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What a cool boat! Hope it serves you well.

I found a gallon of Seafoam that is probably four years old. I remember buying two or three of these when they were on sale real cheap. This one got pushed behind something and 'hidden.' Still good? I don't see any 'use by' date but I didn't expect to see anything. Was in the garage... in the storage period, a low of 0*F and a high of 112*F. EDIT: I found the answer... I guess it's good! https://seafoamworks.com/questions-and-answers/what-is-the-shelf-life-for-sea-foam-motor-treatment-solved/

I just went to Walmart and bought another 27 EverStart battery and also a lawn mower battery. A guy was there who rolled in with two used 29 EverStart batteries for his cores and I noticed the battery date tag said 2/17. I asked "Uh... did you get seven years out of those batteries?" He said "Yep, sure did!" So, that is amazing. An example of the EverStart doing well. He said he did keep them charged with his onboard charger.

Ok, good news for my brother and me. The store we have been buying e-free gas from for many years that I mentioned above... that I didn't know their price because I have not gone that way... I called them and yippee, their price is still best around. They only sell e-free gas, they have 87, 89 and 91 or so octane e-free. It seems that we have done fine over the years just buying 87 octane e-free gas. Their price is $3.59. The price at a store about 2 miles from them, for e10 87 octane is $2.90. So, our store has not changed their e-free pricing. To recap, the new convenience store that I mentioned that is in the other direction, their price is $4.09 for e-free; the store I stopped at in yet another direction the other day is the one that had the sky high (to me) $4.69. And they have never been anywhere close to that high. This store that has the $3.59 for e-free, they only sell e-free and it is the only gas station in that small town. So, anyone there, if they want gas locally even for their car/truck they will be buying e-free, and they would panic if they had to pay over $4.00, much less $4.69! So, I am assuming that his helps to keep their pricing 'reasonable' for e-free, since the general market there is filling up their cars and trucks with their gas. I don't recall ever seeing any store other than this small town store around here that sells three grades of e-free. When I go there, I always fill up several 5-gal cans. I used to fish that direction and I would fill up my boat but I don't fish that lake anymore, so, I am going to have to take even more 5-gal cans! Big difference between $3.59 and $4.69! (Although, I could buy it for $4.09 at the new convenience store that is in the direction I drive to fish.) 'Tis interesting to note prices in other parts of the country.

So, responding to your post, is demand in 2024 a lot less than two, five, ten years ago? Because the prices I quoted are definitely WAY higher than before. I have no idea why this is but a possibility is that "they" (these two sellers, anyway) have decided that they CAN charge it, so, they are. I suppose that there is also a possibility that demand for e-free HAS, in fact, decreased. The period, say, 5-10 years ago, even before that, people using small engines were being taught that ethanol is a disaster for their motors, but then didn't a lot of manufacturers change their fuel lines and gaskets and such so that ethanol would not be such a problem? Could be that the public is no longer as worried about ethanol. I wonder what percentage of boat owners use e-free? My boats have never seen ethanol but I wonder if I'm in the minority. I also have no idea what the percentage of e-free gas sales are for small engines and how much are for boaters. I also don't know the percentage of buyers buying for a car or truck.

I am shocked, have no explanation. My brother was telling me about a new convenience store on the interstate 12 miles away that sells Exxon. The good news was that they sell non-ethanol gas. Yippee! Then he told me the price. Regular e10 gas was $279 and non-ethanol was $4.09. I remarked that the e-free gas price is terrible, that we could buy it way cheaper at our favorite spot in the other direction from our town. (I now need to go to that store and see what the price is but it's a direction I don't normally go.) Little did I know... the next day I went yet another direction and went by the convenience store I have often bought e-free gas and it's always been a decent price relative to other stations. Not this time. Regular e10 gas was $279 and non-ethanol was $4.69. That is four-sixty-nine! What! FWIW and for reference, I think premium e10 gas was also $4.69. Why the heck would it be this high? That is almost $2.00 higher than e10 gas. On a percentage basis, 68% higher. That seems nuts. Seems like when we first started buying e-free gas, it was, like, 10% higher. I did a google search and found nothing that listed a price chart that also listed non-ethanol. Are you experiencing such a difference? I need to contact whomever agency that controls such a thing and gripe! Or is it the free market 100% at work? There oughta be a law, lol!

