Trap Jaw

Thanks guys. First of all, 90% of the antifreeze is new, had to change the exaust manifold and in moving hoses out of the way most was drained. What was left still looked good, well at least it wasn't discolored, but the guy we bought it off had some work done on the manifold two years ago. I may have overstated, no it isn't so hot I can't touch it. Like I said, I'm used to open cooling systems and was shocked how hot it was. Yes, I can hold my hand on it for quite some time. Temp. guage was reading 120, although that will probably be getting replaced since other guages are questionable. Thanks for putting me at ease. I just have zero experience with this system.

So, I just got the new boat fired up. It has an old 3.7L Mercruiser I/O. While running it I went back to check if there were any leaks on the new exahust manifold we installed and I put my hand on it. Wow, it was hot. Not hot like I burnt my hand but still hot enough that I couldn't leave it on there very long. The only I/O's I've seen have the raw water cooling systems and I thought they kept the manifold fairly cool. This is the first closed cooling system I've run across. If this is normal, so be it, it's not like I'm going to sit my fat butt on it while fishing. If not I want to get to diagnosing the problem quick, fishin season's a wasting.

I have only ever had Eagle electronics. Started with a 185(old), also had the fishmark 320 & 480, and now have the fishelite 480 and a buddy has the fishelite 640(same as the seafinder just with GPS). Any Eagle I've had will read down to about .5 mph acurately. Below that it may read that you are moving when looking over the side of the boat confirms that you aren't. I can't personaly vouch for the model you're looking at, but if it's up to snuff with the ones I've had you'll probablly like it.

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So, my dad and I just got back from picking up the new boat, a Chris Craft 211 Scorpion. On the drive over we got to discussing the problems with outboards. Since we just sold one with an outboard, and will probably never own one again due to the issues we had with it, and a buddy of mine is having nothing but problems with his since it was rebuilt. Durring the discussion we started questioning which manufacturers have I/O's as an option. We couldn't come up with any. After a while online tonight I couldn't find any either. There was a time when I/O's seemed like standard power and outboards were the option. Now I can't even find a boat that has an I/O as an option, well other then the Starcraft Islander. I guess I should note, we were talking about boats in the low 20's in length. I know there are still boats in the 28' range that still have I/O's. But is there none in a working man's size boat that I don't have to subject myself to the horrid outboard. I guess until they start making them again we'll just have to keep buying 30 year old boats.

I don't think you'll be able to get the cheep one to mount to the front of them. I think the clearances are just too tight. There might be enough for limited clearance, the only problem is if you start hitting with the rod you'll loose the range. You can mount them up on the back of the motors, but like you said, you would have to drill through the cowlings. The problem with the cheep connector is they were meant to be used on motors that are both mounted on the transom. They just aren't designed to go around tight corners, like you have. That's the reason they came up with the EZ Steer.

Yes they should just screw together.

I'm not an "OMC guru", but I can't believe that a 6hp motor would require anything bigger then 1/4" fule line. Heck, that's all I fed my old 80hp merc with.

SOLD

Wow, that's great. An electrical system that thinks. What happened to the good old days when it worked or it didn't. Not like this, when the truck thinks it should.

On a 4 wire connector the turn signals and brakes are on the same circuit. Ie. left trun/brake and right turn/brake. What you're describing sounds like you have a broken wire somewhere. Since if you have turn signals you should have brakes, even if they are lighting the wrong filament in the bulb. The problem with the way new vehicles are wired, you can't just splice into them for the trailer like older vehicles. You may be farther ahead to try and pick up a new harness for your truck. Definitely would save you some time.

Bunks suck. You don't have it far enough in the water. Simple solution is the bunks have to be under water and the boat should go almost all the way on, and only winch the last foot or two. A solution I came up with was bunk slicks. They help some, but still require me to get wet feet loading the boat.

HEY! They don't have a listing for my boat. Just kidding, I haven't seen many listings for a 1977 Steury.

I've got to start with the caveat that the only ones I've worked on are 70's vintage, but I can't think they are all that different... But I've had a few of the Quicksilver controls apart. If you are not that mechanicly inclined I would let someone else fix it. The ones that I've repaired have been bears to get back together, and I have no problem ripping down an engine block. If I wasn't in western PA I'd offer my assistance. From my experinces, they are like the old fashion "peanut britle" gags. You open them up and "BOING" everything pops out. Then you spend hours trying to cram it all back in.

Do you troll with it a lot?

