Boat engine removal, rebuild, refitting and first start

[LPGC]

Well done.

I test fitted my drive weeks ago, couldn't get it on at first but cleaned up the input shaft and the bit of drive that protrudes from the drive into the rear transom swivel and it went on easily. Removed it. Then the other day greased up the splines/shaft, universal joints, studs, etc and fit new O rings on the input shaft then struggled to get it back on. I expect the same problem you had with the O rings. Then I read that I shouldn't have greased up the O rings because if any grease gets under them they can't compress into the grooves as easily. I asked the question what's the purpose of the O rings, because it is the bellows that keep water away from the gimble bearing. The only thing I think the O rings might do is retain grease in the gimble bearing but my setup has a nipple on the outside transom stuff for greasing the gb anyway.

I rebuilt my tilt/trim pump but when I came to attach the pump to motor drive adapter (bit like a 3/8 to 1/4 socket adapter but with straight slots instead of square holes) wouldn't fit into the pump slot. Seems the 2 gears can be fitted in any position/orientation but one side has the correct slot for the adapter and the other side has a slightly smaller slot, so I need to remove some bits and refit them before I can put it all back together. Hopefully the pump still works after the rebuild (and change of most O rings for guestimated sizes) and hopefully that cures the leg falling issue. But I have rebuild kits for the rams which I might do, especially if the leg continues to fall. I expect it will be more difficult to rebuild the rams than it was the pump, at least in terms of effort to disassemble them.

[Gilbertd]

At least my tilt and trim pump and rams are OK so nothing to do on them. I've adjusted up the throttle and gearchange cables as per the book but it looks like the throttle opens before the gears are engaged which doesn't seem right to me. Other thing I've got to do is find a suitable diameter bit of pipe to fill the outdrive with oil (from the bottom drain plug and not the level plug at the top) and fill that. I've also got a sacrificial anode that I obviously took off but can't work out where that came from to put it back......

[LPGC]

I used a little pump that has attachments that screw into the drain hole, can't remember where I got it from (could be Repower) but it was cheap and has attachments that fit OMC, Mercrusier and others. In the past I've just used a best fit hose with an oldskool hypoid squeegy bottle, it wastes some that leaks past the pipe but if you put it in fast enough you don't lose much from leaking (but still messy). The pump is the best option,the attachments also fit the trim pump fill/vent hole threads so it's handy for things besides just filling the drive, I'm using mine at the moment to refill the trim pump. Also very handy for filling vehicle diffs and gearboxes in future...

There are loads of websites with diagrams showing locations on things like trim anodes etc, such as https://www.crowleymarine.com/

Edit - In the pic below I'm using the little pump to refil the tilt/trim pump which has the same thread as the drive leg drain plug hole.

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Had to remove the pump again... The motor ran but the leg didn't move. Then I wondered if it was because I disconnected everything with the rams in the down position (supposed to do it in the up position at least ideally) but when I disconnected the lines from the pump and there was no sign of any fluid in the lines I knew there must be something wrong. Tried running the pump both ways with the lines disconnected, still nothing came out of the pump line holes. Removed it, removed the motor, don't know if I fixed it by pushing some check valves (ball bearings accessible from the motor side) to loet some fluid past to prime it, or if I had the motor to pump 'adapter' (I mentioned last post) in the wrong drive gear slot. But made sure I put it back together with the adpater in the correct gear slot and that it didn't fall out of position when I fitted the motor, then tried it on a battery before refitting it on the boat. Knew it was going to work to at least push fluid both ways when fluid squirted out of each hole in turn (opposite battery polarity). Refitted it and it worked straight away. Have left it with the leg half way up (at a measured height) in around the same height from where it fell under it's own weight before the pump rebuild so I can see if it drops overnight (before Morat arrives in the morning).

[LPGC]

I was undecided whether to refit the rear trim before testing the boat but decided to refit it. With the rear trim refitted it'll be OK for anyone to come with me when I first test the boat, without rear trm fitted it limits the number of seats and leaves spinning bits of engine exposed. Only partly refitted the rear trim today.

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Edit - Forgot to mention, before refitting trim I fitted the V belt that drives the raw water pump.

[LPGC]

Used the boat on the river yesterday, very happy it runs well, just a few minor issues to sort (not engine related).

Copied and pasted the following that I posted on a different forum...

