If you remember we bought a new to us boat a while back after mom and dad's old boat met up with a concrete bridge piling that won. The newer boat has been used several times since. The motor has ran great and it has had some hiccups. This past week mom and dad took in on a several day trip. It started running really bad and wouldn't go more than 2000rpm and was shuddering. I posted about it on a Lund forum and the consensus was spark plugs or fuel filter. Dad purchased new spark plugs, fuel filters and a new fuel line. We replaced all those and took it to a local river to see if we hopefully had it fixed. Well, we didn't. Dad took it to a shop that said they could look at it and called today to say they had it fixed. The injectors were all gummed up. Tomorrow I will pick it up and hope for the best. My son and I are supposed to take it on a trip this coming weekend. When I heard that the motor was malfunctioning, I called the marina where we are going to reserve a rental boat. I sure hope I can call to cancel that.
I have had amazing luck with Seafoam for carb and injector issues. After a big rain my 4 wheeler, EFI and strictly farm use, daily at that, was running poorly. The tank wasn't left open and it hasn't happened before but I suspected water or gunk as we buy gas in bulk and you never know what might come up from the bottom of a tank even with a filter on the pump. Dumped in a half can of Seafoam twice, cleaned it right up. Maybe overdose the tank and keep a can or two on the boat just in case.
Yeah, when we bought the boat, we knew that it hadn't ran much for the last few years. No doubt the gas was a little bit on the bad side. We had ran sea foam and heat in it trying to clean the system, but I guess it was a little bit far gone. We will put some more sea foam in it.
If he ran ethanol gas in it and it sat around those injectors may have already been gummed up when you brought her home. I had that happen to a log splitter over the course of a spring and summer when I failed to use Stabil in the gas. Lesson learned.
What make, model, and year is the engine? Two or four stroke?
Does the boat have a spin-on fuel/water separator between gas tank and engine?
Its a 2003 Yamaha f115 Four stroke fuel injected. It does have a spin on fuel filter/water separator before the engine. We replaced that on Sunday. It also has a filter on the engine and we replaced that too.
Good on you for replacing both fuel filters. Noticed you said you replaced fuel lines, great also. Make sure to replace all of the fuel lines. I've seen many lines where the inside liner separates and will starve the engine for fuel.
My neighbor has the same engine. Helped him replace fuel lines after the fuel pump. We checked and could get rebuilt injectors for about 40.00 ea. I also read they can be disassembled and cleaned with carb cleaner. The orifice in the injectors is really small any ANY debris will clog them. They can stick from gummy residue also. For these reasons try to get a spin on filter with the smallest micron filtration.
I use only non-ethanol in my boats. It cost a little more but you will save a lot on repair bills in the long.
Hope they got it fixed right for you. Happy Boating this weekend!
I brought it home today and backed it down the boat ramp into the river right down the street. Not enough water to launch there, but enough to run the motor under a little bit of a load. It ran fine. We did not replace the fuel line from the tank to the spin on filter/water separator. It sounds like what the shop does is remove your injectors and then installs that he keeps in stock that were sent in for cleaning. I guess you could call them rebuilt. He then sends mine in and then keeps those for the next customer. He said that when the fuel pump goes out its about $1000 to replace.
Yes, the fuel pump is expensive on that motor. The high pressure fuel hose I put on my neighbor's engine was north of 100.00 for the hose.
I told him to always store that motor with the trim run all the way down. He was leaving it on the cradle with motor tilted slightly up. In that position the water never completely drains out of the power head. Several months ago his engine was leaking around head gasket. Welding and shaving the heads plus labor was near 3 grand.
Be sure to replace water pump every three years. If the impeller blades break off and get up in the block it causes expensive problems!
Yamaha's, got to love them. I've got three of them right now, several before these and without doubt they are the most reliable motors I have ever owned. However, they do require a little special TLC.
