Trap Jaw

I would have to say it's something mechanical, maybe a bad gasket. Reason is, the carb feeds all 6 cylinders, as well as the ignition. If something went bad with them all 6 would be fouling out, not just one bank. Same goes for the valves, if it doesn't have an overhead cam, which I would think it doesn't. Are you sure it's fouling out all 3 on one side?

Sand, I wish I could help you, I'm in the same boat(no pun intended). It's a bit more difficult for me since I don't know anyone, and it's a bit of a haul from PA just to drive. On a brighter note, if you ever want to head down to Lake Erie let me know. Don't get a lot of variety, but there's bill and buffy galore. Missdemeanor, I found the cure for that. Carve your own. The newest additions to my family.

First off, see if the gas from the marina had ethanol, if so you can cancel the dry gas. Second, I think everyone will agree, if you don't already have one, get a fuel seperator. Third, don't bother cleaning the plugs. Take it from a guy who's run two strokes all his life, you will never get them 100% clean and only invite problems down the road, just spend the $3 each for new. If you do the above and still have problems, then it's time to start looking at the motor.

Got a good sugestion. Call the FCC. VHF radios are regulated just like any other broadcast, they are not CB(citizen band). There was an incident around Cleveland a few years ago, sounds similar, that guys were abusing and cursing on the radio. FCC tracked them down. I can't remeber the specifics, but it wasn't a cheep date for some pranking.

Recommend doing what Bill said. You didn't mention if the oil level had changed. If you have a significant leak, the level might change. If the level has changed that could account for the fuel smell. Most new vertical shaft motors have such a small margin of error in the oil level. Just a few ounces over full and they will actually start trying to flood out the bottom cylinder. As soon as that happens it is perpetual, fuel doesn't burn, running into the oil sump, raising the oil level. It could also be the oil used. My old truck did that once. Got oil on sale, it actually foamed and would start coming out the breather, but looked milky after sitting. Nothing wrong with the engine. It was some sort of reaction between the two oils. That's the reason I always stick with one brand of oil, not matter what.

I will say this. If you end up getting an Islander go with the outboard. I had two friends that had them, one with an outboard and one with an I/O. The I/O rode like crap in any kind of waves, guessing it was because of the extra wieght in the rear. My buddy with the outboard has no problem going out in 3-5's. I kind of like aluminum boat to fish out of. I still wouldn't own one, but they are nice to fish out of.

I can tell you that the Kwikfill's in NW PA all have ethanol. They have the stickers posted to the pumps. I am in the process of finding out what happened. I didn't notice it until 2 weeks ago, but it seems like everyone in town switched, all of a sudden. Must have been some sort of mandate, weather it's local or state???

I know you said you already took it somewhere, but this just popped up. Figured I would pass it on. http://erie.craigslist.org/boa/1861582295.html

No matter how well it's "sealed" air can still move in and out. Two year ago my buddy stored his boat outside for the winter. Of all the things he didn't do, the big ones were leave the gas tank for the little motor in the boat and not fog the big motor. The first trip the next year he stuck the rings on one cylinder on the big motor. When we tried to get the kicker fired, to get back in, it wouldn't even pop. Ended up being about a pint of water in the botom of the tank. Oh, and that tank is "sealed". I have been watching all these threads about ethanol. We were just forced to switch the first of July. What a buch of retards. I've already seen a 3mpg drop in my Jeep. Thank god we filled the boat to the top back in June, at least we have a while before we have to worry about that.

Well, maybe they have gone down the crapper. I just know from my experiences, which granted are about 8 years ago. I put a new motor in my truck that never had a lick of problems, still see it driving around. And I was impressed with the service they gave on my buddy's Jeep. The first motor they put in was bad from the start. Jasper sent someone over to examine it and brought along another motor. He determined it was their fault and did a second swap. Granted it took an extra 4 days, but they didn't give him the headaches squirrel got. I guess in anything you'll get the good and the bad. My experiences have been good, others have been bad. Maybe mine were good because they were automotive engines, posible they have a bunch of slack-jawed idiots working in the marine division. My opinion has always been to get new or like new. I'm not knocking Hank. He knows his stuff, and if it weren't for the fact that I'm 6 hours away I'd go to him for everything. In my area there is no one that I would trust to even look at my boat, let alone touch it with a wrench. I didn't look to see that alddav was in the area. I'll partially retract my previous post. Yes, talk to Hank. I would also still look for some sort of crate motor, maybe not Jasper, but look into a GM crate.

Thanks guys. I guess I'll tell my buddy he's full of equine fecal material. I'm not even sure what brand I have. I bought it 4-5 years ago and use it once or twice a summer.

I noticed that everyone seems to be running wire on their dipseys. I have two rods that are rigged up with wire, but it is the braided wire. I was told by a friend that I would be better off switching over to the single strand wire. I don't use wire all that often and wanted to get opinions on if I should make the switch.