Got up this morning, had a big breakfast, did a few bits on the boat (that I had to do really) such as tidy up remaining tools, nuts and bolts, check the fill level and dipstick seals on the drive, refit the drive cover, temporary fit a trim panel that runs across the width between the swim platform and rear of the engine bay, secure everything (such as bimini / weather cover), fit the number plate to the trailer board, fit the trailer board, fit the road cover, go to the garage to get 5 gallons of super unleaded in a jerry can, pour jerry can into boat fuel tank. Doesn't sound much but it was 1pm before I'd got that done. Yes I remembered to fit the drain plug lol.

Easy launch at around 2pm, reversed at steady speed into the water then hit the brakes and the boat slid off backwards while the missus held onto a bow rope. Didn't get back home until around 830pm hence the late post. First thing I did after launching was make sure water wasn't p***ing into the bilge... A missing drain plug would be last of my worries if (e.g.) there was a big leak on the bellows or cooling system inlet.

Dropped the leg on the hydraulics, trim gauge working perfectly. Gave it a couple of pumps on the throttle, returned throttle to a slight opening / fast idle position, turned the key and it burst into life first attempt and sounded great. Oil pressure 40psi, all gauges working except the tacho (revounter) reads what I think is double rpm. Let it idle for a minute while I hand monitored water cooled exhaust manifold temperatures, all good. Forward and reverse gears engaged perfectly. I let the others come onboard and we cast off.

Loads of boats moored on the river in the area of the launch site so had to go steady past them (there's a supposed 5 knots speed limit and wouldn't want to cause much wake past moored boats) but would have gone steady anyway because the engine is newly rebuilt and needs some running in. Even going steady I kept slightly changing throttle position to vary the rpms/load a bit, it's best to keep varying rpm/load when running in a rebuilt engine.

After around half an hour an open bit of river, no moored boats or fishermen, slowly increased the throttle to around half throttle (still too early to gun it), easily up on the plain and up to around 30mph no problem and without ever going above maybe 2500rpm. Soon brought it back down to a slower speed again because it's still running in. The dash temp gauge did go from 140degF to around 180degF during the short bit of half throttle, that's not a problem if the temps really are 140 and 180 (I'm not sure the gauge is fully accurate) but the 40F increase was another reason I pulled it back. I think this will be normal but I'll be asking on boating forums anyway.

The hydraulics were working fine but I tried adjusting trim under load (trim up slightly on the plain) and didn't hear the trim motor run and it hasn't run since. I don't know what the problem with that is yet, worst case scenario a broken trim motor but could be something as simple as an electrical connection that needs cleaning up (the trim system gets power from an electronics box on the engine), a tripped circuit breaker (again one fitted on the engine just for the trim motor). I left the boat moored on the river for a few days and will be visiting it again sometime tomorrow so I'll take a multimeter and some wire in case I want to test by powering the trim motor direct from a battery (bypass all control systems and solenoids).

Stopped the boat a few times and checked oil level / condition. It's not as easy to check condition on the boat engine as it is with a car application because the dipstick tube runs under the sump... the oil you see on the stick will give you correct level but doesn't really tell you much about condition because the oil in the tube will probably stay new looking regardless of condition of oil in the sump. But the oil level was still bang on the top of the stick hatched area aftar around 5 hours of running, which is good. Obviously wouldn't want the oil level to go down but (obvious to mechanics) wouldn't want it to go up either as that could point to water entering oil (again would be difficult to tell on the boat because you can't tell much about oil condition by reading the stick).

Got to get the hydarulics / trim working somehow. It's OK in the fully trimmed down position for use on the river but I can't get the boat out of the water with the drive leg fully down (it will catch on the riverbed when putting it on the trailer or on the road if I managed to get it on the trailer). If the trim pump/motor assembly is broken there are 2 ways to lift the drive leg, either unbolt the hydraulic rams from the drive leg or disconnect the hydraulic lines at the pump/motor and manually lift the leg. Hope to find it's just a bad connection or broken switches/solenoids (which can be bypassed).

All considered I consider its first test a great success only let down by the trim system stopping working and to a lesser extent by the tacho reading double rpm. Plenty poke in the engine now, sounds great, no knocking noises etc, no unusual vibrations, it's supposed (by the boat maker) to be able to do around 47mph and it feels like it'll probably manage that but I'll only put it to the test when I've put more hours on the newly rebuilt engine.

[Gilbertd]

You're getting on better than me. After getting it in and fired up last weekend before the leg went back on, I hadn't touched the engine since then. Adjusted up the gearchange and throttle cables again and they seemed to be about right now, only time will tell on that one. The manual talks about a clutch so I'm assuming there is some sort of centrifugal clutch or similar in there that engages when the engine is running. Got the cold water header tank that I had rescued from my daughter's house when she had a combi boiler fitted and set about simulating a run in water. My outdrive has got two large 'wings' on either side so took them off so with a pallet, a couple of lengths of wood and setting the trim down low, I got it so that everything would be under water. I was a bit concerned that the engine block was going to be dry and although I'd fitted a new impeller wasn't sure how quickly it would fill the block so used my cheapo Amazon muffs to squirt water into the intakes. Now I'm not sure if water was going through the engine and coming out of the exhaust or if it was just what was leaking around the muffs that was filling the tank. So took one of the hoses to the exhaust off the thermostat housing and squirted water in there too.

Then decided the time had come to start it. Would it start? Would it hell. It would fire but not catch. Buggered about with it for so long that I managed to flatten the battery so put that on charge and called it a day.

That was on Saturday, so had another go at it on Sunday. Got a full can of petrol, a fully charged battery and had another look at it. Accelerator pumps in the carb were doing something so gave it a few squirts and tried it. It fired up, ran for about 10 seconds then died. Checked the (electric) fuel pump was pumping, the filter into the carb was clean and took the top off the carb to be greeted with a float chamber full of crud. Cleaned that out, got the main jets out and blew through them and put it back together. Now it will start if given lots of throttle but won't idle so I suspect the idle jet is clogged too which is going to involve taking the carb off and stripping it completely. I'm suspicious of my rev counter too, it screams up to 3,000 rpm but it doesn't sound like it is revving that high to me. My neighbour's Snap On timing light will also display rpm but having set the timing last week I'd given it back to him and now he's buggered off on holiday for 3 weeks so can't use that to check it. Was just about to remove the carb to get it on the bench and rain stopped play, so covered it all up and gave it a rest.

So I'm getting there slowly but very slowly. Fortunately I've not got any AC installs in the next week or so (not got warm enough for people to want it installing yesterday and no longer cold enough for people to want it for heating so demand is slack for a time) but I've got a new to me Range Rover that is putting up a fight that I want to get done too, so the boat is an as and when project but I will be glad when it is done. My skeg (as I understand it is called), the rudder type bit below the prop has obviously been grounded a number of times and is a bit shorter than it should be (and looks like someone has been taking bites out of it) so I've ordered a stainless skeg protector that fits over it and extends it down further which should act as a better rudder. That isn't due until next week says Mr Amazon, so until that arrives I've got an excuse as to why it hasn't seen any open water yet.

[LPGC]

We've just had a chat on the phone but there something I forgot to mention after reading your last post above... I think your boat will have an ignition interruptor system that momentarily cuts the ignition when you're putting it in forward or reverse gear, if you've adjusted the gear linkage cables you could have adjusted the interruptor system making it cut the ignition when it's in neutral? Interruptor systems cut the ignition by grounding what is normally the pulsed coil negative. Not sure how the various types of clutch in boat drives work but have read there are dog clutches and cone clutches, most types except cone clutches have an interruptor system, I think Mercruiser stuff doesn't use cone clutches and does use an interruptor switch.

My revcounter over-reads too, I haven't tested it with a separate revcounter but I think it reads exactly double rpm. I had my instruments out to fix them (mostly just reposition the needles) and noticed on the back of it it has a selector for 2, 4, 6 and blank positions. I thought this revounter is unlikely to ever be fitted on something with a 2 cylinder engine so maybe the setting is for number of ignition pulses per rotation (and some V6 2 stoke outboards would have 6 pulses per rotation) so I set it to 4 for the V8 but now it's reading double rpm lol. I could try the other positions but it might be as easy to buy/make electronics that give 1 pulse to the revounter for every 2 pulses at the coil which would correct the revcounter if as expected it is reading double. I did buy a cheap Amazon standalone digital revcounter which also features a temperature gauge (and comes supplied with its own temp sender) - plan was to fit the digital one (temporarily at first to check the dash analogue revcounter) and maybe eventually fit it permanently on the dash with the temp sender mounted on one of the water cooled marine exhaust manifolds.

The engine temperature is a bit all over the place, never overheating but not staying anything like constant and generally running too cool, this is with a new thermostat fitted. But I've been told it's probably due to a bit of debris stuck in the thermostat, I'll have to investigate this. There's also the problem with the trim pump not working most of the time, it seems to work when the engine bay is cool but stop working as soon as there's a bit of heat from the engine in there (where the pump is), though that could just be coincidence, needs further testing.

The boat is running well though, had the rebuilt engine running maybe 8 hours in total on the river. Started to give it a bit more power up to around half throttle and 2500rpm in short bursts.

Short YouTube video https://youtu.be/3kbuEPiop6I

Edward driving

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[Gilbertd]

Carb removed, cleaned out and refitted and it lives!!!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15rZK5R ... sp=sharing

Once it had been run for a couple of minutes, it will idle too but by then my portable sea was getting a bit low, so switched it off.

Yes, it does have an ignition cut switch and the book says that if the gearchange cable is stiff it won't centralise properly and it is sticking engaged. Whether the cable is damaged (it doesn't look like it is) or is just stiff from lack of use I don't know and I'm not sure how I can get around this one (other than disconnect it and see what happens). Investigated the non-functioning bilge blowers and found that someone has been in there before and added a second fusebox (one of these https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/led-indic ... e-fuse-box ) in addition to the original one and the wiring is all a bit of a mess. Not sure what additional circuits have been added although it does have an extra fag lighter socket and a dual USB charge point which I'm pretty sure aren't original. There's wiring running to the bow but where it appears is anyone's guess as I can't find it anywhere.....

More messing around to follow.

[LPGC]

Great stuff mate

My throttle seems stiffer than I remember it being last year, not sure what the cause of that is.

Not sure if anyone actually uses bilge blowers on a regular basis, seems easier and simpler just to stick your nose into the engine compartment and sniff if there are any fumes before starting it. Probably more of a benefit in hot climates where fuel could evaporate from carb float bowls then if there's a spark in the bay at just the wrong time... But I don't think we have much to worry about if starting an engine that's not been run for a while, maybe we do if we start an engine that's been stopped say half an hour we'd want to run the bilge blower.

I did visit the boat again today and have some good news and bad news...

I had the intention of just spending an hour looking at the trim tilt/system, I was later back than expected but got more time than expected, I was expecting a customer collecting their newly LPG converted vehicle from me late afternoon but while I was there they txted me to say they wouldn't get here until 8pm. I quickly fixed the tilt/trim system, the problem turned out to be a very easy fix, just a case of a bit of corrosion in the connector plug that supplies the tilt/trim system with electrical power. I just unplugged and plugged it back in a few times and the tilt trim has worked fine since (I will look at this again and clean the contacts properly). Then, knowing I had extra time I decided to go for a quick run up the river in the boat by myself and gave it a little more stick this time, still nowhere near flat out but I had Google maps showing speed on my phone and had it up to around 35mph while I tested the trim still worked. I meant to check GPS speed against the speedo speed but forgot to check the speedo.

Tilt/trim power connection plug

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Then turned around and driving slowly past some moored boats half a mile from the mooring spot the engine just died! No nasty noises or anything. So I turned the key to start it and it sputtered as though trying to start, so I gave it a couple of dips of the throttle and it started and ran for a couple of seconds before dying again, so I strongly suspect and hope that it is a simple case of me running it out of fuel. I was surprised when I got to the boat today because I thought when I left it last night the fuel gauge was reading 1/4 full but today it hasn't shifted from pointing to empty. I've been putting nearly 5 gallons in it from a jerry can before every trip and I know it will be using a bit more than that but the tank was already between a quarter and a half full before I first used it on Sunday (and added the first nearly 5 gallons from a jerry can). Still I think it's probably used more fuel than I thought. A bit of a sinking feeling (not literally sinking) when you break down on the water, especially on a midweek evening with few other boaters around. Phoned the guy who works at the marina and lives on a boat near the mooring, pleased that he picked the call up, I said "Its me who left your mooring 45 minutes ago, bit embarassing but I think I've run out of fuel". He laughed and said he'd have a ride up on his little inflatable, I asked "Are you bringing some fuel", he said "No I'll tow you back" and he did. Very good of him I thought, I asked how much he'd want to come out to me and he said "Nothing you're alright". When we'd finished I wanted to give him at least a few quid to buy a couple of pints but he'd already disappeared into his house boat with his young daughter so I thought I'll see him next time I visit the boat and give it him then.

