fmaster360
Cadet
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2007
- Messages
- 6
Hello guys, I hate to have my first post be a question, but I don't have much of a choice. Around the beginning of summer I bought an old 1988 18' Chaparral I/O. The model is a 187xl and it has the 4.3l mercrusier. A while ago (about 2 months) I was out with some friends, running pretty good, little bit of a knock in the upper end, so we were cruising around easily because I would like to limp it for as long as I can and once again, I hit a wake. Its been a while since I've driven a boat because I used to be able to really hit wakes nicely without any bouncing or anything, but I don't know if its this hull, or just my lack of piloting, but I have gotten REALLY bad at it. Anyway, to give you guys a little bit of insight, when i first got the boat it was running iffy, and it seemed like it just hadn't been driven in a while. Me and my buddy took it out, armed with a couple of packs of smokes (for him, hes a whiner if hes bored) and just cruised around the bay for a few hours. We would give it some gas, run it WOT for a minute or two, then idle, and followed that same pattern for a while. while we were doing that, at first when it was wot for a little bit it would start slowing down, almost like the engine was over heating, but without getting hot, or the temp guage getting any hotter than normal. As the day progressed, it would run longer and longer, eventually, seemingly running indefinately. One thing we noticed though is whenever we would bounce at all, or hit a wave, it was almost like the fuel supply was virtually shut off, and the engine would surge and so forth, almost dying out (and letting it die out and sit for about 15 minutes seemed like the only thing to do).
back to where I was before... a couple months ago... it happened again. This time it didn't die out, but even when I tried to restart it later, MUCH later, it would still surge and wasn't able to keep a designated rpm. i even got pulled over on the way back to the dock, because the sheriff though I was drunk. I get the boat home, and I start it up to clean it out, and it does the same thing. it was ALWAYS fixed when I would start the engine up after a while, and it never did it the whole way back to the dock, and most certainly did not do it when I would clean out the engine at home.
bear in mind, this is a project boat, if I have to throw it away, i don't care very much, I paid 750 for the boat, and a trailer, and the trailer alone is worth that.
a few questions...
1. what the heck is wrong with the motor. i know that its days are limited, but it should still run consistant, and even though i don't expect it to purr like a kitten (actually idles pretty smoothly) I do expect it to maintain a decent idle, and definately not surge from 800 to 2200 and back down to around a grand very methodically...
2. i'm an idiot, and I got home from a horrible day at work and noticed the tarp blew off the front of the boat. I was mad at the boat, mad at my day and ignored it. it rains in florida in june and july, it rains alot. about 2 weeks later I go out to pull the tarp and clean it, and I realised there was enough water to have about an inch high above the floor in the bow of the boat. it was completely flooded. its since aired out, a little bit, and slightly dried.
what do I need to do before I even ATTEMPT to fix the original problem in question 1? do i need to oil any part of the motor/clean the fuel tank/pray to jesus... lol..
3. I hear a rumor that there is a sea tow membership package for like 150 bucks and it comes with free tows... I'm probably going to want some information about this, and some reviews if its possible, because I laughed like a hyena when my buddy at work told me that peice of fluff.
thanks guys, I hope to be around more, but if I can't get this thing running cheap, I'll prolly let it go untill next year when I can get something a little bit newer. I've got my eye on a nicer 23' '04 sea ray, and my wife has her eye on everything else. I don't think I'm gonna win it, and I'd like to have a boat that I just don't have to worry about too much.
P.S. just realised there was a how to ask a question thread, didn't see it before, but its also a merc outdrive. thanks again.
back to where I was before... a couple months ago... it happened again. This time it didn't die out, but even when I tried to restart it later, MUCH later, it would still surge and wasn't able to keep a designated rpm. i even got pulled over on the way back to the dock, because the sheriff though I was drunk. I get the boat home, and I start it up to clean it out, and it does the same thing. it was ALWAYS fixed when I would start the engine up after a while, and it never did it the whole way back to the dock, and most certainly did not do it when I would clean out the engine at home.
bear in mind, this is a project boat, if I have to throw it away, i don't care very much, I paid 750 for the boat, and a trailer, and the trailer alone is worth that.
a few questions...
1. what the heck is wrong with the motor. i know that its days are limited, but it should still run consistant, and even though i don't expect it to purr like a kitten (actually idles pretty smoothly) I do expect it to maintain a decent idle, and definately not surge from 800 to 2200 and back down to around a grand very methodically...
2. i'm an idiot, and I got home from a horrible day at work and noticed the tarp blew off the front of the boat. I was mad at the boat, mad at my day and ignored it. it rains in florida in june and july, it rains alot. about 2 weeks later I go out to pull the tarp and clean it, and I realised there was enough water to have about an inch high above the floor in the bow of the boat. it was completely flooded. its since aired out, a little bit, and slightly dried.
what do I need to do before I even ATTEMPT to fix the original problem in question 1? do i need to oil any part of the motor/clean the fuel tank/pray to jesus... lol..
3. I hear a rumor that there is a sea tow membership package for like 150 bucks and it comes with free tows... I'm probably going to want some information about this, and some reviews if its possible, because I laughed like a hyena when my buddy at work told me that peice of fluff.
thanks guys, I hope to be around more, but if I can't get this thing running cheap, I'll prolly let it go untill next year when I can get something a little bit newer. I've got my eye on a nicer 23' '04 sea ray, and my wife has her eye on everything else. I don't think I'm gonna win it, and I'd like to have a boat that I just don't have to worry about too much.
P.S. just realised there was a how to ask a question thread, didn't see it before, but its also a merc outdrive. thanks again.
