and actually bother to check it as part of regular maintenance.

Regards, Kerry.

Hi Kerry, so how does one check the prop hub as part of regular maintenance.

Got me stuffed can only see the ends of the rubber on mine.

[blaze]

Hi GUTS
supposed to take it off to grease the shaft at least as part of service (big smilelies)
The last one I had slip took a bit of finding, only slipped when hot, no visable signs of slip. Finally showed up on marks I put on it.
cheers
blaze

[Kerry]

Hi Kerry, so how does one check the prop hub as part of regular maintenance.

Got me stuffed can only see the ends of the rubber on mine.

You index the spline case of the bush with the prop. Use a centre pop or something similar.

[Roughasguts]

Yeah Thanks guy's thats to check to see if the bush is slipping granted.
But once it's slipped, it's had the richard.
(bit like closing the gate after the horse has bolted)

I hoping by the way Kerry was describing there was a secret method to see if the rubber bush was 10- 30 or 50% worn.

Damn thought there might be a way to find out, in between working fine, and had it, Me guess not.

Not sure if that's a maintanence tip or more a diagnostic test to see if she's stuffed.

I think the later.

Cheers

[wessel]

Some of my engine related and or boating related stuff ups in no particular order.....

Hit a fishing net at dusk, manually tilted the engine up and leaned over to start cutting away the mess around the prop. Ended up in the drink head first because I forgot to put the engine catch properly into place.

Head out wide when the engine dies. It is one of those places where nobody has a radio and there is a mountain between you and the cellphone towers and what is called civilisation. Tinkered with the engine for a while until I noticed that the portable fuel tank looks like it has been on a weigh less program. I forgot to open the breather valve on the tank.

Just to be sure, I lowered the spare engine into the water and checked if I could get it started. After a couple of minutes I gave up and lifted the cowl. Found that the owner of the boat was in the middle of an engine servicing excercise and never replaced the sparkplugs before chartering the boat to me.

On my own boat was unable to start the engine after a long drift fishing session. AFter some basic checks found a loose connection on the battery.

While going flatout offshore for some time the engine warning buzzer came on, and the one engine died a couple of seconds later. Lifted the cowl but could not see anything. Did not want to start the troubled engine (that alarm makes one hell of a noise when you turn the key and all I can think of is engine rebuilding costs) and decided to lift the troubled engine out the water and head back on the second engine. Thats when I noticed the large plastic bag stuck around the bottom section of the leg.

Busy trawling when the one engine just dies. After a couple of minutes found that the fuel hose clip has worked itself loose on the engine.

Had some friends on the boat, moored just offshore with some beers and wines and the kids keeping themselves busy off the bow with a small fishing rod. When it came time to leave, the engines refused to start. The kid of the friends was fiddling with the keys and he unplugged the kill switches. That took about 5 heart stopping minutes to figure out.

Boat was getting heavy in the arse while trawling. I lifted the rear inspection hatch to discover the bilge is flooded. (I am thinking that we have a split in the hull or something.) Auto bilge pump did not kick in either and now I am seriously worried. This is when the same neigbour's kid who messed around with the killswitches fessed up that he was playing with the bungs just before we launched the boat into the water. I thought his father was going to keelhaul his son right there and then. The idea of going for a swim in shark infested water must have brought out the honest side in him. I dived in and true as nuts, we are missing a bung. Had a spare onboard and used my backup bilge to get the water out. That kid has not been back on my boat ever again.

Admittedly, all these little episodes has not been very catastrophic but it has taught me to always check the most obvious first before doing brain surgery on the engines.

Wessel

[bootyinblue]

Excellent.... This thread is back on track talking about 1st response ideas for when things go wrong out on the water, and not about knocking centre punch 'pops' in things to see if the prop hub is going to last another thousan' hours.

There is a time and place for programmed maintenance in another thread and those interested in reading it will.... And those who leave it to the qualified mechanics wont.

[FNQCairns]

Booty, it is Gut's thread.......

[bootyinblue]

AND??????