I agree with Yoda. I will add, look at the launches you use. I can tell you we took our 18' Wellcraft CC to Olcott last summer. Ha, what a joke. I think my dad had the front tires of the truck in the water before the boat would float off. Personaly, we never had anything but roller trailers untill that Wellcraft. From here on out we'll never have anouther bunk.

I can tell you the two engines I will never own again... Newer model, mid range, Merc outboards and this 3.7 liter I/O. I don't have much experience with them, since we just bought the boat this spring. Since we bought it though I've only had it out twice, been chasing gremlins all summer. I did about the same research you did. Mercrusier had a good idea, make a motor that was between the 3.0 and 4.3. Problem is they designed the motor. The one thing I am concerned about in motors is the maintenance/repairs. Not only is it dificult to access a lot of the components, the only place you can get the parts from is Mercruiser, so bend over. So far this summer we've replaced: Exaust manifold and riser(knew that was bad when we purchased but we got a deal because of it), carb, entire ignition system, and we should replace the water pump, as it is leaking out the weep hole, but that entails pulling the whole motor. At this point we decided to run it, and when the inner seal goes, throw a remand' motor in it(since we'd have to pull the motor either way). To give a true example of how I feel about this motor... I found a boat localy for sale that was junk, needed a transom and stringers, but the 4.3 V6 and outdrive were fine. For $1500 I was thinking about buying the boat, ripping the motor and outdrive off and scrapping the rest and instlling the motor in our boat. I'm sure there are people out there that have never had a problem with their motor and think they are great. For my money though I'll avoid them like the plague from now on. Just another example of good idea, bad execution.

You da' man Howie. Hopefully, now that the boat is 100% I'll be able to get up there and I won't have to drool on the keyboard anymore. BTW, thanks for the info last year, it really helped out.

Your best bet would be to get a reman'd motor. A lot less down time, and it will end up costing about the same money as a rebuild. Jasper is the way I would go. They are great with warranty work, and you get a 3 year warranty to boot. Aren't boats fun.

I talked to my uncle, who is an old time fisherman. He told me they were made by Blakemore(sp?). So does anyone still use these?

Dee de de. I didn't pay attention that you were going to a 27 footer. I saw 19'. You are right, they are a lot nicer to fish out of being able to walk around the whole boat. Ours sucked, bad hull design, crappy motor(125 Merc ELPTO, look it up) and, as I mentioned, zero storage. Those are a nice looking boat. Good luck.

For my tastes I won't buy another CC that doesn't have tons of storage. We just got rid of an 18' Welcraft that looked nice, but once we tried loading gear in it it sucked. We couldn't fit any of our tackle boxes in any of the compartments and it didn't have any rod lockers. As a result the cooler and tackle boxes rattled around on the floor while running. They are great fishing boats, just watch out for the features that they have.

Long ago I started fueling the boat after we were done, not on the way out. I had a couple of bad trips where when my buddy handled the rod/lure we got fish. If I handled it we would stare at rods for ever. I know I got gas on me while fueling those days, and washed my hands afterwards... Was it true or just my mind playing tricks on me. I don't know, but at least if I don't touch a gas can I know that's not the reason we aren't catching fish.

Two things you could do, if you don't have 500 bones to drop on a probe. First is get a speed transducer for your fish finder. Not that expensive, and will at least tell you what your surface speed is. Granted, still not better then down speed, but I've given up looking at SOG speed, useless in my book unless you're on plane. The other is to watch what your rods and riggers look like, angle of cable, pull on rod. Like Lund said you would still have to stumble on them, but once you get a few it is easy to replicate. I've got a buddy that doesn't even look at speed readouts, he just looks at the rods and adjusts speed acordingly.

Your killin' me. Don't look at the reports, don't look at the reports... Just kidding, nice haul. Hopefully I can get the boat going and join in on the fun.

So, how about a couple of pictures. I just found one in my box.

So I have a buddy that got a TON of lures at an auction, most look like the were found by beachcombing. Some nice stuff, a lot of junk. There was one crankbait in there, well a lot of them, that I know were big back in the 80's but for the life of me I can't remember who made them. A breif decription: They are small, like the size of a B1 Bagley. They are all plastic and on the top and bottom there are little holes, for a rattle or whistle? I guess the other question is does anyone still use them. He has a ton and I'd hate to see him sell them on eBay for peanuts if they are usefull.

I would have to agree with goin deep, realy need to know how long the motor is. Reason is if you are trying to put a short shaft on, it just won't work. Second, I would not want to "add" anything to the brackets you are talking about. They are flimsy and the further you move the motor from the boat the more torque is on the mounting. We just bought a boat that has a platform, first one in 10 years. In order to put our 8hp Yamaha 4-stroke on I made a bracket out of 3/8" stainless plate that not only mounted to the platform but bolted throught the transom of the boat. Even with that there is still some flex while running. Another thing that would be nice to know it how high is the platform out of the water. It is best measured when the boat is at the dock, nice and calm.