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I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the engine, worst it could be really is something like an easily changed mechanical fuel pump, blocked fuel filter, blocked pick up pipe, water in fuel, or most likely my fault for running the tank empty lol.

[LPGC]

Another thing I tried today was the Amazon combined digital revcounter / temp gauge / hour meter/ warning indicator.

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Has it's own watch battery, connects to the coil with a single wire (yellow wire in the pic I just temporarily removed insulation from its end and curled around the coil connector), the ring connector is its temperature sensor which can easily be attached to anything. It comes with adhesive strips and screws etc so you can fit the temp sensor and the unit itself to anything. Very handy for a digitally accurate tacho and for accurate temp measurements... The standard dash gauge shows engine temp and there's usually an overheat warning beeper but they won't tell you if the exhaust is overheating soon after starting a cold engine like this units sensor could. Programmable to give rpm reading on engines with any number of cylinders (believe it can work inductive too) and flash/beep at settable over temp / over rev conditions.

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Confirmed my thoughts that the dash tacho is reading exactly double rpm. I will be fitting this on the dash (but will have to extend the wiring) and fit the temp sensor onto one of the metal sections of exhaust downpipes that contains an exhaust flapper. Might even buy/fit a second one to the other side exhaust and if I do would connect that to show RPM too. The engine is still filled with water when its switched off but it might take the engine a minute of running for the temp gauge to start moving, any rubber in the exhausts could be cooked a long time before the engine started to overheat.

[LPGC]

Didn't go to the boat yesterday, just got back from a short visit, put 20L in from a jerry can and it started 2nd attempt so it was just out of fuel. Then me and my mate took it the short distance to the fuel pontoon and put some more petrol in, carried on up river a bit to ar area with no boats moored on the banks and gave it a bit of stick, no problems

[Gilbertd]

Found the problem with the bilge blowers (and bilge pump too). Power getting to them but no ground. The wiring to them both has been played with and although the grounds were connected to each other, they weren't actually connected to ground anywhere..... Even put some water from a hosepipe into the bilge to confirm that the bilge pump actually works too.

Adjusted up the throttle cable as it wasn't shutting off fully when the remote was returned to centre and then turned my attention to the shift cables again. Although I've now adjusted them up 3 times, the shift cutout was still operating in both forward and reverse and the cable feels stiff. Problem here is that I have no idea how stiff it should feel. Its moving a few bits of metal around so there will be some resistance but how much is too much? The run looked like it could be a bit smoother too but the manual doesn't show how it should run, just how to adjust it. Found a Youtube video on how to change the cable but that didn't help as they suggest using the old one to guide the new one into place. Finally found a picture of how it should run, had a look at it and it doesn't run that way..... Access to it is a real pain so, in the hope that it will give me enough room to get in there, I'm in the process of removing the RH exhaust manifold again. I say in the process as I got 4 of the 6 bolts out and the heavens opened, so everything was covered up and I'll carry on in the morning. Worst case I'll need a new cable and that is proving to be a bit of a minefield too. I found one part number of a spares listing and a different one on Repower Marine's site but when I find an eBay seller listing the one that Repower suggest, they give a list of alternative numbers and the original one isn't one of them.....

[LPGC]

I found forums.iboats.com to be a great boating forum, users would tell you the routing of shift cables and how to set it up.

The Crowley Marine website I linked to a few posts ago seems good for diagrams.

I'm getting familiar with my OMC / Volvo Penta colaboration 'OMC Cobra' setup but Mercruiser will be different and there's no sparks interruptor on mine.

I refitted my main earths differently to how they were originally fitted, I put them all on the same easily accessible bellhousing to block bolt.. separate earth for each of the 2 batteries, 1 or 2 for the inside transom mount stuff (and they also have little stainless wire straps running between e.g. the steering pivot and other transom stuff), there's only one main earth for most of the ancillaries type stuff so my blower, bilge pump, all the dash switched stuff including the ignition is earthed through that. I think they make them this way to make lifting the engine a bit simpler and **more consistent across boat models that use the same engine**, can basically just disconnect a multiplug connector a bit like a tow hitch wiring connector on the front of the engine, disconnect earths at the back, disconnect lives from the starter motor and the engine will come out when its been unbolted without having to worry much about extra wires etc bolted to the back.

