The happiest two days of a boat owners life...

[GaryMB]

Are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells it. Well I bought my jet boat as a project last year around this time hoping to have it running for memorial day...yeah, right. Well i said it would be ready for memorial day, I just never said which memorial day :shock: . A year later (now), with a rebuilt and/or new everything (jet drive, interior, chevy 350, all linkages, cooling system, etc), I thought I would have the boat ready for memorial day. I took it out for a test run on the weekend with some friends, and it was kocking pretty bad. I retarded the timing some and it helped. Just after leaving the no-wake zone, I gunned it and the engine died. It would not turn over. So after getting a tow back and tinkering around in my driveway, I noticed that the CAM SPLIT IN HALF. It is (or was) a high performance crane cam. Now this really sucks. It is a completely rebuilt small block chevy that had not even been broken in. Does anyone have any idea as to what would cause this to happen? It had about an hour combined running time on it from various excursions where something always went wrong. Every day I work on this boat i learn more and more how true the saying is, "the happiest two days of a boat owner's life are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells it."

 

[mud4feet]

From Websters:

Boat - a hole in the water you throw all your money in!

Sorry to hear your misery - no help at all here. I have 2 kayaks - other than the medical bills, they don't cost me anything.

human-powered boater,
mud

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Probably the main reason I never bought a boat. Sorry to hear it, Gary.

Yeah, I've got a canoe, Mud, no expense there!! Although the human powered motor seems to lag towards the end of the trips.....

 

[bchcky]

RE: 31

if Jeep stands for "just empty every pocket" then Boat stands for "break out another thousand"

 

[jps4jeep]

that sucks! Get a row boat, I am sure the cam shaft won't go on that one! hehe

I grew up on water I feel your pain! we used to have a 72 Galaxy, OMC I/O when it ran, it ran great, problem was we spent more time fixing than using it, so we sold that POS back in like 86, had a couple headaches since then... I agree, selling the boats were a proud day!

 

[Special_K]

Hahaha. I used to have a 21' Yamaha jet boat. While I didn't have the mechanical problems, I was still glad to sell it. I don't live on the water so I was paying for storage, insurance, etc. every day/month for the relatively occasional times I would take it out. :roll:

Then I'd have to go through the drama of towing it to the water and launching it every time I wanted to use it...then putting it back on the trailer and hauling it back into storage. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was that much more of a hurdle to use it and have fun.

I agree with the old saying but I don't think the saying would be as true if you live on the water and could use a boat on a more regular basis and without as much hassle.

 

[GaryMB]

Update: I pulled the engine today with a friend and upon bolting it to the engine stand I noticed two holes in the oil pan, near the oil pump, comparable to holes a .45 would leave. Well of course I had to tear the thing apart because I just had to see what had happened. The engine was upside down and the first thing I noticed when pulling the oil pan was a piece of the cam with two lobes sitting on the crank. All around there were metal chunks, pieces of bearings and pistons, and, behold, half a rod. I think this is the most engine damage I have ever seen: thrown/broken rod, shattered cam, shattered pistons, pulverized bearings, smashed valves, and the list goes on. And there was water inside the engine too. I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry.

 

[Inspector-Gadget]

Ebay Rip-Off

GaryMB wrote:

Just after leaving the no-wake zone, I gunned it and the engine died. It would not turn over.

...and...

The engine was upside down and the first thing I noticed when pulling the oil pan was a piece of the cam with two lobes sitting on the crank. All around there were metal chunks, pieces of bearings and pistons, and, behold, half a rod. I think this is the most engine damage I have ever seen: thrown/broken rod, shattered cam, shattered pistons, pulverized bearings, smashed valves, and the list goes on. And there was water inside the engine too.

My guess: Hydrolock -- fairly common because of the way marine engines are cooled -- more common with salt-water boats.

Here is an example of a marine engine "raw water" cooling system. (There are variations on this scheme.) Water is drawn from the body of water in which the boat sits, pumped through the engine, then discharged back to the surrounding body of water. The discharged water carries away engine heat in the process.

As you can see, there are many engine mating surfaces just waiting for a chance to leak. It is also not at all uncommon for the exhaust manifolds, "risers" and misc. gizmos to corrode through -- especially in salt water -- thereby allowing water to flow into engine places where it should not.

There are also "closed" or "hybrid" marine engine cooling systems, but my guess is that a discussion of those cooling systems is irrelevant here.

Marine engines typically rust out; as opposed to wear out.

It is OK for a man to cry, with the proviso that he cries like a man: crying very loudly, shouting "Why me?" at the Heavens, swearing so fluently as to make a Marine Corps D.I. blush, throwing wrenches a distance of 100-yards and consoling yourself by ingestion of copious amount of beer are appropriate forms of behavior in this situation.

Schoolgirl sobbing, weeping, sniveling and nose-blowing are considered bad form.

Anger unleashed is good for you. :wink: Hence, the expression: "He swore like a drunken sailor."

Regards,

Dr. Phil Gadget

 

[Ritt]

Went wheeling, killed the Jeep!

Don't mean to laugh but I was brought up around boats on the water in CT and now living inland 20 miles, I see people get excited about buying a boat. I feel like I need to shake some sense into them but I have to let them find out for themselves. Later, maybe a year or two, they're like beaten dogs..............they can't believe what that thing did to them.

The only people that seem to hang on to boats are the ones who just have it serviced and never give it a thought. Big money.

I know just what you're talking about :wink:

 

[88Wrangles]

I've got a friend with a REALLY spendy boat and he has someone servicing it constantly. It's got twin Vette motors and they are constantly being torn down and being rebuilt/replaced. But, the boats never broken down while we've been in the water yet .


Actually, we blew one of the subs out there one time trying to show off in front of some girls...but that really wasn't a big deal (escpecially when you have five 15's to begin with 8) 8) )

 

[GaryMB]

Sensors and vacuum

Thanks for the consolence...I think I did loose a few wrenches over this :x. Actually the boat had a closed cooling system...but I did find a water leak in one of the exhaust manifolds, which is where I think the water came in. Anyway, the boat was really a group project. A buddy felt bad though and it ends up I'm going with him tomorrow to buy another boat. He's going to pay for it this time, so it'll be his, but i'll still get to drive it . This one is a 1994 21', in/out board, 4.3L V6, bow rider ski boat with low hours...I guess we'll se how this one does.

 

[Ritt]

RE: Thinking of Trading my YJ on this GT

Our rule of thumb for boat parts was always "quadruple the price and add $50 bucks" :wink: