How Problems And Aggravations Can Be A Good Thing.

[Way2slow]

Went out to run my 225 Ficht for a few minutes like I always do when it sits for a month or more.  When it sit's, I pump all the gas out of the tank, and every four to six weeks I put about a 1/2 gallon of gas in a jug with an ounce of SeaFoam and let it run about 10 minutes on it.  I sit the gas jug in the splash well, pull the tank hose off the primer bulb, stick a short piece of hose on it and stick it in the jug.  Eight years of doing this, I've never had to pump the primer bulb, the motor starts and runs just fine with the gas in the system.  A very simple process that doesn't take but a few minutes to do.   Well not today, it didn't want to start, so I pump the primer bulb some.  Still didn't want to start, so I pump it until it's a little firmer,  Then I see a small stream of gas coming out of the plastic webbing over all the wires and hoses.  Cut it loose and slide it back and some how, where the fuel hose was touching the rubber insulator it goes through, had reacted with something about it and there was a small, soft bulge in the hose and a small hole, so I pull cover off and replaced the fuel line.  While doing this, I see a small puddle of oil in the lower pan and I see where a hose on the oil pump is leaking, so I put a new OMC tie wrap on it and fixed that. 

 

OK, got all that done and so I should be good to go.  Tried to start it, nothing, didn't even click after it went through the self check, which this is nothing new, for years it has always done this on rare occasions, thinking it's just the shifter not making the neutral start switch, I could move it back and forth a couple of times and it would usually start, not this time.  The switch was loose also loose so it was wanting to spin with the key and figured just as well tighten it, nope, the treads had broken loose.  While screwing with the switch and holding with my other hand to keep it from turning, I found if I pressed against one wire, the motor would crank, but touch that wire another way, and it wouldn't.  A little more trouble shooting and found the terminal was loose inside the switch, so it was a bad switch that has always caused my random not wanting to crank.  Just ordered a new key switch. 

 

Ok, got it cranking, the leaking oil line fixed and the leaking fuel line replaced, she started up the second I turned the key.  While letting it run and since I still had the cover off, I just used the throttle linkage to rev it up to 2,000 rpm and hold it for a few minutes.  That's when I noticed the roller on the throttle cam has come apart and I need a new one of those,  That's a 90 mile round trip to the dealer.  

 

Went out there for a 20 minute task and two hours later, I'm still doing that 20 minute task, but much better to find all that in the back yard instead the lake.  

[cfalco]

It is a pain for sure but it is always better to find that stuff before you get out on the lake, I wont go through the list but just about anything can happen out there and I got something to fix it and get it back to the trailer.  Speaking of which I have carried large zip ties and duck tape in my boat tool box forever.  About two months ago I was out on my ski boat with a friend and when we got back I told him to stay in the boat and I wild fetch the trailer and truck.  I got in line at the ramp and got out of the truck to have a cig and check the lights while the rookies in front of me attempted to load their boat on their trailer.  Low and behold I notice the trailer looked weird.  One entire board that the boat would rest on when loading had fallen off the brackets and was just laying there.  I was like d**n it.  Of course it is midnight and pitch dark I get a flashlight and everyone of the 6 bolts on the brackets had broken off.  I went down to the ramp got the duck tape and wire ties put the flashlight in my mouth and went to work.  Got the board secured in position and loaded the boat and went on down the road. The next morning I got under there and re drilled new holes and got it back to the way it was supposed to be.   I think a lot of my friends, and I am guilty for sure, pay a lot of attention to their boats but not their trailer.  I grease and check the bearings on the wheels each year but never mess with more on the trailer.   I am going to put both of my boats on the lake, one at a time, next week and rebuild all the wood on both the trailers along with any and all hardware.  I also bought a can of that seal stuff you see on tv all the time and after I get all the new bolts installed I am going to coat the bolts and the bracket areas with that stuff.   This will never happen to me again.  

[Ski213]

I hate when I go to do this but then end up having to do five things, but youre right, way better in the driveway than at the lake and sometimes those aggravations are actually saving you.

Crazy how it sometimes works out like that. Literally just got off the phone with a guy who is losing his mind troubleshooting a 87 chevy 350. I told him a short version of when I had a hard to find problem on my truck. On a very aggressive test drive that occurred after fixing a problem that wasnt the problem, but a problem i didnt know I had, I blew the brake lines from the master cylinder to the abs module. That truck seldom rolls without something hooked too it. Had there not been the original problem those lines would have come apart with just the boat behind it, best case. After rolling around under the truck for several days replacing brake lines I decided to just button it all back up and take it to the mechanic for the first problem. Which I hate doing. I figure I should be able to fix it myself. I was getting ready to shut the hood and I saw what ended up being the original problem that should have been obvious two weeks earlier. Sometimes it just works out I guess.

[Fishing Rhino]

Some times, bad things happen at the best possible time.

 

I was docking my lobster boat.  The bow was headed into the slip, cut the wheel to starboard to kick the stern toward the dock, then put the boat in reverse.

 

The boat had just about come to a stop, as my first mate slipped the spring line over the forward port cleat.  A loud clunk from beneath the boat, and then the boat lost all propulsion.

 

The prop had fallen off, right at the dock just as the boat had been secured.  My first mate was also a diver, so he drove home, got his diving gear and retrieved the prop.  A short drive to the boat yard for a couple of prop nuts, and a half hour later, the boat was back in business.

 

Had it happened anywhere else I would have had to foot the bill for a new 2400 dollar prop, not to mention the potential for the wind or current to put the boat on the rocks.

[Fisher-O-men]

If tribulation results in patience, you must be a pretty patient guy!

[Way2slow]

No, I'm am not at all.  S**t starts flying if I get too aggravated.  My POS, 3/8" IR, Knuckle Saver air ratchet is still in the neighbors back yard where I sent it sailing last week.  That's why it aggravates the crap out of me to start something, and have to do five other things before I can finally get to the original task I started.  Which seems to be the norm for everything I do lately, but as the old saying goes, things happen for a reason, and I had much rather find those problems now, while the boat is setting some place where I have the tools and time to fix them.

[thomas15]

No, I'm am not at all.  S**t starts flying if I get too aggravated.  My POS, 3/8" IR, Knuckle Saver air ratchet is still in the neighbors back yard where I sent it sailing last week. 

 

This reminds me. Last weekend I wanted to move my air compressor 3 feet, install it on top of 4 x 4s and replace the water drain with a ball valve that extends out from under the tank for easy draining. Nothing went well and what should have been an easy 30 minute job took 5 hours. New regulator, new filter, a bunch of brass fittings and some 10/2 AWG romex.