No matter what fuel you run, be it ethanol pump, non ethanol pump, or even marine gas, the screens and the fuel injectors need routine service. However, they have an almost infinite lifespan, so they almost never go bad, but they almost always will require periodic cleaning, which is easy to do. There's lot of videos on how to remove them, but basically, pop a couple screws off the fuel rail, and the little buggers come out easily like pulling teeth, one by one. Number them with a Sharpie, put them in a ziplock bag, send them to any one of a dozen places in Florida, and they will clean the screens and tips, flow test them and send them back for very little money. Then pop them back in, and the motor runs like new. Since you have an older motor, these companies will also just sell you pre cleaned injectors out of their inventory. Any reputable cleaning company will send a pre and post cleaning test report for each injector.
The external spin on prefilter is important, and it needs to be a Yamaha or Racor, 5 micron, 10 at the most, preferably one with a clear bowl water separator. The one under the cowl needs changing about once a year. All is very easy to do.
Use only Yamaha or Mercury marine oils and filters (they are interchangeable) because they put lots of anti corrosion additives and conditioners in the 4 stroke marine oils that does magic to protect the engines.
I had the two Yamahas on my Pursuit saltwater boat in for their 1,000 hour service overhaul a couple years ago and the mechanic said they were in virtually perfect condition, dyno tested almost as if brand new, although they changed the timing belt and a bunch of other things. They have 1,400 hours in them now and they still run like a top.
If you have a digital tach for your motor, you can easily see when the injectors are becoming clogged, as you will lose about 100 rpm consistently, at idle. For example, the two in my Pursuit idle at 700 rpm when clean, and at 600 when dirty. So I knew when to clean them before the next trip, and well before they start missing.
Thanks for the info YH. We have been fans of Yamaha ever since dad put the original 60 on his old boat. That was not fuel injected and then he went to the fuel injected 70 horse. When looking for this boat, dad insisted on a yamaha. It took a long time to find the right boat/motor combo. I'm quite sure this one will work out well. It just needs some use as the previous owner didn't use it a lot. He is a tournament fishing guy and he always fished out of his buddy's bigger bass boat.
Its hard to find ethanol free gas around here. What you describe with the injectors sounds exactly like what the shop did. Took ours off and sent in and then installed others that he had already received back.
I'll have it on the water tomorrow and I'm hoping it runs better than it has in the whole time we've had it.
Yes, that sounds like what the mechanic did. It's very easy, actually about like changing spark plugs.
There is another magic product that Yamaha produces that goes in all my engines, no matter what fuel I use and it's Yamaha Ring Free. It's specially formulated for ethanol fuels by Yamaha and one bottle treats about 130 gallons, which is what we burn every couple days on the ocean. However, it works for any fuel. This stuff is the gold standard and is the only additive warrantied for use by Yamaha, which should say something. It is that good.
Sometimes you just have to run ethanol fuels, but if you do, the key is to not let it get stale, and realize that since it is hygroscopic and a solvent, it will pull any water in your fuel tank into the fuel (hence the water separator) and it will also dissolve any gum or deposits in the fuel tank and lines and deliver that crud to the injectors. That's why ethanol is the main ingredient in the red STP fuel treatment, that's what it does. I use ethanol pump gas, non ethanol pump gas (better) and marine fuel (better but sometimes dirty) interchangeably as I can get it. With Yamaha's, it's all about keeping the injectors clean using fine mesh filters and fresh fuel and they will be happy.
I remember looong ago, when we were buying our first offshore boat, we were looking at one equipped with Suzuki's. I asked the salesman if he though they would be reliable to repeatedly steam the the edge of the Gulf of Mexico continental shelf, called the "Edge" and as a salesman, he initially hesitated and reservedly said "Sure." I pressed him an little further, and asked him if he thought I should look at a different boat that had Yamaha engines on the stern and he looked at me, knew the consequences as a salesman, and said "Yes, well, they a Yamaha's, nothing else is close." Enough said. He lost the sale, I sold my Mercury equipped boat, and got the Yamaha's.
That being said, I do have a Mercury on my Ranger bass boat. It's a high performance, vapor trail leaving, warp speed motor, and I love driving it (flying it) across a calm lake at 75 mph. It's a pure monster and very reliable. I've had many Mercs in my life, and they are good engines, but they are not Yamaha's, except during the time period they started buying their power heads and other components from Yamaha.
