WakeWorld

WakeWorld (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/index.php)
-   Archive through May 19, 2006 (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=329035)
-   -   Newbie mistake (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=326702)

ramg66 05-15-2006 11:04 AM

I went boating yesterday for mothers day with the whole family and it was packed, our local lake has a 5 mph rule (driftwood), so everyone went to the next nearest lake. After we were done we went to the ramp. I usually dock the boat, go get my vehicle and back up, but it was too crowded and that wasnt going to happen, there was only one dock and there was always a trailer backing up, so I had my wife drop me off and I was going to have her load the boat on the trailer for the first time, well when I positioned the trailer and my wifes 3 attempts failed I had to swim to the boat and load it myself since I was taking so much time I immediatly jumped off and pulled the boat out I didnt pull the trim all the way up and it scraped a little, not bad, had scraped it in my drive way once before and I couldnt tell the difference, but I also forgot to turn the engine off, it was out of the water for 30-40 seconds before I had my wife turn it off, I was sick to my stomack, brought it home and attached the clam hooked up the hose/water and it turned over and sounded fine, what else can I check? BTW I am a newb just boat my first boat in July 2005. Man I still get nervous unloading and loading my boat not as much as last year but this didnt help things out. My prioty now is to train my wife to back up the trailer and load the boat on the trailer. <BR> <BR>2005 SeaRay 185 sport <BR>I/O sterndrive 4.3 MPI

peter_c 05-15-2006 11:15 AM

You need to visually inspect the impellar, and possibly replace it. Also check the impellar housing for any major scoring. The engine will not be damaged in less than one minute. No big deal at all. <BR> <BR>Edit: Get your wife comfortable with the boat, by throwing a lifejacket or throwable over board and have her nose up to it, back up to it, then park next to it. After a few manuevers like that throw all the fenders out and have her start working on docking. As to the backing the rig and trailer part have her do it in a big parking lot, not at the boat ramp with tons of people watching. Go easy on her and she will learn. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by Peter_C on May 15, 2006)

jhgsupra 05-15-2006 11:19 AM

You're spot on with training your wife to back up the trailer. I taught my wife how to do it and it's most impressive. We are typically in and out of the ramp real quick. Recommend you let her practice in a parking lot first. Good luck. Teaching a wife things like this are great for a marriage!<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

kalcotter 05-15-2006 11:20 AM

Yeah I agree with Pete. I don't know much about the interworkings of marine motors, but I've burnt up an impellor running the motor out of water. Actually it didn't take long at all. And, like he said, you won't know if it's destroyed unless you visually check it out. If your engine over heats the next time you're on the water you'll know too... but that's a bad way to find out.

trakkerguy 05-15-2006 11:30 AM

I'd just replace it. Impellers don't cost much. It's probably damaged and you have to do the woerk to inspect it anyways. If you're not familiar, you may not notice minor damage and it will work for a while, then crap out at a bad time. I learned that the hard way...

peter_c 05-15-2006 11:52 AM

Read these links. <BR><a href="http://www.outdriveshop.com/replace_alpha_one_waterpump.html" target="_blank">http://www.outdriveshop.com/replace_alpha_one_waterpump.html</a> <BR><a href="http://www.boatingsolutions.com/mercruiseralphaone.htm" target="_blank">http://www.boatingsolutions.com/mercruiseralphaone.htm</a> <BR> <BR>Personally I wouldn't consider it as big of a deal as they do though. You just have to drop the lower unit, which is only held on by a few bolts and the hydraulics need to be unbolted from the lower unit. <BR>

05-15-2006 1:10 PM

Seen drives scrape a million times - don't feel bad. 30 secs won't kill you coming straight out of the water but swap out the impeller &amp; keep the current one as a spare if you want to feel safe...

boomerang 05-15-2006 1:14 PM

Leave it alone! Try it out first, 30 seconds is not long enough to over heat the engine. <BR>And as far as scraping the boat ramp, since you have a I/O I would just look to see if anything was bent. <BR> <BR>My wife hit a huge block with ours, I took the prop and had it straighten out, and was back in the lake the next weekend

ramg66 05-15-2006 1:41 PM

Im taking it in for the 20hr service should I tell them it overheats a bit, that way they can check the impeller out (if they dont already do that), I really dont want to tell them what I did. BTW it has a 6 year warranty, but dont know if that covers dumbass/negligence.

moombarider132 05-15-2006 2:03 PM

30 to 40 seconds DOESNT MATTER AT ALL maybe over time but i leave my boat on with no water for over a minute some times and i do it every time i go out.i live in saltwater so i have to flush the motor and when ur doing it by yourself, theres always the time it takes to shut off the water and then turn off the boat. my dealership actually reccomended to leave it on with out water to get the rest of the water out. my friends dealer said the EXACT same thing about his san210. 220 hours and still running VERY strong with absolutely no difference in engine temp since the day i got the boat (brand new) till now.

peter_c 05-15-2006 2:32 PM

Have you ever run your impellar dry for 40 seconds then visually inspected it? I have as an experiment ran my motor dry knowing I was going to replace the impellar. It got very hot, damaged the vanes, and scored the housing in about 30 seconds of run time. This was a boat I had owned for a very long time and done this routine service yearly with no noticable signs of scoring prior to my stupid experiment, that I wished I had never done.

retz 05-15-2006 6:06 PM

I have a similar situation. I run my boat on salt water, and flush for 10 min with engine running and water flush kit everytime I pull out of the water. The other day, a buddy was helping me clean the boat. I hooked up the flush kit to the boat, and I had him turn the water on. It wasn't until after I shut the engine down and disconnected the hose that I realized he didn't turn the water all the way on (about halfway). There wasn't very much pressure (it was my own fault for not being explicit). <BR> <BR>Could this have caused any damage? The temps were steady at 170 when I first started running it (were they always are), then towards the end the temp started to drop to 120. I didn't think very much of it because lower temps better; however, after relizing water pressure wasn't full, now I am concerned. <BR> <BR>RPM was at idle 600rpm the entire time. Any possible damage, and what needs to be done? Engine is a mercruiser V drive.

boarder_x 05-15-2006 6:20 PM

Joe, actually I have found half on is fine. Sure you would want more water, if you rev the engine, but first, you aren't supposed too, and second you say you didn't. ... I'd say you are fine. <BR> <BR>Peter, I know what you are saying, but was you motor completly dry? RamG's motor had just come out of the water. So there was some water in the chamber to lubricate the vanes. I'm not saying he's ok, but hopefully he didn't do the damage that you did. <BR> <BR>Also, I have been told that I/O's are ok, if you run them for 8 sec without water. Don't know who came up with that number, but that's the "magic number" running around.


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 11:52 AM.