I am agreeing 100% with Gut's comments about evaluatiing and anticipating when and if a rubber bush is going to give way, is not applicable in the context of what the thread was started out as.

[FNQCairns]

AND He can take it to the moon and back if he freely chooses, he can even close it down (not that it ever works) .....forum etiquette.

cheers fnq

[Roughasguts]

Some of my engine related and or boating related stuff ups in no particular order.....

Hit a fishing net at dusk, manually tilted the engine up and leaned over to start cutting away the mess around the prop. Ended up in the drink head first because I forgot to put the engine catch properly into place.

Head out wide when the engine dies. It is one of those places where nobody has a radio and there is a mountain between you and the cellphone towers and what is called civilisation. Tinkered with the engine for a while until I noticed that the portable fuel tank looks like it has been on a weigh less program. I forgot to open the breather valve on the tank.

Just to be sure, I lowered the spare engine into the water and checked if I could get it started. After a couple of minutes I gave up and lifted the cowl. Found that the owner of the boat was in the middle of an engine servicing excercise and never replaced the sparkplugs before chartering the boat to me.

On my own boat was unable to start the engine after a long drift fishing session. AFter some basic checks found a loose connection on the battery.

While going flatout offshore for some time the engine warning buzzer came on, and the one engine died a couple of seconds later. Lifted the cowl but could not see anything. Did not want to start the troubled engine (that alarm makes one hell of a noise when you turn the key and all I can think of is engine rebuilding costs) and decided to lift the troubled engine out the water and head back on the second engine. Thats when I noticed the large plastic bag stuck around the bottom section of the leg.

Busy trawling when the one engine just dies. After a couple of minutes found that the fuel hose clip has worked itself loose on the engine.

Had some friends on the boat, moored just offshore with some beers and wines and the kids keeping themselves busy off the bow with a small fishing rod. When it came time to leave, the engines refused to start. The kid of the friends was fiddling with the keys and he unplugged the kill switches. That took about 5 heart stopping minutes to figure out.

Boat was getting heavy in the arse while trawling. I lifted the rear inspection hatch to discover the bilge is flooded. (I am thinking that we have a split in the hull or something.) Auto bilge pump did not kick in either and now I am seriously worried. This is when the same neigbour's kid who messed around with the killswitches fessed up that he was playing with the bungs just before we launched the boat into the water. I thought his father was going to keelhaul his son right there and then. The idea of going for a swim in shark infested water must have brought out the honest side in him. I dived in and true as nuts, we are missing a bung. Had a spare onboard and used my backup bilge to get the water out. That kid has not been back on my boat ever again.

Admittedly, all these little episodes has not been very catastrophic but it has taught me to always check the most obvious first before doing brain surgery on the engines.

Wessel

Wessel, thanks good point about being out side radio or mobile coverage cause of terain, or just isloted area.

Yep the fuel hose is a good one. Fuel hose the plastic braided one don't last forever, even though it looks sound it won't be at your joins where the hose clamp is.

Had a smell of fuel while me mate and I was smoking, drinking and un tangling lines. Wen't to investigate after putting smokes in a butt bucket (not throwing over the side)

And me fuel vent hose was leaking from the brass thread going in to the S/S tank.
The tank being full of fuel and sloping aft, ment there be lots of fuel to eventually run out.

Out with the trusty spanner to loosen the leaking fitting would just pour more fuel in the bilge, even though I had the thread tape ready.

Hmmm look around the tool box and found loctite No 3 basically (stag) impervious to petrol. Dried off the leak, slopped a thin layer around the leak, then another one. Let it dry for another beer or so, and no more leaks or fumes. Back to what we where doing in no time.

Getting back to braided fuel hose, once it goes a brown yellow colour, it won't hold a seal on the clamped conections. It's damned near impossible to cut with a stanley knife, or clamp down tight with hose clamps, it's gone way to hard.

Get a few metres off fuel line, new quality hose clamps and some spares, Dip the end of the hose in hot water before you put it on the fitting and tighten the clamp while the hose is soft with a socket and the small T/bar. Great little tool for the boat.

