Shellback

What antenna do you have? I have an H/B 16/4 antenna. If it's the same, I could ship it to you, and if it fixes the problem, send me $40.00 plus postage. If it doesn't fix it, send it back with my postage cost. If you are interested, PM me your mailing info.

General motors got lucky with their batch of bad cams. They probably all out lasted the warranty period, and the owners ate the repair charge. Pretty common defect back then.

A costly repair I'm sure! Hopefully you will get many more years of service from that motor. Did they show you the old cam with the lobes worn off?

Lowrance does not service Generation 1 units. They will offer you a new Generation II unit for a reduced price. If your's is a Generation II unit, it can be repaired.

I fish for perch on the Canadian side out of Gananoque. Haven't been up since May, but all my local sources report a very poor year for perch. The small ones are around, but eaters are very scarce. I'm going up for 2 weeks after Labor Day, hope I can find some!

I wouldn't rely on ether for starting the motor on a regular basis. Hopefully it will continue to start on it's own with regular use.

Here's an example. http://www.ebay.com/bhp/chevy-350-cam-kit Pretty cheap, could be made in China?

I'm guessing that a 350 GM motor, if that's the case, I know there engines had some cam problems. I had to replace a cam in a Chevy truck. The wear surfaces are just surface hardened. If it wears through the hardening, the cam lobes wear off in a hurry. That would explain noisy valves and you should be losing power also. Can't help with the starter, but if you are in need of a cam in a 17 y/o motor, you might consider a new crate motor. Should be a snap installing a starter then.

Smokercraft builts a nice boat. Inside or outside storage for 10 years? There's wood in the transoms, and another thing to be concerned about is rodent, as in mice damage to wiring and plumbing.

Have the boat battery load tested when you have the starter checked out. Sometimes a bad battery will draw down a good battery when trying to jump start a motor.

This is NOT a recommended method for starting a 2 stroke! The reason being, ether doesn't have any lubricating qualities. But you could try this. First pull the plugs, give them a shot of ether to clean off any fouling, then reinstall the plugs.Give the carbs one short shot of ether. If the motor fires, you know you have a fuel problem. If the motor still doesn't fire, you likely have an ignition problem. DO NOT try and keep the motor running on ether! All you want to do is see if the ignition system is working properly and supplying the correct spark to the plugs. Too much ether, and your motor is toast. I've seen people using a spray bottle with mixed gas to do the same thing, but if the motor backfires you might have a fire on your hands.

Sounds like you have a Powerdrive electric steer motor. They can steer, but still not run the motor. There's a control board under the mount housing, if it fails, no motor power. You could pull the cover and get to the control board. There you will find a heavy black and red wire which sends power to the motor from the control board. If you put 12volts to those wires and the motor runs, then it could be the control board that's bad. Of course your problem may be the foot pedal too. See how far you can get into the foot pedal and clean any contacts there, and also the foot pedal to motor connection. I think the control boards run about $100, not sure about foot pedals. Wouldn't pay to invest too much into an old motor.

I've been doing it with 3 different boats. One was a 1995 Superfisherman 190. Keep in mind trolling into the wind can be tough with any auto pilot set up. The I-Pilot manual recommends when trolling into the wind, to hold the button down longer which sets the compass auto pilot versus the GPS auto pilot.

You don't mention the size of your boat, but I have been very successful with 18 foot and under boats using the MinnKota Auto Pilot or I- Pilot motors. Use your outboard to push the boat, and use a low setting on the trolling motor with it set in auto pilot mode. very common practice for walleye fishermen in the midwest. Steering corrections are much faster due to the bowmount motor pulling the bow around, rather than the outboard trying to push the straight.

Sea Foam is a gas additive for cleaning the carbs and combustion chambers. NAPA auto parts usually carries it, and Walmart too. I'd pull the fuel gauge sending unit from the tank if it is accessible. You should then be able to visibly check the condition of the tank. Dirty fuel will haunt you!

Here's what you need for a floor covering. http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/vinyl/_/N-1100628/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104672880?WTz_l=Unknown%3Bcat104794380%3Bcat104711580 Force motor owners are in 2 groups, love em or hate em. Pretty simple engine, nothing high tech about it. I would think if you keep them oiled with the right mixture and keep the carbs clean so you don't run a cylinder lean, it should be an okay motor for you. I'd guess the fuel oil mixture to be 50-1, but you need verify that. Personally I'd run that motor first on a portable fuel tank you know is clean and throw in a can or 2 of Sea Foam. For the built in tank, I'd make sure it is empty of all old fuel and free of water or other contaminates. Then I'd put a 10 micron filter between it and the motor before using it.

If the motor stops peeing, it's not getting water to the impeller. It's possible to tear the impeller up at higher speeds and no water. The alarm might save your motor, but not your impeller. Maybe you can row your boat once the impeller goes?

The first push of the button gives you GPS auto pilot. With wind and current it's constantly trying to get on back to the original GPS point. Holding the button gives you compass auto pilot. keeps you on the same compass course, but doesn't correct for drift. MinnKota recommends using the compass auto pilot in winds or current.

I'm running a 10 1/2 x 13 on a 2011 60HP 4 stroke. 16 foot deepV walkthru loaded with gear. 30MPH

I'm not a fan of DSI for finding fish. Great for structure, but not fish. Unfortunately the Elite 5 DSI is DSI only and not regular 2D sonar. I'd have looked for a unit that offered DSI and 2D sonar.