The shop told me to use Blue sta-bil, but I will look for the Yamaha ring free.
Wait a sec and back up that ruck. WHAT is Blue Sta-bil? Never heard of it or saw it. What is the deal with that? Just trying to stay current and/or follow an interesting conversation.
Soooo, would Ring Free be something to add to my chainsaw gas can as well to compensate for the ethanol gas?
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on October 21, 2021, 03:26:59 PMWait a sec and back up that ruck. WHAT is Blue Sta-bil?
LINK (https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/what-are-the-differences-among-sta-bil-products/)
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on October 21, 2021, 03:26:59 PM
Wait a sec and back up that ruck. WHAT is Blue Sta-bil? Never heard of it or saw it. What is the deal with that? Just trying to stay current and/or follow an interesting conversation.
Blue is the marine version, designed for boat motors. I doubt there is much difference with the regular sta-bil.
Quote from: ljohnsaw on October 21, 2021, 03:30:55 PM
Soooo, would Ring Free be something to add to my chainsaw gas can as well to compensate for the ethanol gas?
You probably could use it. It's probably not much different than sta-bil.
From what I understand, Red or Regular Stabil is a basic fuel storage stabilizer targeted for ethanol fuels in most fuel systems, land or marine based. The Blue Marine Stabil has some additional additives to reduce the risk of corrosion of ethanol fuels, and is targeted toward fuels used in marine environments, which are much more susceptible to corrosion. So these products are more targeted toward fuel chemistry and stabilization.
Ring Free is a fuel additive that is mainly targeted toward the engine, removing deposits in the rings (so is called ring free) and combustion chamber. It is more like Sea Foam, but without some of the detrimental effects of seafoam in marine engines.
So Stabil treats the fuel, Ring Free treats the engine.
I use both in the last tank of gas before setting up the boat for the winter.
I do not know how Ring Free would work in higher temperature air cooled engines as it is formulated for water cooled outboards.
Quote from: ljohnsaw on October 21, 2021, 03:30:55 PM
Soooo, would Ring Free be something to add to my chainsaw gas can as well to compensate for the ethanol gas?
Don't compensate for ethanol, don't buy it for small equipment if you don't have to. I would rather pay an extra buck a gallon than have to bring it in the shop at $75 to $100/hour..my $.02 :)
I've been told that the two best days to own a boat is the "day that you buy it and the day that you sell it". ;)
Things happen but maintenance is paramount.
Some of the most memorable times I've ever had was on a boat. Here's a couple of pictures I took just a couple weeks ago. It's hard to put into words, but if you'll notice, we are going almost due North in the Gulf Of Mexico and there is no land in sight. We spent the day fishing about 30 or so miles offshore, out of sight of land, out where "Thar be sea monsters" and coming home after a successful trip. It's a great feeling.
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Here's us coming back through Mobile Bay. It doesn't get much better than this.
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Boats running great and even caught some fish today. I'm afraid it's gonna rain tomorrow though.
Now that's what we're talking about! Very glad to hear that.
Raining and storming all morning. May be able to go out later. Here's a few photos from yesterday.
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DanG, now I want some fried fish :).
Is that a white perch?
Looks like a small striped bass to me. I think up Nawth there call them white bass. The fact that the striped lines down the side are not broken indicates its not a genetic or stocked hybrid. They are decent to eat, but have a strip of red meat that's a little strong.
This is a white bass, different from a striped bass, but related. Some lakes up here have a hybrid of the two known as a wiper or hybrid striper. Those get upto about 15 lbs. White bass max our at about 3 lbs.
Ice fishing once as a lad we landed a bunch of Whitefish. Commenced to eating them over a fire right there on the shore of the lake and could not understand why they were so bony compared to how they ususally were. Turned out they were suckers, about the size of that bass. Aside from the bones they were pretty good actually.
You guys have those species we don't see much of. That's a nicely rigged, and good looking boat.
I've never eaten sucker or whitefish. I have caught them both though.