**If there's a marine engine model on your engine you could maybe look up a diagram and see how its normally wired and how the shift cable etc is supposed to be routed. There might be a common routing for the model regardless of what boat it's fitted in (obviously not for how it routes up to the helm but how it routes around the engine bay stuff). But these are the kinds of things discussed on the iboats forum and I've seen threads about setting up the shift interruptor.

[Gilbertd]

I found a post on the iboats forum with a diagram of how the cable should be run so I've had the RH exhaust manifold off to give me a bit of room to get in there and now have it run in correctly. I've adjusted it up as per the book and also a document that was linked to in the same iboats thread (which is the same but gives a bit more information on why it is done the way it is). It moves a lot easier than it was doing but it appears that the shift cutout is still operating when I put it in gear. However, that is without the engine running and it may well be that it will slot in easier with it running. Apparently, the shift cutout should only operate when coming out of gear to take the tension off the dog clutch and not when going into gear.

The power connections on the Mercruiser is the same as yours, a big rubber plug that connects the engine loom to the rest of the boat, main power to the starter and a ground to the battery on one of the bellhousing bolts. On the opposite side, three grounds from the loom are under another bell housing fixing. This one was actually a stud with a nut bolting the bellhousing to the engine, then the grounds, then the HT lead clamp and then another nut. Unfortunately, the outer nut wouldn't undo so the whole stud was unscrewing and twisting the wires so I chopped the three ground wires so I could get the engine out. When it went back in I just soldered them all together. The problems with the lack of ground to the bilge blowers and bilge pump were down to previous owners bodgery though.

Mine only has one battery that drives everything but it didn't have one when I got it so I had to buy one. The preferred battery on a P38 Range Rover is a Hankook MF31-1000, a big 1000CCA, 110Ah thing and, as there was plenty of space in the battery tray in the boat, I got the slightly less grunty MF31-750, still 110Ah but only 750CCA. The handbook recommends 500CCA so with a 50% overhead I can't see it not being up to the job.

[LPGC]

Reads like good progress.

I didn't know the interruptor was only supposed to work coming out of gear, just presumed it did it when going into gear too. My dad had a boat years ago with a Volvo straight 6 engine and Volvo drive (different to my drive), I know that cut the ignition going in and out of gear hence my presumption.

With the engine stopped I wonder if getting someone to turn the prop while you tried dropping it into gear would shed any light on how easily it will drop into gear with the engine running?

For wiring intents and purposes mine is just the same as having one battery really excecpt for the extra battery earth fitted to the engine. The positives from both batteries run to a battery selector switch which has off, battery 1, both batteries connected and battery 2 positions, the wire from the selector switch runs to the starter motor just as it would with a single battery setup, another live runs from the the starter motor to the electrics box thing mounted on the engine which supplies everything else including the ignition etc. There is one exception, the bilge pump has it's own constant connection directly to battery 1 so it will still work in automatic mode even if the battery switch is off (though the bilge pump wouldn't run from the switch on the dash with the battery switch off, just from the automatic float switch).

Expect you'll be fine with that battery.

Not high on the list of priorities but it might be worth checking battery voltage when its running to make sure the alternator isn't overcharging. If yours is like mine stuff like the ignition coil and alternator voltage sense wire run from the ignition switch via the 'purple wire' and there can be a bit of a voltage drop on that wire as it's not as thick as the red/white wire that provides the helm stuff with power. Similar setup to an old car that didn't use relays etc but the distance from the key to the engine is a bit further. I found mine had a big voltage drop as the purple wire was routed through a dead man switch which seems t have a bad internal connection... I was getting 9V at the coil (and alternator voltage sense wire) with that problem and it could've seen the alternator working at full power all the time trying to bring the purple wire up to 12V if I hadn't seen the problem, which would kill most batteries pretty quick. Still getting around half a Volt drop on the purple wire now so it's probably still overcharging a bit but not drastically. On the Iboats forum I explained my purple wire issues and my thoughts about the potential for boiling batteries and was told some boaters connect the voltage sense wire to the main battery wire that comes form the starter motor for that very reason (edit I've just remembered I was told there was a service bulletin about it). It's a mod I would do but I might expect the alternator voltage sense wire to put a constant draw on the battery doing that (even wth ignition off engine not running), unless we fit a relay switched by the purple wire connecting the voltage sense wire to the thick red battery wire. You or I could fit such relay whereas I think most on that forum would be worried about breaking USCG rules.

