Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

[kcamacho]

Hi guys and gals.

I am hoping to maybe get some ideas on what I should do. This may get a little long winded and I apologize.

I recently purchased a 1985 bayliner with the 260 Volvo and 270 outdrive. Bought it without a test drive due to space limitations all I could do is rev it at a dock. Engine sounds good and revs up fine but when underway at about 1000rpm if I try and throttle up to get on plane at about half throttle it bogs then sits at 2000rpm at full throttle i can slowly accelerate and it wont bog but still cuts out at 2000 rpm Since then I have talked to the guy who sold it to me and learned the following.

-PO changed the 270 outdrive to another 270 because a line ripped his prop seal on the original. I know there are 3 different 270 outdrives with different ratios and he doesn't know which is on there. Is there any way to identify gear ratio without removing the drive?

The prop is defiantly to small for the boat the manual says it should be a 15x19 and there is no way it is. So first I am going to get the right prop on there and see what happens.

Not sure if the small prop would cause the motor to cut out at 2000rpm I figure it would spin up and rev way high.
I have heard the auto choke could have been stuck closed causing the bog but I don't know.

I know I am stupid for buying the boat without testing properly so let's get that out of the way lol

Any help would be great

Thanks

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Besides checking on the ratio and the prop, I would make sure the engine is working properly.

1) Check compression
2) Do a full tuneup including changing fuel filters.
3) Make sure the fuel is not stale. If you don't know the condition of the fuel, you may want to run from a portable tank as a troubleshooting step.
4) Make sure the distributor is advancing properly.
5) Might consider a carb rebuild.
6) Check fuel pressure from the fuel pump.

 

[kcamacho]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Thanks for the tips. I had a full tune up on the list of things to do buy I will test on portable tank to rule out fuel issue.
Any idea how to find gear ratio on a 270 out drive?

 

[dypcdiver]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

I seem to remember a post in the Prop section regarding finding the ratio.
If the prop is too small then it should over rev easily.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Edit: Please don't direct people away from our site. Thanks.

 

[beermak]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

as they said start working on the engine... seems something is not working right.

dont worry in feeling stupid, we all felt the same on our first boat!

first you buy, then u break some thousands and then you enjoy. No such thing as buy-enjoyment seen so far.

 

[kcamacho]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

I seem to remember a post in the Prop section regarding finding the ratio.
If the prop is too small then it should over rev easily.

I did see that post thanks. You can turn the motor 1 revolution and see how many times the prop spins around.

 

[kcamacho]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Edit: Please don't direct people away from our site. Thanks.

 

[kcamacho]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

as they said start working on the engine... seems something is not working right.

dont worry in feeling stupid, we all felt the same on our first boat!

first you buy, then u break some thousands and then you enjoy. No such thing as buy-enjoyment seen so far.

Thanks for making Me feel better. I was stupid and trusted the seller. I am to honest with people so I assume karma will give me the same back but I got bit in the *** on this one.

Thanks again

 

[mopower440]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Don't be too upset just yet. Good chance its something simple. First make sure the throttle cable linkage is adjusted right and actually opening the throttle all the way, sounds like its not. I have the same boat and engine and love it! Also, make sure the timing is adjusted right.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

I wouldn't be too upset yet either. Do the compression test to get the overall health of the engine and, if its good, the rest is just troubleshooting and fixing the issue.

 

[Walt T]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

I was officially stupid years ago. Still am.

 

[MRKG]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Welcome to my world. LOL. My 2005 Larson I just purchased had a bent propeller shaft. Prior owner smashed the lower end and had it welded and repainted. I took it to a reputable mechanic who tore drive apart and noticed welds inside of housing. Good thing was the weld job was good (Past pressure test) and lower gears were in good condition. Running good now. Just have to adjust to So Cal altitude. Super clean rig though. Prior owner was going to send service records but the situation was getting ugly. Denied everything. Had nasty thoughts in my head but my good judgment prevailed. I wrote it off as my fault. Good luck!

 

[frantically relaxing]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

I remember when I decided to trade my then 2 year old '79 Galaxy 17' Bowrider with a Volvo 4-banger/270 drive straight across for a '77 Kona minicruiser with a 460 Ford/Berkeley jet. I didn't have time to water test the Kona, but I did fire it up in the guys garage. She rumpa-rumpa'd very VERY nicely, music to my ears!

Funny how showers and garages make 'music' sound better than it is-

When we got it in the water, first thing I noticed while starting was the "high-note" during cranking-- uh-oh, low compression on one cylinder... She fired and ran kinda okay, but one cylinder was definitely dead. I was also noticing some weird things going on with the oil gauge...As we idled out, we heard amongst the exhaust note a bit of a growling noise, hmm. When we got out and I put my foot down, she wouldn't get on plane. We got it back on the trailer, and we determined (for the moment) the growling noise may have been a dry bearing. And finally, the bottom of the bilge was getting covered with oil...

I felt pretty officially stupid! What I bought was a turd that had been sunk in a salt water punchbowl. The dead cylinder turned out to be #7, where somehow BOTH the intake AND exhaust pushrods ended up broken and sitting in the valley, along with one of the lifters, which explained the oil gauge readings. The growling was partly due to the bearing, since all that was left was bits and pieces of what used to be the bearing. The rest of the growling turned out to be jet's impeller hitting the side of the pump housing, because of whatever got sucked up that cause the main shaft to bend and apparently taking out the bearing at the same time. And the oil on the bottom of the bilge turned out to be from the rusted out oil pan...

SO- We pulled the jet off, pulled the motor out in my neighbors garage- replaced the pushrods (about $12) got a new used oil pan ($10 wrecking yard), checked the bearing clearances while I was in there (funny, they were just fine), took the pump shaft to a machine shop that straightened it out and trued it up (a whole $35), smoothed out the rough edges of the impeller and housing with a little sandpaper & such, put it all back together by the next weekend, and we used the $#!* out of it the rest of the summer, and had an absolute BALL! Really enjoyed that boat...

Hopefully your boat is just in need of a few relatively cheap fixes, good luck! :thumb:

 

[ericga]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Check your firing order and timing advance.

 

[dennis461]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Besides checking on the ratio and the prop, I would make sure the engine is working properly.

1) Check compression
2) Do a full tuneup including changing fuel filters.
3) Make sure the fuel is not stale. If you don't know the condition of the fuel, you may want to run from a portable tank as a troubleshooting step.
4) Make sure the distributor is advancing properly.
5) Might consider a carb rebuild.
6) Check fuel pressure from the fuel pump.

This looks like a proper list.
Don't worry about gear ratio or prop pitch/diam just yet.
Since it rev up OK in the slip, check the timing there at idle, and at higher RPM, make sure it advances.

I take my carb OFF every year, clean it out and keep it indoors in winter.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Well boys I am officially stupid. Bought a boat that doesn't work.

Check your firing order and timing advance.

Yes...firing order! Missed that one!