New way to leak an Alpha1

[Rick Stephens]

I've been sweating a little tiny leak on my newly built Gen2 with the V6. Only happens when running fast. Little tiny drip behind the engine. Never leaves even a cup of water, but has been mixed with grease last 2 trips.

This outdrive and engine were completely gone through with the attention to detail only a boat junkie can give his boat. All new gaskets and rubber, heck all new paint. Taken down and reassembled and inspected, measured, tweaked and double checked.

And it leaks.

So today got the wife to drive and cleared everything away to get my head and flashlight in the battery bay on one side and the hydraulic pump bay on the other. Can see almost everything from there. Absolutely nothing at 10 MPH. NADA at 15 MPH. Then 20, finally, a small drop of light brown water, dead center, in the v-cut at the bottom of the keyhole. Obvious by color it is mixing with the grease in the u-jopint bellows. But barely anything coming in and no noise like a CV joint makes when it is quisinarting the water.

Get it home and pop the drive off. Bit of water in the bellows. Not a lot as there is none in the u-joints when I pump grease in them. Inspecting EVERYTHING. It all looks perfect. New shiftshaft seals. Good water passage o-ring. bellows is perfect. Gasket actually was still intact, which never happens for me.

Inspecting the gasket up close I notice it is splitting into 2 layers. No kidding there is 2 gaskets in there. Absolutely had to come out of the package that way, standard Quicksilver Alpha1 leg seal and gasket set.

Only thing I can think of, and seemingly obvious after finding the paired gasket, is the water passage o-ring isn't compressing enough at high speed to keep the water out.


Put it together again and find out.

Oh, in th eprocess of this trip, we limited out with 50 kokanee salmon. First time I've done that in years.

 

[achris]

...

Oh, in th eprocess of this trip, we limited out with 50 kokanee salmon. First time I've done that in years.

50! You know what our fish limits are like? Try 2 fish per person. That's it, 2 fish in the 'prize fish' category... Oh and some of the individual species have a limit of 1 per person.

HERE is a link to our fishing regulations. Read them and weep. Really glad I'm not in the boating game anymore (retail side. Still use my boat, but it's getting expensive!). Shops going bust all over the place here. Mine, my current industry's going through a rough patch right now. Oil and gas. :facepalm:

Chris.....

 

[NHGuy]

Well if it was truly a double gasket it would have gaps. I hope you have your solution!

 

[Rick Stephens]

50! You know what our fish limits are like? Try 2 fish per person. That's it, 2 fish in the 'prize fish' category... Oh and some of the individual species have a limit of 1 per person.

HERE is a link to our fishing regulations. Read them and weep. Really glad I'm not in the boating game anymore (retail side. Still use my boat, but it's getting expensive!). Shops going bust all over the place here. Mine, my current industry's going through a rough patch right now. Oil and gas. :facepalm:

Chris.....

At least your regulation are simple and straight forward. You would not believe the angler regulation over the entire Pacific Northwest of the US. Very complex with variable dates set by fish counts through automated computerized passages around dams. All the states have biologists doing surveys both along the shorelines and at check stations for catch success and lack of. Every last detail of your fishing experience, for most 'ocean to fresh water spawn run' salmon fisheries, is closely controlled.

Then there is the kokanee fishery. Totally different. The kokanee is a landlocked sockeye salmon. They are raised and introduced into reservoirs and lakes that have the proper temperature and habitats. They stock these fish in the millions. Usually at three years of age the kokanee spawns and dies. And since they are a plankton feeder, the plankton content, temperature and predator base of the body of water determines size. Each year population and size can be radically different based on environmentals.

I'm blessed to live near one of the biggest reservoirs around, and one with a million or so 3 year old kokanee in it each year, more or less by hundreds of thousands, Some years we can catch a dozen or so 8 inch fish in a hard days work. This year we are blessed with beautiful 10-12 inch and the lake is full of em. Limit on any year on this body of water is 25 per person per day. Other bodies of water may be anywhere from 2 to 10, with about half the bigger lakes at the 25 standard catch limit. Almost any other fishery is far more closely constrained. But kokanee keep down algaes and are great food fish for large predator fish like Lake Trout. They can and do spawn and self sustain populations, but usually require frequent and relatively inexpensive fingerling hatchery support.

I'm smoking this batch and tonight will be canning them. Yum.

Rick

 

[Rick Stephens]

Looks like replacing the double gasket solved the leaking problem. I was a bit worried as in two weeks heading over to Monterey Bay for a week of rock cod, ling cod, flounder and sand dabbing. I don't do much salt water time and did not want to trailer 900 miles from Idaho with the boat leaking. My son turns 16 on this trip and we'll visit his grandparents in California. Looking forward to it. Only real concern now is how much corrosion my aluminum drive and intake will suffer.

