Boating Forum forum

We have an accepted offer on a 2008 Four Winns 338 vista. The boat has Volvo DPS-A outdrives. During survey we took oil samples from the drives. Readings showed high levels of iron and small amounts of water in each drive. Just trying to decide how serious this is and a reasonable path forward.

I have a 1978 Mercury 700. 130+/- compression. I have spark on 1 and 3. I have no spark on cylinder 2. . I'm sure there are several methods of process of elimination. . Here's what I'm thinking. Let me know if this sounds right Test 1 If there is Spark on 1 and No Spark on 2, swap the two trigger wires at the SwitchBox. If spark returns on 2, and now no spark on 1, it’s the trigger. If still no spark on 2, and there's still spark on 1, it’s not the trigger. Test 2 If still No Spark on 2... Read more

When the engine is running, any RPM, and I turn on the exhaust fan, bilge pump or trim, the engine dies and all electrical power shuts off. I turn the battery switch to off position then back to battery 1 or all battery and then I have power again and usually able to start the motor again. Sometimes the starter cranks for a quick second and power goes dead again. This just started happening and got it off the water immediately. Battery is only a few months old and is on a charger 24/7... Read more

Hello - this is my first time here and definitely my first time taking a motor apart. I’ve got a 2001 Mercury 40 2-stroke that came on a 1-owner grizzly Tracker I bought a couple months back. Ran it a few times and seemed to run fine. We took it out on the lake for a long day, pretty loaded down and ran her pretty hard and it was hot outside. Right at the end of the day it started knocking. I took it back out a week later and ran it really low and slow and it was still knocking like crazy... Read more

Here is a pic of my shore panel on my 1991 310 sundancer.In previous post I talk about I can't get water pump on.But I don't understand what some of these switches are for? The AC converter button,what does it do? The red waste system control switch and the little black button to the left of it that says head system.Do these work together?I know it discharges waste somehow but that is all I know. Then there is the reverse polarity light?What's that all about. The generator button turns on... Read more

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As it turns out my running problems which I thought were fuel system related really was a gradually failing ignition coil. I installed a known good coil and its starts and runs fine on the water hose. So because the coil I was using before was getting really hot I wanted to figure out if it was a bad coil or something else causing the oil to go bad. So I hooked up a voltmeter to the + terminal on the coil and checked voltage readings with it in the following conditions: Ignition on, engine... Read more

Picking this boat up Thursday for a great deal, engine runs good but cannot find what model, it's 16ft open bow. Any info would help.

I have a 1995 mercruiser Weber 9770s carb 5.7 mag alpha one gen 2 combo with the thunderbolt 5 ignition original engine serial number 0F423587. I had to install a new engine this year because the other one blew the head gasket and ate a gutter between 3-5. I went with a new vortec and i got it all together and took it out this past Saturday it felt like a turd and the spark knock is back albeit not as bad but I still didn't want to chance anything so I just putted into the cove and swam... Read more

Hello, I have twin engine boat with 2 x 377Mag Mpi Dts Axius. (S/N: 1A605669 & 1A605670) The problem i have with the starboard engine is that it fires up ONLY the first time of the day. What ever attempt i try during ex. 10time period, it will not fire up and it will flood. It will not start, even with WOT. The only way to start, is to disconnect the power supply of fuel pump and start the engine. It will start at the second attempt without throttle at all. The engine after it starts, runs... Read more

I bought a 91 sea ray 310 sundancer and can't get the water to come out any of the sinks or toilet.It doesn't have a switch in the shore panel area,all it has is a water heater switch. I filled up the tank and turned on the switch on the dash that says water pump and got nothing.Does it have a valve or switch in the engine bay area?If I can't get it working or the pump is bad how can I drain or force it out so it don't freeze up?It's 40 gallons.After I filled it up with water I found the... Read more

New member here, just bought my first boat. I knew it was going to be a project, but didn’t anticipate this. Long story short the previous owner left the boat docked overnight and somehow took on water; he took off the fuel pump and water separator looking for water in the fuel system but didn’t find any. He then moved and lost those two parts. Fast forward about two years of sitting and I buy the boat. I put a brand new fuel pump and water separator on, also get the carb professionally... Read more