Thanks YH. We are very happy with this boat. I will try to remember to take a better pic of the boat tomorrow. Gonna try to fish the morning and then head home. Have to get on the road before the bad weather starts.
Sadly I can't make any of the same claims. :D
Just a sucker for suckers :D.
I forgot to take a better picture of the boat. This morning we fished from 8 til about 10:30. It was very windy and the storms were threatening. There is a high risk of damaging storms across the whole state of MO tonight. I caught a nice largemouth right outside the mouth of the marina and then a few smaller smallmouth bass. Sean caught the only walleye of the trip and his first ever. He was very excited.
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Nice. The weather does look threatening.
Those walleyes can be finicky to catch but man do they eat good.
One of the top three very best fish meals that I ever had was fried walleye in Dryden Ontario.
Quote from: WDH on October 25, 2021, 07:31:52 AM
One of the top three very best fish meals that I ever had was fried walleye in Dryden Ontario.
Eagle Lake? I've caught and eaten a lot of walleyes on Eagle Lake near Dryden.
Not sure. The place is covered in lakes.
True. There are a lot of lakes.
Quote from: YellowHammer on October 22, 2021, 08:17:34 PMThings happen but maintenance is paramount.
This quote resonates with me, especially with a boat. Stuff happens. I have neglected my boat for over a year (we have had other irons in the fire). Two weekends ago, after a day of sawing, I convinced JMoore to help me get it out of my shop. It has been parked there without moving since John and his family used it LAST July. To my surprise, it fired up and ran great and started on both batteries. Evidently, I had the battery maintainer only charging one and left the battery switch left to both when I turned it off. We did not have time to take it to a lake and run it. Fast forward two weekends (I was gone 11 of 14 of those days with work) and it was Pop's birthday and time for my wife and me to leave on our 30th anniversary trip.
On Saturday, my Dad's birthday, my wife took a Covid test at the Doc in a Box and it was positive. We stayed away from my folks and were debating whether to go to Anna Maria Island for a few days or stay home. Well, Sunday afternoon we decided to go. I moved a recently acquired table saw, a JD Gator and a mower and we were able to extract the boat from the shop. After an uneventful drive to the island, other than my trucks clutch started slipping when ascending overpasses at 70 mph. I just eased off of the throttle and babied it. After arriving at AMI, we unloaded our groceries and clothes at the house, and I decided to start the boat engine on the hose rather than being "that guy" at the ramp whose boat won't start. To my surprise, the engine just clicked when I hit the key. Drop the trailer in the yard and head to Cortez Walmart to buy a battery. I installed the new battery and it started right up.
We headed to the ramp, five minutes or so away and all was well. My wife remembered how to get through my truck's shift pattern and managed not to take out any stop signs or pedestrians on the way back to the house. I turned on both the stand alone GPS (old Garmin 3210) and the newer Garmin combo machine and checked both livewell pumps. Only one livewell pump turned on and the stand alone GPS would not locate any satellites. The motor ran well and it was good to be on the water again after such a long time. I could not detect any problems with the wiring on the GPS or the switch for the offending pump. The console access hatch is completely inadequate for a normal sized adult human.
I brought new trailer bunk brackets to install that I had purchased a year or so ago. My wife was not feeling incredibly well, and I was starting to suspect I was coming down with C-19 for the second time in 2022 so I decided to drink a few foamy waters and replace the trailer bunk mounts. It went pretty well but they were not direct replacements of what I had so new holes had to be drilled in the bunks.
We did not fish at all (We celebrated our Covid anniversary sipping Nyquil for a few days) but did take the boat out on a few short rides in Tampa Bay and Gulf. I would not have ventured too far with the boat not being in top shape. We headed home late Wednesday evening; again, babying the clutch for 80 miles. Yesterday, I wedged myself into the console and discovered a GPS antennae wire that had broken at the heat shrink connection. It was soldered, heat shrunk and the GPS functions properly now. A new pump has been ordered. Both of the offending batteries have been charged and seem to be holding. A clutch kit and fuel bowl O-ring replacement kit for the truck's engine has been ordered (diesel dripping on a clutch disc will ruin even expensive Southbend clutches).