That is precisely what I was wondering... might it be dual purpose. I also just scrutinized it further, the battery label atop says 109 amp hours.

I'll add... my Humminbird fish finder has a glitch where it will display normally and every so often, a couple or few minutes, its scrolling slows to a crawl or it stops, and then it'll kick off again after a minute or so and it does this pretty much all the time now. So, maybe it is interference? Just thought of something... when I next have someone else with me, I could have him run the troll motor and I could view the console Humminbird 9 and if it does not screw up, I could ascertain that the Yamaha motor is generating interference with the Humminbird. I don't know how to solve that, lol, but a separate battery might? I would think fish finders don't need much of a battery. I have a Humminbird Helix 7 and a 9, 2019 models.

Thanks for your info. This battery I bought, I was using it to crank a 2019 115hp Yamaha 4-stroke and it's working fine, lol. But, this motor, you just touch the key, and the Yamaha fires up! This cranking battery setup is such that a lot of electronic gizmos are attached to this battery. Isn't that common to have the cranking battery do double duty? I guess some would have a 3rd battery? But I'd rather not do that. I have live well pumps, aerators, bilge pumps, 2 Hummingbird graphs.

If that's the case, then I could use that as one of the trolling motors for the Fortrex 80 lbs thrust trolling motor. And buy another just like it. Or, I could use it in a smaller boat I have that uses just one 12v trolling motor battery for a 45-lb thrust motor. And, if that's the case, I need to buy a cranking battery! Based on what you said, this confuses me even more, since the battery I bought, I bought it thinking it is a cranking battery since it says 750MCA (marine cranking amps).

As I age, I get dumber. I have confused myself. I bought a Walmart battery, thinking it is a cranking battery. All the markings... EverStart marine Deep Cycle Power Group size 27DC 750MCA edit: also says 109 amp hours I thought that 750MCA means "marine cranking amps," so, that indicates it's a cranking battery. Which is what I wanted. Is it that or is it for a trolling motor? Other than that, now I need trolling motor batteries for a MinnKota Fortrex 80 lbs thrust trolling motor. I read where I need Group Size 27 and 110 amp-hours. What markings am I looking for in choosing a trolling motor battery? Marine, deep cycle, yes. Are they marked with 110 amps or whatever? Looking at various websites, am confused! I have a local feedstore that has batteries (Powertron... I know nothing of this brand), and reasonably close, I can think of Walmart, Academy, BassProShops, Auto parts stores and an Interstate distributor/dealer. What do you know? Is there any you brand/model you prefer? I notice that the Walmart EverStart marine battery I bought says "1 yr warranty." Is that all? lol. I figured it would be longer, prorated. EDIT: The 17ft eXpress boat it's going into... the former owner bought the boat new with Optima blue-top batteries, dated May 2020. One battery charges up over 12v but one only charged to not quite 6v. Based on that sticker, they would be 4 years old in about two months.

I found the culprit -- bilge pump. It didn't make sense to me that during the sound, I could activate the lift with the manual switch. If something is calling the lift, why wouldn't it go up or down was my thought. So... I felt of the bilge pumps and one is vibrating during the buzz, so, I assume that it is that motor. Anyone have an idea why this would be occurring with the bilge pump? Do they do this when they are failing? There isn't any water in the boat. Well, very, very little. Almost none. Sidenote... there are several wires hooked up to the cranking battery. I happened to look into that mess and saw a loose wire that was not connected. However, it was not the bilge pump wire. I found the bilge pump wire and disconnected it. The unconnected wire, now connected, I will have to figure out what that is. Maybe it is the jackplate. I will go see. (Boat is next door.)

