Bad Habit

Thanks for all the replys. The boat is a 1987 with about 4000 hours. I've owned it since it was new. Never in salt and never had the exaust off. I did check the intake flow to the thermostat housing and it looks good. I can hear the flappers clicking probably from the rubber seal worn or chipped off. Maybe that is the problem. Thought it would be an easy fix and it just kind of snowballed from there. I guess it's time to admit defeat and do like Rustyrat says and take it to a pro.

Well I thought I had the problem fixed so I splashed the boat Sunday. Unfortunately I was wrong again. While trolling the engine ran hot again. So far this spring I have Changed the impeller, changed the thermostat, pulled and flushed all the cooling hoses, pulled and cleaned all the drain plugs, new water circulating pump, new belts and a new temp sensor and it's still running hot. The only thing left that I can think of is something clogging a water jacket somewhere. Any suggestions on where to start the proccess to try and find it?

I pulled the lower unit and changed the impeller again and it seemed to be a lot better. I don't know if I did something wrong the first time, it was a combination of things or I just got really lucky. There wasn't any damage to it and it didn't look like it had take to much of a set but what ever it was hopefully is fixed. I have only run it hooked up to muffs but I hope to splash the boat and give it the real test soon. Rick

After a lot of time, trial and error (mostly error) i got the boat to run cool again. In the proccess I changed thermostst and a local marina recomended I use a 140 degree. After reading this and other forums it seems quite a few people use 160 degree thermostats in the same size boat. The boat is a 25 foot, fiberglass with a 350 5.7 (260 hp) mercruiser. The boat is used 95% of the time for trolling. any opinions or advice i appreciated. Thanks, Rick

Checked Harbor freight for an infared temp gauge but the didn't have one. Decided to run the motor until it got hot and check the water temp with a candy making thermometer. Tested it on boiling water and it read 210. While the motor was running I opened a drain valve enough to let the water run over the tip until the reading stopped rising for a couple of minutes. Thermometer read 155 degrees. It seems like this should be fairly close to the actual temp. Not sure what it should be with a 140 degree thermostat but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Now I need to find out what it is for sure.

Thanks for all your advice so far. Spent the day today working on it. I pulled up the deck for easier access. Opened and removed all drainplugs looking for any debris, sand, dirt or anything else that might be restricting flow. Used a coat hanger to dig around. Pulled all the cooling hoses looking for the same thing. Didn't really find much, just a little sediment and rust. Flushed out everything while it was disconnected with a garden hose and nozzle. Put everything back together and still running hot. I even tried running it without the thermostat......Still hot. I did hook up another temp gauge a couple years ago to see if mine was accurate but is there another easy way to check the temp without buying an expensive temp gun?

I have checked ther intake and it is clear of debris and mussles. I also replaced the housing and plastic tube when I replaced the impeller and didn't seem to make a difference. The hoses seem rigid and I didn't find any collapsing. Maybe something is lodged in the system resticting the flow. Any ideas on how to check that? Rick

It's a new season and I'm still chasing an old problem. My 350, 5.7 mercruiser is running hot AGAIN. It runs hot while trolling but if I kick up the rpms to about 1000 the temp comes down.I had this problem last year and never figured it out. I have changed the impeller and the thermostat. I also hooked up another gauge so I know that's working too. When the engine is winterized the drain plugs are pulled and any sediment that can drain out does. Is there a way to check if enough water is circulating through the engine to cool it? Has anyone had a water circulation pump go bad? I don't hear any sqealing or grinding and it,s not leaking. Thanks for any help. Rick

Pulled the boat out from the side of the house today. After I backed it into the driveway and then pulled forward one wheel of the trailer was locked up. I backed up again it was free but locked up again in forward. Tried this a couple more times with the same result. (free in reverse, locked up in forward). It's a tandem axle trailer with brakes on one axle. I haven't pulled the wheel yet but wondering if anyone can give me an idea of what to look for. Thanks, Rick

Did one small Brown off Shipbuilders. That was the only hit in 3 hours.

VOTES!!! Since when did common sense have anything to do with politics?

27 Giants, 17 Pats 44 total score

I probably did catch the cribs. Been fishing the area for years and never caught it before. I actually have my own scuba gear but never marked the spot. We were to busy trying to get everything back to the boat after I tried to turn the boat, in full panic mode, before all the cable ran out with six rods in the water (150 feet of cable goes fast!) NOT PRETTY!! Oh well at least we caught a few nice fish. Rick

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s)9/11 Time on Water:6:30-11:00 Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: Waves: Surface Temp: Location: In front of Durand to river LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits:6 Total Boated:4 Species Breakdown:Kings Hot Lure: Spin Doctor/Fly Trolling Speed: 2.2-2.6 Down Speed: Boat Depth: 30-35 Lure Depth: 20-25 ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Headed out at 6:30. first fish at 6:40 while setting up in front of Durand in about 32 feet. Fish came off a white spin doctor/ white NK fly down about 23 feet. Setting back up when another rod fires with a nice female king around 30# off the downrigger 25 feet down on a spin doctor/glow green Atomic fly. Looks like its going to be a good day!! Stayed in that area and away from the pack for a while and had 4 more hits and 2 more nice kings in the boat by 9:30. The sun came out of the clouds and things shut right down for us. Fished about another 1 1/2 hours without a hit. While trolling towards port in about 45' of water in front of Durand with the deepest rigger at 35' we went over something that snagged the 35' rigger, a 25' rigger and a dipsey out 60'. Ended up losing the dipsey, my temp probe, a 12lb ball and some terminal tackle. No idea what it was but it now has alot of our stuff on it!!! A hell of a way to end the day but I guess thats fishing!!!!

Thanks for the help. I'll give it a try.

Looking for advice on what knot to use to attach a swivel to wire set up. Thanks Rick

Thanks for all the replys. went out again today with much better results. Boated 8 fish and lost 2. Not as much action as yesterday but alot better hook up percentage. Didn't really do anything different then yesterday but the fish cooperated a little better. maybe just one of those days. back out tomorrow to test it again. Tough job but someone has to do it.

Had a decent day on the lake today. Lots of bites off the Gennesee river. Unfortunatly we lost more fish then we boated so the question was raised should you "set the hook hard" or let the weight and fight of the fish set it and hope the soft mouth doesn't rip or pull out? I would be interested to here what everyone thought. Thanks, Rick

I E-mailed Dave Chilson about my registration. He said " I have been impatiently waiting for the new web site to be finished because to maintain the database I have to wait to enter them there. As soon as it's completed you will receive your number." I assume it it the same for everyone. Thanks Dave for the quick reply.

I have about 4 quarter size chips in the bottom of my boat from a run in with some rocks. They are through the gel coat and into the fiberglass matting. Any advice on how to patch these would be appreciated. The boat has bottom paint and I do plan on touching it up so I don't need to match color. Thanks, Rick

Just registered for 3 LOC derbys on their website today. (Spring, Summer and Fall) $80 for all three. I think that is a $10 savings.

Yea!!!! Lights are back!!!

Has anyone heard anything about the Bayside tackle shop on Irondiquoit Bay closing? I heard they had going out of business signs in the window. They were also a weight station for the LOC. That would be a shame!

Not the 38lb 8oz Fish caught on the Bad Habit.

Lost an anchor today and was wondering if anyone could tell me the correct size for a 25' 4500lb boat. The boat is used mainly for fishing on Lake Ontario. I'm not sure of the weight of the one I lost. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Rick