 

[Bondo]

Only real concern now is how much corrosion my aluminum drive and intake will suffer.

Ayuh,.... Hope ya found yer weird leak,....

When I drag my barge up to Maine, 'n go boatin' in the brine,....
When I pull out that afternoon, I drag it to Chemo Pond, 'n splash it, 'n run the 'ell out of it,....
Full temps, 'n High speed flushes the brine outa there in fine fashion,....
Way better than a hose,....

You could drop yer barge into the 1st sweetwater lake ya find on yer way home, take a spin, 'n trailer back up, 'n be on yer way,....
Or anywhere along the way home, 24/ 36 hours ain't gonna hurt nothin',....

 

[Rick Stephens]

Ayuh,.... Hope ya found yer weird leak,....

When I drag my barge up to Maine, 'n go boatin' in the brine,....
When I pull out that afternoon, I drag it to Chemo Pond, 'n splash it, 'n run the 'ell out of it,....
Full temps, 'n High speed flushes the brine outa there in fine fashion,....
Way better than a hose,....

You could drop yer barge into the 1st sweetwater lake ya find on yer way home, take a spin, 'n trailer back up, 'n be on yer way,....
Or anywhere along the way home, 24/ 36 hours ain't gonna hurt nothin',....

Great idea. I was especially worried about the trailer. Nice tube framed Baker from early nineties. Real steel instead of bent sheet metal like they seem to do more of these days.

I have it set to pull the boat out every night and park in a KOA with a big pad and water. I'll be able to flush the motor using Salt Terminator every night. Then I think I know right where to take it on way out of California. Might even be good kokanee fishing - I'm an addict. If nothing else, driving right by the American River in Sacramento.

Thanks!

 

[redneck joe]

At least your regulation are simple and straight forward. You would not believe the angler regulation over the entire Pacific Northwest of the US. Very complex with variable dates set by fish counts through automated computerized passages around dams. All the states have biologists doing surveys both along the shorelines and at check stations for catch success and lack of. Every last detail of your fishing experience, for most 'ocean to fresh water spawn run' salmon fisheries, is closely controlled.

Then there is the kokanee fishery. Totally different. The kokanee is a landlocked sockeye salmon. They are raised and introduced into reservoirs and lakes that have the proper temperature and habitats. They stock these fish in the millions. Usually at three years of age the kokanee spawns and dies. And since they are a plankton feeder, the plankton content, temperature and predator base of the body of water determines size. Each year population and size can be radically different based on environmentals.

I'm blessed to live near one of the biggest reservoirs around, and one with a million or so 3 year old kokanee in it each year, more or less by hundreds of thousands, Some years we can catch a dozen or so 8 inch fish in a hard days work. This year we are blessed with beautiful 10-12 inch and the lake is full of em. Limit on any year on this body of water is 25 per person per day. Other bodies of water may be anywhere from 2 to 10, with about half the bigger lakes at the 25 standard catch limit. Almost any other fishery is far more closely constrained. But kokanee keep down algaes and are great food fish for large predator fish like Lake Trout. They can and do spawn and self sustain populations, but usually require frequent and relatively inexpensive fingerling hatchery support.

I'm smoking this batch and tonight will be canning them. Yum.

Rick

Something like this? Dad, circa early 1970s east of the Cascades , round butte, haystack, owyhee or somewhere

 

[Rick Stephens]

Something like this? Dad, circa early 1970s east of the Cascades , round butte, haystack, owyhee or somewhere

Yah.Great pic.

 

[Fun Times]

You may want to re-?familiarize yourself regarding Quagga Mussel boat & trailer inspections before planning any sudden trips to most freshwater waterways in CA. They really don't like to see a drip of water anywhere inside or outside of the boat during inspection and that includes when they ask you to lower the stern drive to see if water comes out of the water pickup holes. So be sure to try and drain/dry out the drive by lowering it down and shaking it a bit before heading in the gate.

http://www.dbw.ca.gov/BoaterInfo/QuaggaLoc.aspx

​Hope you have a nice, safe, trouble free trip.

 

[Rick Stephens]

You may want to re-?familiarize yourself regarding Quagga Mussel boat & trailer inspections before planning any sudden trips to most freshwater waterways in CA. They really don't like to see a drip of water anywhere inside or outside of the boat during inspection and that includes when they ask you to lower the stern drive to see if water comes out of the water pickup holes. So be sure to try and drain/dry out the drive by lowering it down and shaking it a bit before heading in the gate.

http://www.dbw.ca.gov/BoaterInfo/QuaggaLoc.aspx

​Hope you have a nice, safe, trouble free trip.

Good thought. I have inspection station to go through when I return to Idaho as well. I'll be doing a thorough washout every day. Thanks for reminding me about finishing that with a drain out.

Rick