Replace the fuel tank vent hose too, don't forget 4 coils just before the vent out let to act as a water trap.

Over to you Kerry.
But the hose didn't let me down it was a leaking thread join,
the tip Loctite No 3.

Wessel, don't you love kids, i'm out for a swim and me 3 year old is watching so I thought from the hatch, And me boat starts to drift by. Didn't take much to un do the anchor rope. But it's tied off at the very end off the rope.

Then one time she's sitting at the helm, and I see a little yellow float go past, sure enough, thems me boat keys. But I have a spare with me bungs and other bits, also on my house keys.

But I have to take her out in the boat with me she loves it, imagine what damage she would do at home if I didn't.

[Kerry]

AND??????

I am agreeing 100% with Gut's comments about evaluatiing and anticipating when and if a rubber bush is going to give way, is not applicable in the context of what the thread was started out as.

No some of you lot would rather wait, actually by the sounds of it pray for something to actually stuff up just so you can start chewing gum for a quick fix >:(

This type of attitude has all the hallmarks of a very poor attitide and really has nothing to do with quick fixes.

Like it's not as if a prop bush suddenly and all of a sudden decides Aaarrh time to stuff up :-X lets do it. No there will be tell tale signs and it's not a case of being X% stuffed or not, it's a case of noticing that it is starting to go and fixing the problem before the gum chewers have to sort the crap out at the most inopportune time.

You idex your prop/bush and you check it, you don't wait for it to crap itself first! A prop doesn't suddenly as if by magic let go, it's generally a slow increasing progress depending on many things an one is the operator as some are very abusive to engines, obviously!

Quite frankly I've never heard of so much BS and negative comments in this regard as this post has generated. For the knockers if anybody spins a prop for no other reason than abuse, lack of maintenance or simply ignoring the warning signs and methods to detect this then you might as well cancel your license, you have a real p$ss poor attitude.

Regards, Kerry.

[Roughasguts]

Actually chewing gum will stop a leak in the bottom of your fuel tank.

But just get the family out, and stand back while Kerry welds it.

[Kerry]

Engine failure What caused it.

Generally Operator ignorance! Really not other EXCUSE

[Spaniard_King]

This thread needs to be re titled Engine hiccups not failures. Failures need real mechanics not band aids to fix em. These days good maintenance will find %99 of most problems ignorance will not.

Garry

[BM]

Generally Operator ignorance! Really not other EXCUSE

Hmmm..........

Kerry, without inciting an argument, your above post is bordering on or has grossly ventured into inaccuracy.

Lets say for a moment that a Merc switchbox decides to go south at the wrong time.

You know as well as I do that these type of components fail without notice.

Now not too many customers are going to want to carry a spare switch box, or stator, or VRO pump so on and so forth.

So operator ignorance may be tru in some cases, but perhaps not true in many other cases.

Cheers

[Roughasguts]

This thread needs to be re titled Engine hiccups not failures. Failures need real mechanics not band aids to fix em. These days good maintenance will find %99 of most problems ignorance will not.

Garry

Yep I think your right Spaniard King.

Mostly all!! have got the gist of the thread though.

There be Just one, what's his name again.::)

[ozbee]

IF you are unlucky enough to be caught out with a slipped prop and have no spare i have gotten home by undoing the nut take the prop off .grab 20 large fish hooks and with your donny nocker drive them in by the point into the rubber bush at slight angle so they wedge between the two faces .you can then drop the prop on chances are you wont be able to put the nut back on because of the hook shanks doesnt matter as long as you idle home in forward the prop will stay there. personally you should always carry a spare because sometimes you can get a baddy straight off the shelf as what happened to me and muggins left the spare home you now shelf be right brand new prop.

[Roughasguts]

Hi ozbee, interesting, I had thought almost the same thing by driving in a few 4 inch nails to expand the rubbber a bit. So that might just get the prop going long enough to get home.

[Kerry]

Hmmm..........

Kerry, without inciting an argument, your above post is bordering on or has grossly ventured into inaccuracy.

Lets say for a moment that a Merc switchbox decides to go south at the wrong time.

