spare part at home....

[destroyer_85_golf]

I Bought a 40 hp johnson out of the junkyard the other day with power trim and tilt. turned out the lower unit was good and the powerhead had 120 and 123 pounds cold. was super excited because i have a dead cylinder on my old motor. anyway i switched all the parts including the power head to my engine and kept the other lower unit for a spare. while hooking it all up i blew a fuse. I didnt have any since they are a odd size, so i went to auto zone and bought a pack of them. replaced the blown fuse and went on my way. my dad has a 50 hp evinrude so i gave him some of the fuses too " just in case " i was going to tape some of the extra fuses under the cowl. BUT dad says hey get a water proof box. so i put the fuses up and waited till the next time i was in town to pick one up..... i never did and today out on the river i go to start the motor and nothing....... blown fuse. %@(* it. Its 2pm dad the only other person i know who has a boat wont be home for another 4 hours. TOTALLY AWESOME... i finally decided that i would just cut the fuze holder out and wire them together so i could get home. Just wondering what other stories people had about having spare parts at home and being stranded.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: spare part at home....

You are lucky you did not have a fire. Bypassing a fuse is pretty risky.

I am sure there are all kinds of stories of folks who left the spares at home. How about some stories about repairing a major engine problem with minimal supplies, "Macguyver Style"?

 

[steelespike]

Re: spare part at home....

I used to wrap a fuse in the foil liner from a cigarett package or the foil from a stick of gum.
This would get things going but would still blow with an over load.
At the cottage I repaired a starter brush with a piece of soda can.

 

[destroyer_85_golf]

Re: spare part at home....

the problem ended up being a bad starter solonoid but, just wanted to hear some other macguyver fixes

 

[5150abf]

Re: spare part at home....

I replaced all my fuses with breakers so when you blow something you don't run through a whole package of fuses to figure it out, not a fuse to found on my whole boat.

I had an old Johnson 9.5 that would pop out of gear so, being an idiot, I just jammed a pack of matches in the shift lever, that is until the clutchdog finnaly went out completely.

Had a solenoid go bad on the water and used a lantern handle to jump it and used a key ring for a shear pin on my buddies boat once, there is normally a way to rig anything but jumping a fuse is a really really bad idea and you are lucky you didn't fry something

 

[destroyer_85_golf]

Re: spare part at home....

the starter solonoid ended up going out on it the next day i dont know if thats what caused it to blow a fuse but i replaced the starter solonoid and the fuse holder and it is working fine.

 

[destroyer_85_golf]

Re: spare part at home....

i should probably just quite trapping while i have a boat left........ Today i was backing up and hit a log, wasnt going that fast so i didnt think much of it till i restarted the motor and it was making some horible noises and would not go into gear. Had dad come tow me home only to find out that the shift dog had exploded and taken out the case and output shaft. totally awesome new years to me. luckily i still have the lower unit i got off the junkyard motor so i tore it down re sealed it today and put it back on my motor. fur prices are just not enough to warrant this kind of outboard abuse.:facepalm:

 

[glenner]

Re: spare part at home....

i have a 50 evinrude, blowing fuses......found a short in the controls....it took a bit of time to open the control unit up, but i then found the broken connection, which caused the blown fuse.....cleaned and lubed ...now its like new
hope this helps
glenner

 

[Chris1956]

Re: spare part at home....

No more McGuyver-type fixes? I was hoping that someone would describe how their I/O fan belt broke while on a boating trip, and they fixed it with a stocking from one of their passengers, who just happened to be an exotic dancer, or something equally inventive.

 

[robert graham]

Re: spare part at home....

Well, last week in florida my Tanaka 3HP kill button quit, and I learned to just stick my thump in the carb intake to shut it off!...in the boating business it helps to be resourceful, carry tools and spare parts, and pray a lot!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: spare part at home....

Thump?

 

[destroyer_85_golf]

Re: spare part at home....

i know chris1956 i was hoping for the same thing.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: spare part at home....

Didja know that the underwire in a big bra can work as a shear pin? Rather than carry spare shear pins after that, I carry busty ladies.

As for blown fuses, I (and several mechanics) spent almost 2 years, and replaced lots of parts, to find that the 20A fuse (starter, PTT) was blowing due to the steering wheel workings touching the power terminal on the fuel guage.

I've spent my life "McGuyvering" stuff in the various old boats I've used, especially cranky old ones at the hunt club. Because it took two people, I had to teach my 6 year old daughter how to use jumper cables to bypass a bad starter switch. One night I had locked-up steering but had to get out to the island, so I disconnected the steering, tied a paddle to the 70 to make a tiller, and headed out!

I believe the best repair kit/tool box is not so much spare parts but things you can use to make them--bailing wire, cable ties, electrical wire and clamps, etc.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: spare part at home....

HC, I agree that busty ladies are much more important to have on board, than extra shear pins. The last shearpin drive I had used a 5/16 pin. I am not sure an underwire could replace that one, however, it would be fun to try to make it work.....

 

[steelespike]

Re: spare part at home....

When my mother was 16(1926) my grandfather bought her a new red Oldtown canoe which she promptly put a tiny hole in.
She fixed it with nail polish.As it grew older it developed more holes and My grandfather being a make do kind of guy
would just trowel on a little roofing cement. So the boat developed a measel effect. Finally near the end around 1960 it was comepletely black and a bit heavier.We soon gave it to a boy scout troupe they fixed it up and used it for years.

 

[robert graham]

Re: spare part at home....

When my mother was 16(1926) my grandfather bought her a new red Oldtown canoe which she promptly put a tiny hole in.
She fixed it with nail polish.As it grew older it developed more holes and My grandfather being a make do kind of guy
would just trowel on a little roofing cement. So the boat developed a measel effect. Finally near the end around 1960 it was comepletely black and a bit heavier.We soon gave it to a boy scout troupe they fixed it up and used it for years.

I reckon that roofing cement was sorta like the tar or tree sap the indians used to patch up their birch-bark canoes?...Hey, whatever works!...I'm still sealing the rivets on my aluminum canoe with little blobs of 3M weatherstrip Adhesive....