EDIT: 2: See my 2nd post below. Seems to be the bilge pump. EDIT: It's not the bilge or livewell pump, it's rear of the stern... it's the motor... or... I forgot there is a Talon stick anchor back there. But I activated the Talon and it doesn't make the sound this is making. I think it is the lift. But once, I figure out what it is, what would one do about this? Any idea why the lift would 'want' to activate? There is also a jackplate lift; I could not get it to raise/lower. Unsure if it needs the switchbank on, but I did turn it on to try. I've not used the jackplate lift in couple of years. = Yamaha 115hp Vmax SHO... boat is less than 5 years old. I fished yesterday, first day after winter storage. Everything fine but now with boat on trailer, I keep hearing a buzzing sound. It seems to be the hydraulic lift that tilts the motor. It comes off and on and makes this sound for 20-30 seconds. THEN IT'S OFF FOR SEVERAL TO MANY MINUTES. I dunno what it is other than that but it's possible it's a bilge pump? I have hearing loss, kind of hard for me to tell what it is or where it's coming from. I first noticed it last night and I poked around on the lift button and it went away and I thought that was it but this morning, it's still doing it, so, it might have done it all night! It's like it's trying to activate something, not necessarily a buzz. I also have pumps into the live wells but it sounds like it's in the back of the boat. Cranking motor has good charge. I ran down the trolling motors batteries pretty good, they may be at EOL. But I am not sure there is anything on the trolling batteries other than the trolling motor. Bought boat 2nd hand 3 years ago.

That might be a good solution except getting it to stick... on the 40hp Tracker/Mercury... the line itself is small. Whatever the critter is, again, it has to be able to fit into an ID the size of weedwhacker line. Another example is the red tube that comes on a WD40 can... that tube stuck perfectly up inside the water telltale line. I am not aware of any dirt/mud dauber that small, maybe there is one. But ants could sure do it. Ants are driving me nuts right now inside my house; we are in a 2-months-long heatwave from hell. Might set records for days over 100. So, it is dry, and it seems ants come into my house in a drought.

Why does it matter if I ask if anyone knows what critter does it? Love nature, simply curious. I have never seen any dirt dauber so small it could fit in a hole the size of weedwhacker line and would love to know what critter does it. You guys sure seem uptight.

Yep, I have been contemplating that very thing, even duct tape!

Too small for a dirt dauber wasp. This happened both of my bass boats recently! First motor was a 40hp Tracker/Mercury. I was just running it for maintenance and it would not pee. I finally saw that the pee hole was stopped up, stuck something in there and it was dirt and it came out easily. Just looked like dirt/sand. A few days later, decided to run my bigger boat with Yamaha 115hp 4-stroke. I did my usual pre-launch, unloaded and it cranked right up. Warmed up a minute or two while I parked the truck. Noticed no pee. Decided I needed to rev it some. Didn't work. Decided maybe I need even more, took off at low speed, ramping up to medium while looking at peehole. Nothing. I shut down and turned around and went back. Had to load boat, no way to get to the pee hole while in water. Same, identical thing, found dirt! And it came out like the other did when I poked something into it. Launched the boat and it ran fine and quickly, water was coming out the hole. Ran it around the lake a bit and went home. My location is loaded with dirt daubers, they build their mud nests all over my garage and in my sheds and barn. But these pee holes are small. Like weedwhacker line small. No way can a dirt dauber do that far as I know. I wonder if it is ants. I am also plagued by ants. I will add that dirt daubers WILL get into a motor, up under the hood through any opening big enough that a wasp can crawl into, and then build nests inside. I have seen that a lot. But I am talking about the pee hole, the telltale. Think this was ants or is there some other bug known to do this in a tiny orifice? I have added another item to the pre-launch mental checklist.

Does anyone know if you draw a lake down for a few months (over winter), will it kill hydrilla? A local lake is being overtaken by that stuff. Related, I see where a local lake is beginning drawdown today and the wildlife dept. says... " the drawdown is intended to boost lake fertility, allow for bottom oxidation, and to control aquatic vegetation." To boost lake fertility... ??? how does that work? Is it that some plant life will sprout and grow between now and late October (and that is good?), which is when they will put the plug back in? To allow for bottom oxidation... what is that for? Allow it to breathe or help with the thermocline or what?

I own ear muffs that you use with a water hose but did not use it, I used a large plastic barrel filled with water. I never put the motor into gear, it stayed in neutral but even at that, I wondered about circulation in the barrel. Imagining that turbulence might keep it from getting good water supply. I used the barrel because I figured it would be more realistic. I also did not run the motor at high RPMs. I said medium but my tach might be broke, not sure, but it was not a high throttle. My tach was giving a reading, of 1200 RPMs up to 1400 RPMs but then when I stopped, it didn't go to zero. Seems it should. Maybe it is just dragging.