All in all, it was not a bad week. On a side note, my son in law went out 100 miles in the Gulf today and they caught some good grouper and red snapper.
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I still need to order new aluminum crossmembers for the trailer. (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/22883/A5361AD6-E115-421E-9984-86CD92814F47.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1659149553)
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That's a fact, we also just came back from a great trip to the gulf. We had the boat out last Fall and we did a "basic" overhaul and PM just before the trip. Saltwater boats are nothing like freshwater boats, because saltwater and electricity is like battery acid to both boat trailers and boats.
So we started going through it and we replaced and fixed: 4 fuel filters, 2 oil filters, 3 gallons of oil, lower unit lube drain and replace, replaced 8 spark plugs with anti sieve, replaced 8 high pressure fuel injectors, replaced a raw water wash down switch and breaker, did two water pump rebuilds, replaced the radio, fixed the head (toilet) pump, replaced secondary bilge pump, found a broken wire, fixed a spray nozzle, replaced a bow light, and put new flares and fire extinguisher in the boat. Then we went on vacation and we were tired before we started.
Everything was working when we put it away last fall.
Yeah, we gotta take the bad with the good, don't we. Since I made the original post, our boat has gone on 2 trips to Canada. Mom and dad took it in May and had trouble and weren't able to really use it. Brought it home and into the shop to have 2 injectors need to be cleaned. I took it back to Canada the following week and it was not running well again. Luckily I took new injectors with me and ended up putting them in. Took it back out on the water and it still had a problem. The boat would not get up to speed and the RPM gauge was maxed out. Brought it back to the dock and talked it over with the guy who owns the lodge and he suggested that the only way the RPMs would get that high was if the prop was slipping. It had a brand new prop on it. I took the old/spare prop out of the compartment and installed it on the boat. Boat ran great. Turned out that the brand new prop had a bad rubber bushing and was slipping. Boat worked great for the rest of my trip.
Man y'all should just get rid of those boats and get some farm equipment instead. About the same frequency of issues and at least you get to write off all of those expensive parts. :D
We have been "downsizing" from the farm to a smaller property and now I may downsize my boats. I have a 24' Key West and a 15' skiff and I'm thinking about crossing the ocean off my destinations and get a Boston Whaler 170 Montauk to replace both current boats. That would be crabbing in very protected water and fishing in bays. Something to think about.
A boat is among the machines you can put away in good order, only to find it broke sitting in storage.
I once heard an old man say the two best days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it.
There is no doubt that a boat, especially a saltwater boat, is high load. However, some of the most memorable sights and experiences in my life were from a boat.
Seeing a momma porpose with a baby so small she was having to hold it up on her pec fin so that it could breath, and she kept near the boat, maybe 10 feet away.
Seeing a huge mako shark from about 2 feet away, it looking up at me as I was leaning over the gunnel, exactly like the classic scene from Jaws, with an eye so big it looked like a baseball.
One of my favorites is taking a person out on the ocean whose never been out of sight of land, and watching their face as the horizon disappears.
Or the bobcat that was swimming across the lake in the morning fog while I was fishing, and he decided my bass boat was a great place to take a breather.
Or the numerous people I have literally rescued, pulled from the water, with the thought that if I hadn't been there, they may have died.
No good for off-shore fishing; but a nice Kayak requires no fuel, insurance, and very little upkeep and will get you to where most of the fish are and where the jet skis are not.
8)
Don't get me wrong, I love my boats.
We use one of ours almost weekly during spring, summer and fall and I'm apt to be fishing any month of the year.
The "return in investment" is what Yellowhammer is explaining, a boat is a tool to access uncommon experiences.
It is a waste to own a boat and let it sit.
To borrow from Yellowhammer- If you have a boat and don't use it "you ARE suffering" and don't know it.
:D :D
Quote from: stavebuyer on September 02, 2022, 07:32:08 PM
No good for off-shore fishing; but a nice Kayak requires no fuel, insurance, and very little upkeep and will get you to where most of the fish are and where the jet skis are not.
