Too Soon???

D

dkellogg3

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Joined
Mar 21, 2005
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16673
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17
well, its that time of year again. This board is a lot quieter than I expected....

Anyway, so I live about 10 miles north of Danbury CT. My boat has been out of commission since the end of 07 due to the impending arrival of my wonderful daughter, and the ensuing 2 tears of figuring out how to "do" parenting ;) We finally decided that this spring it was time. We've missed the water terribly, and we're ready to get back on and in it. As luck would have it, our name came up on our town's waiting list for a slip in the middle of March! That lit the match under my a**; I got he boat registered and insured immediately and wrote the check for the slip.

Now, I'm ready, I need to get her running to see what I have to get done to get her out there. I know for certain that I want to do the impeller. When I put her up I did the outdrive lube... guess I'll have to do that again. I also did the plugs and oil. My fear is the gas. I topped it up, as that was the start of the Ethanol headaches, so I've got 40 gallons of gas sitting there. I stabil'd it at the end of the season, and I think one more time late in '08.

My question is... should I go ahead and put her on muffs to see where we're at? Weather data says (summarized):

*Each winter, on average, your risk of frost is from September 30 through May 9.

*Almost certainly, however, you will receive frost from October 16 through April 20.

*You are almost guaranteed that you will not get frost from May 29 through September 13.
(taken from http://davesgarden.com/guides/freeze-frost-dates/index.php?q=06812&submit=Go)

So is it too big of a risk still? I don't want to have to redrain and antifreeze her once I get started.

Thanks, and happy season!
 
i would check the fuel for water before you fire it up
Frank
 
Frost doesn't mean freeze. It takes a hard freeze to damage an engine. You're fine to start her up but I agree check the gas first. I just bought a boat from someone who wasn't using it and I spent the end of last year and the start of this year just solving fuel related issues.
 
So, even if it dips below freezing for a night, I should be fine?

As for "checking" for water, I can even begin to guess how I'd do that...

Thanks for the input, guys.

Don
 
I would pull the impeller then as long as you dont run it long you dont need cooling water. Should be fine for dry starting process
For dry starts I like to pull the plugs and spin it over until oil pressure is up for a while. A little oil in the plug holes is good too.
By the time that’s done it will be warmer.
 
So you're saying pull the impeller, then pull the plugs crank it over to build oil pressure (without plugs & impeller) I put about 3/4 oz of MMO in each cylinder about 1-1/2 week ago, just to get things lubed up.

THanks!
 
It won't get cold enough, for long enough, to cause freezing problems if you start the motor on muffs. Even if there is a frost it isn't going to freeze your engine block. No need to put antifreeze back in the engine.

You indicated you changed the drive lube, and engine oil, in '07. If that is the case, there is no need to do it again.

You should definitely change the water pump impeller. I'm assuming this is a merc outdrive. If that is the case you don't have to drain the drive lube to split the drive, and change the impeller. While your working on the drive, inspect the bellows to make sure they are not cracked. Shoot some grease into the Gimbal Bearing as well.

You didn't mention the battery. If it has been sitting in the boat since '07, without maintenance charging, it probably needs to be replaced.

I would recommend you remove the propeller, grease the propeller shaft, and reinstall the propeller. This step will prevent corrosion from causing the propeller to be frozen to the shaft.

The old fuel will probably be an issue. If you don't already have one, install a water seperating fuel filter. Do not start the engine without at least a water seperating fuel filter installed. I would also recommend you buy a few replacement fuel filter elements. I would check the fuel filter for water after each time you use the boat, and drain it as necessary. Keep going through this process until you have run a tank or two of fuel through it, and you don't see any additional water in the fuel. You will probably need to change the fuel filter a few times depending on whether or not it gets clogged with solids that may have settled in the tank.

If you really want to take the fuel out of the equation you could buy a 55 gallon drum, and syphon the fuel out of the boat and into the drum. Use the fuel in the drum for your lawn mower. I went this route when I bought my current boat, as the fuel in the tanks was of unknown age/condition.

Eric
 
Eric, thanks for the info.

I've got a 1994 merc 4.3 4bbl with alpha 1, gen ii outdrive. Are you sure about the gear oil? The drain plug is in the lower unit, and the vent in the upper. It seems to me that if I split it, it might get messy!

What kind of grease for the gimbal bearing?

As for the battery, pulled it when I shot the cylinders with MMO. Water level was fine, so I trickle charged it for 9 days. Gonna check the voltage this week and see how its maintaining.

I've got 2 Quicksilver filter sitting in my shed. I was going to do startup with the old filter, then change out for a new one before splashing. My intent is to get her in the water early in the morning and blowing all that old ass through her as quickly as possible. I had considered getting 8 five gallon cans and siphoning. I guess it kind of depends on what happens at startup.

I get nervous about storing that much compatible material so close to my house.

Thanks again!
 
There is a passage that is approximately 1/4" in diameter that passes the gear oil between the upper and lower sections of the drive. There is a small rubber o-ring that goes between the two sections to seal the joint. The gear oil is very thick. You may get a little bit of dribbling oil from the upper section when you split the drive. Not much will come out in the short amount of time it takes to change the water pump impellor. Worst case you could have a small tapered wooden dowl ready to use as a temporary plug. I believe the water pump kit should have the small o-ring in it, along with all the pertinent gaskets, etc.

The grease I used to use for the gimbal bearing was merc 2-4-C, although I think any decent marine grease would be sufficient.

I would not use your old fuel filter for your start up, as you don't know if there are any contaminents in it, or if there is water in it. It sounds like you have the spin on type of filter, and there probably aren't drain plugs in the bottom of the filter to drain off any water. If that is the case I would go get a few more filters, and change them frequently as you burn off the gas you have. Also, if there is a fuel filter in the carburetor I would change that as well.

eric
 
Yep, spin on type.

Great info everybody! Thanks for the help!

Any thoughts on using seafoam?
 
I am not a big believer in using Seafoam, or any other additives. I kind of get the feeling they are all snake oil. If you are asking if it will fix old gas, I don't think it will. Bad gas is bad gas. There isn't anything that can be dumped into it to make it good gas.
eric
 
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