How can one tell if the impeller is the problem? Can it be replaced or do you have to replace the entire water pump? The seller to me told me that they replaced the water pump. But that was several years ago. (Which is when I bought it.)

I did a search and found a thread where someone says a 4-cyl 1997 Mercury 40hp does not have a thermostat. (I am, again, assuming that my Tracker 40hp is made by and same as Mercury.)

It is a 1997 Tracker 40hp Pro17 boat. This motor looks identical to a Mercury of that vintage, I assume it is a Mercury motor. After sitting up (too long!), I now have it cranked. I finally got it to crank but it would not stay running, ran rough and finally just quit. This motor has been a problem child ever since I bought the boat several years ago, often, a problem to start and a problem to keep it running without it running rough. I disconnected the fuel line from where it goes into the gas tank and mixed up 1 gal of fresh, 93 octane e-free gas and added 3 oz of Seafoam (more than 'normal' can't hurt, right?) and also 2.6 oz of 50:1 2-stroke oil. The latter because I was not sure if the oil injection system would work and figured if it's working, too much oil won't hurt, just smoke a lot. Which it did. It wasn't but a few tries and I had it going good! It is now running great, seemingly smoother than ever, except... I first was not seeing water pee out and wondered where is the hole? I saw some ports in back and a little water was sputtering out but worried because it wasn't a pee. I finally located the water hose and deduced those ports in the back are exhaust? The water hose end fitting appeared to be a problem. I took the hose off the end fitting and the end fitting is toast, it looks like there is a very small rubber tube in there and it was rotted and was blocking water flow. I then cranked it again and it pee'd through the end of the hose a steady stream like I expected. Good strong flow. I ran it a few minutes at a medium clip and felt of the water peeing out and noticed that it's real hot. Is this normal? I watched it awhile longer and the motor RPMs fluctuated a bit up and down, slowly, and the water stream slowed and then stopped peeing a few seconds. Then it started peeing again normally. Then it slowly slowed down again. I got scared at that point and shut it down. I felt of the motor and it was super hot. Is this normal or should the flow be steady and not fluctuate? What about the motor feeling super hot? Also, there is a missing, round, plastic plug that is on top of the foot, I suppose water is going in there since the hole is open. Bad? I am concerned about that water discharge, worried about the water pump. Hopefully someone can answer those questions above. TIA.

We had bad weather a week ago, according to the utility, the worst in their history. Widespread power outages. They called in 2,800 linemen from other states. The populace was in dire straits without power for days and, obviously, the utility was under major pressure to fix it. A lineman, I think he was 37, died of heat stroke. Left behind a young family. From pics, appeared to be in "good shape" as far as that goes. I am sure death never crossed his mind when he went to work that day.

SOLVED -- It didn't look right that there is no large black cable on the negative. The large black cable on the lower right, that was not connected to the negative; connected it and it turns right over. Now to hope I can get it cranked, lol! Disregard the below. Yippee! = Ok, good info from all... say, if I turn the bendix gear by hand, if I turn it clockwise, it spins upward as it revolves, appearing to be how it would engage with the flywheel teeth. Turning it the counter-clockwise, it just spins. Now, when I turn the key to start, the bendix gear spins COUNTER-clockwise, it is NOT traveling upwards as it spins. So, first reaction is that this is the problem, that the cables are on backwards. When I put the cables on there when I got the new battery, I tried to be careful to put them on the same way they were on the old battery. If they are backwards, that's surprising. Below is a pic of my cables. If you know that this looks correct or what should go where, advise, please. TIA! Again, with cables as in the image, the bendix gear does not move upward as it spins. 1 - positive terminal 2 - negative terminal 3 - big black cable 4- small red cable 5 - small black cable 1 6 - small black cable 2 7 - master switch, after market 8 - positive cable for troll motor

As stated in the OP, it's a new battery and it's fully charged. As for tapping, as I also mentioned... get this... the starter has a decal that says "Do not strike this with a heavy object" or something to that effect, which seem to be warning against tapping on it! Why would they say that? I went to the boat just now, kinda dark in the barn, need to get a light, but I could see the starter but not identify the solenoid. I wonder where it is. The boat has just been sitting since it last started. No travel to jostle something loose. Well, I did move it about a 100 yards to the barn.