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bigturk_80

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Everything posted by bigturk_80

  1. Anyone out there know of a 22ft Islander that maybe doesn't run, or has been decommissioned, and still has the button snap on top? By top, I mean shade top with the aluminum frame. If so, please shoot me a message! 905-321-93twozero
  2. So, when do most of you guys start up your inboard motors for the first run of the year?? I'm anxious to get tuning it for the season, but don't want to risk a freeze up.
  3. Guys, I put this here in hopes that it would generate a couple leads for me!! I need to find a top for my starcraft 221v islander. A member had one for sale a couple seasons ago that I missed out on. Anyone know where there is one kicking around? I don't care about colour. Kevin
  4. I'm only looking for an aluminum boat, thanks. I want the ease of trailering, lightweight, and I winter fish in the niagara often. Ice is not friendly to glass.
  5. Just throwing this out there to see if I get any interest. I have a nice 22ft Starcraft, aluminum, 4.3 mercruiser. Great trolling boat. Thing is, I'm starting to lean towards having a boat I can use year round. Looking to pick up an all purpose, 18-19ft aluminum, outboard. I find I'm only fishing on the calmer days now, and the big 22ft hull just isn't needed anymore. Pics available if interested.
  6. Pick up a fishhawk TD, it's only twice the cost of the trolling book, and it answers all your questions...........at all speeds.
  7. Alpha one, with a 4.3 mercruiser. When I trim the lower unit up (way below the trim limiter position) my motor begins to have a hard time idling?? With lower unit all the way down, idles smooth. If I trim up a bit, like coming into a dock, the idle starts to chug and wants to stall. Recent work included new bellows, gimbal, and engine aligment. Had a bit of a vibration, so I took it back and had a marine mechanic re-align it. He said the alignment is bang on.
  8. Guys, I just completed a transom replacement on my 22' Starcraft. Thinking the gimbal bearing install and engine aligment should be done by a pro, I opted to take it to a shop. Bearing was installed, and engine aligned. The outdrive did seem to go on nicely. However, I noticed the outside of the bearing, the outside edge, had hammer marks all around it. This concerned me because I thought they are installed with a proper tool. I take my boat out for the first ride of the year, and it's vibrating very noticeably. Anywhere from 1500 rpm and higher, and it's a consistent vibration. Does not matter if I go straight or turn. Now, I noticed my engine was idling somewhat rough, like it was missing on one cylinder. I check my plug wires and found one cap ripped. I am going to replace that now. My question: What normally causes this type of vibration? Could a plug wire arching cause an engine vibration? Other than the idle, the motor seemed to run good other than the vibration. No loss of power or throttle response. Is the marked up gimbal an indication that it was improperly installed? It's a 4.3 mercruiser (1989) with an alpha one.
  9. I'm thinking it was just my bonehead move of testing it out of water. Everything I'm reading now says never to do that. I'll try it under load and see what happens. I did test it without it running, by shifting it into forward, neutral, and reverse. Prop locks when trying to turn prop CCW while in forward, and locks when trying to turn CW in reverse. Spins freely in neutral. It does spin and do the clicking noise when I spin it CW in forward, or CCW in reverse which I'm reading is normal. However, it seems much stiffer when doing the clicking sound in Forward gear. In reverse, it doesn't seem as stiff when turning it, and it seems to "click" easier.
  10. Hey guys, So I just re-did my Starcraft Islander transom and floor, which required engine and outdrive removal. Replaced everything while I was in there, gimbal, bellows, gaskets, etc etc... Had the engine properly aligned at a shop, and the outdrive slid right on like butter. I also had the shop set up my shift cable, just to make sure everything was good. So, I hook everything else up, and prep the motor to test run with muffs on. Prior to starting, I checked to make sure it shifted smooth, which it seemed to do. The prop locks up in gear, and free spins in neutral. I fire the engine up and it's running perfect. Click it into forward and it shifts smooth into gear. Go back into neutral smooth. Click into forward again after a couple minutes and it seemed to make a bit of a bang noise, louder than what I ever remember hearing when putting it into gear. The motor stalled. Put it back into neutral and it started right up no problem. What kind of issue am I looking at here? Shift cables need to be tweaked a bit? Are alpha ones fairly loud going into gear when out of water? That's the first time I ever shifted it out of water.
  11. I'll dig at it over the next couple nice weather days. I'll go over my starter wires and grounds with a fine toothed comb and check all my connections. It's didn't melt my negative wire, it melted the connector that clamps to the post. On another note, my starter looks like it's got a bit of black crusty build up at the one end, like it may have gotten hot at one time. Who knows, this thing did some funky stuff at the end of last year, I'm sure I'll find one or two things that need changing. I do remember towards the end of the season, if I turned the key sometimes it would just click, and sometimes it would turn over. I just chalked it up to the whole battery issue.
  12. What are some common causes or areas that may cause shorts? My battery terminal burnt after my alternator was already replaced. As far as I can see, I only have one ground that runs from the engine to the transom assembly.