I think you've got the right idea. If those don't seem to work then it's time to look at a carb rebuild. Good chance that the plugs are just shot. My moto is plugs are cheep, getting stuck on the lake 'aint. I always change the plugs fist thing when the boat comes out, no mater of 2 or 4 stroke. I'd hold off on the timing belt(yes it is good PM), but with my experience with other Honda engines, either it's in time or it's out. There's no in-between, and if it's out then they don't start easy at all.

If that were my options I would rather play russian roulete then install the Force... Much better chance of not getting screwed. Bottom line is that, even back in the day, the Force motors were the cheep alternative to the name brand motors. There is a way they made them cheep, cut corners. The quality and durability are just not there. It's like rationalizing between an Kia and a Honda. Which is going to be better in the long run???

Just figured I would let everyone know that I got a flier from Cabela's and they are having a deal on the Accudepth reels. It's not advertised under the normal listings, but they are selling any size for $49.99. Just thought I would pass this along. The 47LC's are on backorder, but they have the 27LC's in stock. I just picked up 6 because of the deal, even though I need more reels like I need a hole in my head. If you want to look them up use this item code: V23-121691

OK, I got ya. I can't blame you, I'm the same way. When I bolted up my latest kicker they recomended using 1/4" bolts. I reamed out the holes and used 3/8" bolts. Nothing wrong with over enginering, I think with few exceptions nothing ever failed with that thinking.

Help me out, why do you need to reinforce the transom if there is already wood the full width? I ask because every motor I've mounted on my boats has had a full width wood transom. I just drill the holes and bolt it up. The only boats I've ever done that I worried needed reinforcing are friends boats that did not have full wood and it was just fiberglass. Yes their boat we put wood or stainless backers on the inside of the transom. On a different note. I would have offered you help or the use of my barn, but I'm sure you don't want to trailer it all the way to PA.

Two things. One, it is WAY too cold. Second, the resin from Lowes is junk. It needs to be at least 60 deg. to use that stuff, and there are no allowances if the ambiant temp is higher or lower. You can do it this time of year, but you would have to go with a premium fiberglass like West Systems. They sell different activators, slow, fast, very slow. If I'm remembering right the working time with the cheap stuff at this temp is something like 8-10 hrs. West Systems with fast activator should start to gel in a hour or two at these temps. One trick that I learned when working when it's cold is if you want to help the resin along, use heat lamps or halogen work lights, any light that throws off a lot of heat. This will help raise the temp. around the working area bringing it closer to where it should be. Plus another benefit with lights is you can point them at the work area and walk away. Question, is there wood in the transom where you are mounting the kicker?

I agree with L&M, these new motors are just as complicated as a car. Just like a car, that one alarm probably denotes dozens of warnings. You could spend the next few months trying to figure out what is wrong or take it the shop and get it figured out in a few hours. I would venture a guess and say that it would be more likely that it's the oil presure that is setting off the warning. If you shut the motor down and imediately restarted the voltage should be faily constant, or drop if you have electric start. Same with the temp, a short shut down won't cool the motor to fast, acutally it should increase. Although, oil presure can change durring running and shut down.

Not true. The only thing you have to worry about, like Triple said, is to make sure the power head won't get swamped. If all you went on was that the cav. plate was below the hull, the whole outboard could be below the water the first time you used it. The cav. plate being below the hull is only necessary if you are planing the boat out. Since that motor probably won't push your boat any faster then, say, 6-8 mph at full throtle there is no need to worry where the prop is in the water... Other then to make sure it IS in the water. So long as the prop is in the water it will push the boat. The only problem you run into, depending on how high the prop is, is that the prop may pull more water then is available. When that happens it start pulling air instead of water. If that happens it doesn't mean that you're dead, just that that's as fast as you'll go. Not to mention that it will sound like there's a blender on the back of the boat. Here is how I have mounted every kicker that I have ever installed. Find the water line. Mine have always been easy since we don't wipe down the boat after use, so there is some scum left. Next, put the bracket all the way down. Place it on the transom and line up the bottom of the bracket with the water line. Measure from the top of the bracket down to the hull. This tells you how long the shaft needs to be to clear the hull. SS motors are 15" so as long as that distance isn't too much more then 15" there isn't a problem. If it's more then 20" then you can go get a long shaft if you want. Personly, I wouldn't since for your aplication the SS will still work just fine.

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It depends on your boat. I have no idea how high the water line is. However, since trolling motors don't run at high speed you don't need to worry about where the prop is and how much bite it gets. My buddy has a Honda SS on his Chris Craft, when the motor is down about half the prop is above the keel. He has never had a lick of problems trolling or stearing. The only problem you might have is if you have to mount it high then the prop might want to start coming out of the water if the boat starts rolling. My rule of thumb when buying a kicker has always been look for a long shaft, if I can't find one for the right price, make due with what I can find.