[Gilbertd]

On the same topic but veering off on a bit of a tangent, what have you done about registration on the Ouse? When I had the little Fletcher (13.5 feet with a 40 hp outboard), I wanted to take it on the river to test it and looked at what I needed to do to be legit. I was told that I should speak to the lock keeper at Dog in a Doublet sluice where the Nene changes from tidal to non-tidal, so I went to see him. He said that you could buy a day permit but it had to be done by post and you had to inform them of the date (it was also bloody expensive compared with a yearly permit). As I said to him, I wouldn't know the date until the time came. It would be when I thought the boat was ready and when the weather was decent. He told me to just go ahead and in the unlikely event of the river wardens coming along, they could issue me with a day permit anyway. The requirements for the permit were that I had 3rd party insurance (which I had) and a boat safety certificate. The safety certificate was a new one on me, so I Googled it and came up with this page https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/requir ... uirements/. That gave me contact details of a local examiner so I phoned him. He told me that if it was an open boat and had no electrical installation, then it was exempt. I told him that it had a battery as the outboard was electric start but there were no lights or anything else. He said that strictly speaking as it had a battery it should be tested but if all it did was start the engine then it wasn't worth it. All he would be able to test would be that the battery was secure and that I had a fire extinguisher (which seems a bit odd to me, surely on a boat you are surrounded by one big fire extinguisher so all you'd need would be a bucket?). Having downloaded and read through the testing process, I can see that he was quite right and there would have been nothing else for him to test.

However, as this one has an inboard engine, navigation lights and a full electrical installation, as well as a few other things that are testable, it will definitely need a boat safety certificate. There's an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine compartment but due to the size of the boat (20.5 feet), I need a second one in the cabin. Apparently, if I take it to the coast to launch it, I will be asked for a copy of the safety and insurance certificates before I'm allowed to use the slipway. The insurance isn't too bad though, £250 a year for what is effectively fully comp. I've had that since I bought it in case it caught fire or someone nicked it while it was sitting outside on the trailer.

The other problem I've got now is that if I am going to take it out on the sea, which lets face it, is where it belongs not pottering around on a river, I could do with a radio. But a radio needs a licence (which is free!!) but I also need a marine radio Certificate of Competence to get the licence. About 25 years ago, I did a powerboat handling course and also took the exam and, while I was at it, took the test for CEVNI, the marine equivalent of the highway code. With both of those I could get an International Certificate of Competence (ICC), needed in Europe to drive anything with an engine over 10hp. With the powerboat handling course, the marine radio CoC and the CEVNI test, my ICC covered me for pleasure powerboats up to 24m for coastal, offshore and inland. Later the limit dropped to 10m but, a bit like the 7.5 tonne grandfathers rights on a driving licence for us old codgers, I still had the 24m limit. However, as there are now two types of ICC, up to 10m and above 10m, mine now no longer has any limit.... But, although I have the ICC (as I've used it when in France driving my mate's boats), there is no way I can find the certificate for the radio CoC or CEVNI test and need at least the CoC to get my free radio licence.

[LPGC]

The previous owner told me the boat had been inspected the year before and had a safety certificate that lasted several (I forget how many) years and he did pass on that paperwork to me, so it does have a current safety certificate.

Immediatey after buying it I phoned the Marina / slipway where I knew I'd first use it (Acaster Marine) to ask about the subjects you mention. They told me that strictly speaking I should have a river licence / permit but (same as you were told) it doesn't really matter, not many people who don't leave their boats moored long term on the river do have a river licence, do need insurance though. Similar to your situatuon again, Acaster Marine's slipway is just a few hundred yards from the lock where the Ouse goes from tidal to none tidal, I've never been through that lock, only been on the none tidal side that goes up through York. I remembered from my childhood days boating with my dad that J once asked dad if we could go through the lock to the tidal side, dad told me he thought we'd need a river licence or the lock keeper wouldn't entertain us. So I asked Acaster Marine and was told the current lockkeeper would most likely just let us use the lock if we wanted. It is something I might like to do one day, as could get from Acaster down to Selby and beyond.