  13. Any opinions on this? I have a 4.3 mercruiser in my 22' Starcraft, and at the end of last season she melted the negative terminal on my battery. What would cause this? I took the battery in and had it tested, and it tested bad. It was replaced under warranty. Strange thing is, I had an alternator go bad last season, on that battery. Would a bad alternator fry a battery, which then caused the melted terminal on that battery? I'm just in the process of re-installing my engine after re-doing my transom, and want to whip this problem now before I get it back in the water.
  14. They're decent motors, they just have a poor oil delivery design. There is no reason to cut the oil mixture back so far at low rpm, I don't know whey they ever designed it that way. I'd rather have a bit of low speed oil load up and a bit of smoke over a rebuild. On that note, I have a perfectly good VRO oil pump if anyone wants one!
  15. This exact same thing happens with my 4.3 mercruiser every other few seasons. What fixes mine EVERY time is the impeller plate and housing. Not only does the impeller slightly wear, so does the plate it sits against. Many people only change the impeller itself. If you are changing an impeller, always do the entire kit, because the plate wears too, so slightly you can even really see it. What mine does is this.... It runs at 140 perfectly at any rpm over about 800. If it drops below that rpm, the temp slowly creeps up into the 200 range, maybe even higher if I let it go. After changing the impeller and plate, she trolls at 140 no problem for another 100-200 hours, then time for another impeller job. I used a little trick to test mine. I disconnected the raw water line at the circulating pump. Hooked a hose up to the circ pump and left the raw line disconnected. Put my outdrive in a big bin and ran it at different rpms. At idle, the water would hardly pump out of the disconnected hose at the engine. At any rpm over 800, out she came. This test can help you eliminate your recirc pump as part of the problem.
  16. I had an older model VRO, a 115hp that I disconnected the oil pump on. The motor gave me great years of service after that, and is still running for the guy I sold the boat to 4 years ago. The problem with the VRO's is the design itself. Variable Ratio Oil means just that, it's getting a different rate of oil at different throttle settings. All other oil injectors basically mix the fuel at a ratio of 50:1 no matter what throttle setting you are at. With the VRO, you can be running as lean as 100:1 or even less at idle to 1/4 throttle setting. Personally I'd rather foul the odd spark plug than have to replace pistons and crank seals. If you keep the oil pump, and continue to run it as it came from the factory, I would recommend not staying at idle to 1/4 throttle for very long at any given time. Get it up to a higher throttle so it's getting that rich mixture.
  17. Thanks for the input guys. I got everything taken apart nicely. Fortunately, no cutting was needed. A few minor non-structural rivets needed to be drilled out to get the rear aluminum up. Lifted the old transom straight out with the engine hoist, which made for easy work. Found a great deal on 3/4 marine ply at Thruway Hardwood in Cheektowaga, and now I'm about to slap it all back together, with fresh bellows, gaskets, and gimbal bearing.
  18. Hey guys, I have a 22ft starcraft islander 4.3 I/O that is due for a transom replacement. The boat is otherwise in great shape, so I'm willing to put the work in. Does anyone have any past experience with this job on this particular boat? Approximate cost of the job? And most importantly, can anyone suggest a very reputable guy to do it? I don't mind doing all the grunt work to prepare the boat, but I'd like someone knowledgeable to do the actual transom replacement. Thanks! Kevin
  19. I like that the "up to the gills" report covers both sides of the argument too. I mean, it's not telling you to stop eating fish, it clearly says it's beneficial to eat fish. I think it's just saying moderation. Other than paying for your own private test of fish you have cleaned, no body will be able to tell you if it's safe or not safe. I'm sure every other food we eat is contaminated with the same compounds to some extent. It is pretty alarming to read just how much volume of toxins are flowing into those lakes every day though, especially that one reference to mercury. Hard to believe that much mercury makes it into the water. I eat fish whenever I feel like eating fish. I choose not to give it to my little guy, but that's a personal choice.
  20. Here's a good report titled "up to the gills" put out in 2009. Read it, and make your own informed decision. http://environmentaldefence.ca/sites/de ... 0Final.pdf
  21. Sorry, but where do I find this bracket offered by "L&M" ? Is this a private listing? A business? It sounds like something that would work for me. The price on that JRM one is a bit scary for me.
  22. Guys, I need to upgrade, and do some work to my current kicker motor setup. I have a 22' starcraft, and I'm looking at different options of setting up an 8hp merc 4 stroke. It does not have power tilt, trim. Currently, I have an adjustable bracket, but hate it. Now, I've seen guys post about the solid bracket by adventure marine, but that would require power tilt and trim on the kicker. My question is, is there a GOOD, durable kicker bracket that has some sort of electronic power tilt on the bracket itself? If not, I could go the route of buying both the adventure marine bracket, along with a power tilt unit for my motor, but that's a ton of work and money. Ideally, I'd like to find a bracket that has power tilt and trim on it. That way if I ever want to slap my other 4hp 4 stroker for super slow walleye trolling on calm days, I can just swap it. Let's hear it!!
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