You know as well as I do that these type of components fail without notice.

Now not too many customers are going to want to carry a spare switch box, or stator, or VRO pump so on and so forth.

So operator ignorance may be tru in some cases, but perhaps not true in many other cases.

Cheers

BM, NO I don't have any argument with that BUT what I do have a problem with is things that are totally preventable and many of the issues mentioned here fit into that category.

I simply don't see the point in discussing band aid fixes for things that in all repect should never have been let happen in the first place.

Simply put if one has to apply many of these band aid fixes for what are basically fundamentally preventable issues then for them to have occured someone has stuffed up, this is the way I look at going to sea, there really is no other way to look at it.

Regards, Kerry.

[FNQCairns]

Gut's nails are a great idea! and to expand on it a bit, a person could for a bit of extra insurance when heading offshore without a spare, get 3 or 4 SS nails and hammer them home spaced so as to not upset balance.
If the nails were round enough it would never slip!
Worth thinking about anyway and gotta be better than getting stuck.

cheers fnq

[bootyinblue]

IF you are unlucky enough to be caught out with a slipped prop and have no spare i have gotten home by undoing the nut take the prop off .grab 20 large fish hooks and with your donny nocker drive them in by the point into the rubber bush at slight angle so they wedge between the two faces .you can then drop the prop on chances are you wont be able to put the nut back on because of the hook shanks doesnt matter as long as you idle home in forward the prop will stay there. personally you should always carry a spare because sometimes you can get a baddy straight off the shelf as what happened to me and muggins left the spare home you now shelf be right brand new prop.

Ohh look... A bandaid fix to a slipped prop. Sensational, as I now dont need to index my prop every weekend in order to 'predict' when its going to let go.

Prevention is better than cure, but when something does go wrong its good to have a cure at hand.

Some of us prefer to fish, than polish our 'bits' doing endless preventative stuff!!

[ozbee]

one simple fact all the mechanics in the world can not pick before hand when a black box is gonna go

[bushbeachboy]

This thread is a real crack-up. Kerry, you remind me of a Sergeant I once knew. Hehe, he was all stressed out too, a lot more after I was finished with him. Write a note to yourself 'NEVER go fishing with BBB'. I rarely do maintenance, just the basic checks, flushing etc, drive my outboards hard, bump into things with them, and don't worry about it. I'm happy to confirm to people like you that I do in fact have a bad attitude.::) So what. The thread was meant to give us a bit of thinking on how to recover from problems that occur. If you have a problem it's no use saying 'the mechanic must have had a bad attitude', or 'I must get a better attitude'. That won't help you than and there, but a bit of lateral thinking, or a bit of prior knowledge gained from discussions like this might. The only bad attitude displayed here is by you, criticizing people for coming up with 'band-aid' or 'bubblegum' solutions. They are after all temporary solutions, intended to get you out of trouble, not for long term use. And wake up to yourself, not everyone is as self-righteous as you, and certainly don't deserve your holier-than-thou crap! If you want perfection, go find God. I'll go fishing.:P

[Roughasguts]

Okay thank's guys, four, 4 inch nails are going in me boat, I got gal ones will they do?. I bet if I put the nails in me tool kit I will never, ever use them to try out it's merits. But if I didn't well........................So anyway there going in me kit.

Good idea FNQ, about marking the rubber hub out evenly before hand, cheers.

[Roughasguts]

Hmmmmmm the jesus box, christ knows what goes on in there. (electronic ignition)

Many moons ago, My old GT falcon stopped dead on the road, Yep soon discovered no spark.

After market electronic ignition in place, must be stuffed.
Back then it was a bolt on so, I lifted the distributor cap, found no condensor and no points.

Okay off to the servo, easy parts to find back then, Put them in place a rough gap for the points, And do the timing by ear.
On me way, with out a tow great. Set the gap and timing at home Laughing.

So the new jesus box, differant beast I have no idea whats in there, electronics are not my strenghs.

Anyone know of a bi-pass idea, some jumper wires from here to there, something that can limp us home.