Mission accomplished. Picked up a 1992 18.5' Sunbird bowrider in need of TLC and some interior work but with a very good powertrain. OMC 4.3 V6 i/o. Chevy block, Holley carb, and electric fuel pump. Spent a day wet sanding the severely faded maroon gelcoat and it's looking pretty good! Got it for $1800. Sure there is some duct tape holding the interior together, but it floats
Took her out today and it was running like a top, until the motor just flat died out on the water (with the family onboard). Drifted in and beached it, fortunately we were only 30 seconds from the beach, and went to work diagnosing. Checked the stupid stuff first ... fuses and circuit breakers fine, cap and wires, ignition switch, battery, controls, etc. When trying to restart I found it would work for a moment after priming, so I suspected the fuel pump and wiring, not ignition. I had a decent toolkit but did not have any electrical diag tools, so I went to the truck and snagged my lighter power plug extension cable (which has an LED showing power), cut the plug, and stripped the bare ends to use it as a 12v test light. Figured out that for some reason the fuel pump must have stopped running. I think it was from some grease/oil on the main fuel pump relay. But to be safe I jumpered the pump direct from the battery and yay! she's alive.
Just about that time my friend Dennis motors up to give me a tow back to the ramp, and his engine quits. He finds out he's out of gas. Literally 20 feet away from me, when he idled up to tow me back. Good thing I just got my boat running....
At this point it's about 4:00 and some seriously dark clouds, and a lot of lightning are heading for us. I wanted to get out of the water fast, not looking forward to being in a hurry at the ramp since it's my first time.
So now I'm in a hastily repaired POS boat, my first time in the water, faced with the possibility of death by lightning, and I have to tow a boat to the dock at the same time 10000 other people are anxiously trying to get their boats out of the water. Did I mention that the winds are picking up pretty fierce?
Amazingly we get out OK but I made 2 rookie mistakes. First I was at a bit of an angle pulling on the trailer (did I mention the hurricane force winds?) and chipped a few spots of gelcoat from hitting the trailer at an angle. Then I pulled the boat out without trimming the damn outdrive up, scratching the prop in the process. Won't ever do that again.
A few beers later the trauma has passed, and now I want to go out again and try to do it the _right_ way
I'm going to wire up a fuel pump light so I can see whether cutout happens again, and be sure to bring adequate tools along for troubleshooting, jumpering, and making wiring out on the water.
In all it's a lot like going to the track -- someone's gonna break, someone's gonna hit something, but you make friends and everyone is willing to help. Big difference is that the kids and wife stay happier at the beach than at the track
Drama is fun, as long as no one is getting hurt!
Here's a crappy cellphone picture:
_________________
Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1
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