8)
Locally guys use them for open water, but close-ish to land of course. Get more use days if you are in more sheltered area of course. The fancy kitted ones have a fish finder / ice chest etc. Depending where you are there can be plenty of fish in the surf zone or around a river mouth, maybe only 100 yards from shore.
Personally I prefer the option of occasionally paying a local charter skipper $100-200 for a fishing trip. All the gear supplied, local knowledge and usually some good fishing stories to fill in the slack time. If you are only going out a few times a year I figure you are WAY ahead on $$.
We are in the Cook Islands right now, and here on the main Island the fishing is basically outside the reef, the lagoon has a few fish, but generally smaller types. Lil did a day trip to Aitutaki (one of the outer Islands), which has a huge lagoon and a small population. The tour boats stops at one of the small Islands, and a guide wanders down the beach and throws in a line. 10 mins and he's got enough fish to feed the tour group. Lunch was grilled fish sandwiches, and they only bought the bread with them. Local knowledge, they knew they would get some fish.
Even here on the main Island the kids can get 12-18" goatfish in knee deep with a crust of bread. So in a "Survivor" episode, I'd want to win the fishing kit, and it would be hard NOT to catch something.
Big Peacock Grouper I saw in the lagoon yesterday. Hard to judge sizes underwater, but these grow to 2ft long, and I'd say he was an adult sized specimen. This is in about 4ft of water out in front our rental house.
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When I get home I'll post a video of Giant Trevally in the harbour. Where the charter boats tie up, the clean the clients catch on the dock, and throw the scraps over the side. The GTs have learnt this, and about 20 of them gather, If you haven't seen a GT up close, they are impressive. Up to 5ft long and 170lb, and there is a school of them just circling in front of the dock. Offcuts barely hit the water before there was a splash and they were gone.
My son and I went fishing last Sunday and when I got to the boar ramp I did something I expected to happen but didn't want 3. We got ready and I put the boat in, parked the truck and got on to head out. I then remembered that I left the new rod holder in the truck. So back to the dock, run up and get it, that's when my son asked if this was normal. I look where he's pointing at the back of the boat, I forgot to put the drain plug in and we're taking on water. Ooops, pull out the boat, drain it, put the plug in and we had a good day from there. Southside we were at Wyman lake and got skunked but it's always a good day fishing with my buddy. 😃
Not just the MC of wood that matters :D
Good call, Stan. They float better and longer with the plug installed.
I've always had a boat of one sort or another and always loved them. The one I have now is a lot smaller and once I get situated up north, I will remedy that situation. This is an old pic of good times.
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These are a few photos of my Wellcraft that I had for 21 years and one of my new boat.
The Wellcraft was beginning to need a lot of attention to keep her going. She provided many many good times on the water both fresh water and salt.
The new boat is different but is tons of fun too.
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For those of you who like trolling and want to get your hook down deep without a downrigger I found an app for android and apple that will calculate how much line to let out for your speed, weight, hook etc. It's called the Troll Master Depth Calculator. They have limited free version and a pay version. Good Luck!!
A "poor man's down rigger" is a way to get baits deep when trolling without dealing with the heavy weights and you don't have to have the down riggers.
I've started running a big planer on my down riggers instead of the weight.
A Google search will get a dozen or more sources for a poor man's down rigger. YouTube, of course, has videos on how to use it.
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Some people see you have a boat and think it's all deserted beaches and loads of fish. Sometimes it is.
Then comes the not so glamorous stuff like flushing 3 days of salt water and washing the boat, coolers, stowing fishing gear, etc.
Owning a boat has to be like owning a sawmill, you have to love it.
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I have had a few boats back in my day. I now prefer to wait for a friend with a boat to send a invitation. I will gladly pay for fuel, bait and whatever else is needed. Only problem is I still feel guilty the next day when I'm sawing and I know he is having to clean the boat. The feelings don't last to long though.
Quote from: customsawyer on September 20, 2022, 08:15:03 PMI will gladly pay for fuel, bait and whatever else is needed.
I'll have to check with Robert to fact check this one!!! smiley_jester