Dan Lorenze
07-17-2004, 07:37 AM
Yesterday I decided to go out to a local lake to GPS my boat just to see where I'm at. My boat has always had its engine cover on and I was curious to see if it would run any better without it. After my first pass at 55.1mph I noticed a squeeling coming from the engine (I probably wouldn't have noticed it with the cover on). Man, it sounded like a bad bearing, deep.. The first thing I checked was the alternator belt, It was hot and loose.... The alternator adjustment was all the way out and the belt was still loose. Thank god I had an extra belt and all the tools to replace it.. After that the 460 was as smooth and quiet as could be..
After changing the belt I decided to do another pass, I played all around with the diverter to get the best results for max MPH, no matter what position I was stuck at 55MPH.. The boat handles better with a nice 4 to 5 foot roost but no faster. Gotta love that GPS.. It keeps things honest...
After that pass I noticed that my engine compartment was filled up half way with water, I wouldn't have noticed this with the engine cover on....
:eek:
I was worried to say the least.... I was just praying that my Bilge pump could keep up with the leak, after 10 minutes my trusty bilge pump did its job and I decided to run the boat again. Sure enough the engine compartment began to fill...:mad: I had a leak and I couldn't find it... At idle the bilge could keep up and I made it back to the boat launch..
After pulling the boat out of the water I began to inspect the water inlet from the pump, I have a valve between the pump and the engine, the hose was broken right at the valve.. A stupid hose clamp cut the hose open....:mad: I repaired the hose using a piece of hose from the freshwater hose....
I've almost sunk my boat twice since I've had it all because of the water lines.. Once at Park Moabi when the freshwater plastic cap broke and now this split hose... Unbelievable how a little water leak could take down your boat..
I put the boat back in the water and she ran like a champ.. After a couple more runs at 55mph I noticed oil spilling out of my valve cover:eek: .. I've tightend the valve covers over and over and over again, "making sure not to tightend them too tight".. But oil keeps pouring out of the valve covers, and the oil fill cap too... Why would oil be coming out of the oil fill cap???? :confused: I'll look at that today..........
All I can say is, thank god I didn't have the engine cover on yesterday, you can hear and see a lot that's going on without it. Also, my throttle control isn't as good as I thought, with every wake my foot tapped the gas more than I could ever imagined..
Dan
After changing the belt I decided to do another pass, I played all around with the diverter to get the best results for max MPH, no matter what position I was stuck at 55MPH.. The boat handles better with a nice 4 to 5 foot roost but no faster. Gotta love that GPS.. It keeps things honest...
After that pass I noticed that my engine compartment was filled up half way with water, I wouldn't have noticed this with the engine cover on....
:eek:
I was worried to say the least.... I was just praying that my Bilge pump could keep up with the leak, after 10 minutes my trusty bilge pump did its job and I decided to run the boat again. Sure enough the engine compartment began to fill...:mad: I had a leak and I couldn't find it... At idle the bilge could keep up and I made it back to the boat launch..
After pulling the boat out of the water I began to inspect the water inlet from the pump, I have a valve between the pump and the engine, the hose was broken right at the valve.. A stupid hose clamp cut the hose open....:mad: I repaired the hose using a piece of hose from the freshwater hose....
I've almost sunk my boat twice since I've had it all because of the water lines.. Once at Park Moabi when the freshwater plastic cap broke and now this split hose... Unbelievable how a little water leak could take down your boat..
I put the boat back in the water and she ran like a champ.. After a couple more runs at 55mph I noticed oil spilling out of my valve cover:eek: .. I've tightend the valve covers over and over and over again, "making sure not to tightend them too tight".. But oil keeps pouring out of the valve covers, and the oil fill cap too... Why would oil be coming out of the oil fill cap???? :confused: I'll look at that today..........
All I can say is, thank god I didn't have the engine cover on yesterday, you can hear and see a lot that's going on without it. Also, my throttle control isn't as good as I thought, with every wake my foot tapped the gas more than I could ever imagined..
Dan