Insurance was obviously a no brainer anyway, last year I paid (iIrc) £110 for the boating season (ends in October?), not sure if that was fully comp but it was the 3rd party I was most concerned about when using my boat next to some very expensive boats. I knew I had to renew it again this year and did get a reminder, was about to renew it just before I first used the boat again last Sunday... Then I got an email from the same insurance co telling me they'd automatically renewed it. Heh, I haven't checked how much they charged me or the terms and conditions, all I know is that I'm insured for at least 3rd party and at least the minimum (gonna be at least a million and probably more) necessary. I do intend on checking my insurance and will probably upgrade to fully comp, but in the busy time leading up to me first using the boat again I was pleased that I didn't have to start filling forms in again etc when I got the auto-renew notice even though I did think it cheeky and presumptious on the part of the insurance firm.

I haven't yet looked into boat licences etc, except to note they're not required on the Ouse or at the place where I might use it on the Sea (Shell Island in Wales). I remember from my dad's boating days that some places could be very fussy about letting you launch onto the sea... E.g. to launch on the South beach at Bridlington you'd need a VHF and licence for it, in date flares, anchor with X amount of chain, but I don't remember if they asked for a boat licence for the sea. Where-as at Shell Island you could turn up with anything, no flares, no VHF, no anchor, no insurance, you could just launch. But if you wanted to moore a boat there on their tidal estuary you would need at least a boat safety cert and insurance.

My boat has a VHF but it's broken, at least the combined volume/power on/off control is broken, I intend on removing it and seeing if I can fix it with a new knob. It is supposedly waterproof so although it has probably spent winters on the boat (instead of being taken indoors) I'm hoping the on/off volume knob is all that is broken and I can find a suitable replacement.

With your ex job you'll be far better versed than me re VHF's etc. My dad did have a licence for at least several years starting back in the days of the old crystal sets and on to dual watch PLL stuff but that was out of necessity if he wanted to be able to (beach) launch at Bridlington. Heh I remember being able to make very expensive phone calls on the VHF back before the days of mobile phones, I also remember after one such phone call (made from the campervan on the cliff top at Shell Island - dad had a VHF in the camper as well) being queried by Anglessey radio about our exact position because they measured a record signal strength for out given position and their radio direction finder equipment pinpointed us to being slightly inland! Dad had to blag his way out of that one. But there were at least some years after he'd done with Brid that I know he didn't renew his VHF license and there seemed to be no downside to that at all.. the coastguard won't ask if you have a license before rescuing you if you make a distress call and won't ask for your license number etc if you're on the radio and not making a nuisance of yourself, the only downside was losing the ability to make phone calls but that became no downside at all in the days of mobile phones.

Got my boat off the river today, first went for a final run in it, got it up to the dash speedo reading 45mph (which seemed accurate) but not checked with GPS. The video link below shows an earlier quick blast on the plane but at a slower speed than full throttle around 35mph.
https://youtube.com/shorts/rTaJhclrRg0?feature=share

Edit - Forgot to say that whoever was the surveyor of my boat for the safety inspection made a few mistakes, for starters they put the engine down as a 5.8 when it's really a 5.0.

It does have an onboard fire extinguisher, just the one, manual and installed at the helm.

[Gilbertd]

Yeah, you're supposed to have a permit which gives you a registration number to put on your boat, for the river of your choice. Some are issued by the Environment Agency whereas others are issued by the Canal and Waterway Trust (see https://www.gov.uk/register-a-boat/who-to-contact). No idea why but it seems jurisdiction varies with the particular river. You are probably right, you would be checked if you wanted to go through a lock onto the tidal bit.

You don't need a licence at all in the UK but you do in all European countries to drive anything with an engine greater than 10hp. If you do the one day powerboat handling course, that then allows you to apply for the ICC but it will be for coastal only (no more than 20 miles from the shore). In fact, in the UK it is only quite recently that they made driving a boat while pissed an offence, it didn't use to be. At the boat hire places in France you will see signs with a price per hour 'sans permis' (without licence) and a much higher price per hour 'avec permis' (with licence) as with a licence you can hire something much bigger and more powerful. Honda must produce thousands of 9.9hp outboards for the European market though, they are everywhere. I know a guy in Spain who has an inflatable with a 15hp outboard and it was pointed out to him that he couldn't use it as he didn't have a licence, so he just carefully took the 1 off the stickers on the motor so it now says 5hp.....

As far as the radio licence is concerned, you can get a ship licence which is for a fixed installation in a particular boat and has the boat name listed along with the name, address and contact details of the owner or you get a ship portable licence for a handheld which isn't tied to any particular boat. They are both free but you do need to have the operators Certificate of Competence (so you know the difference between a Mayday, Pan-pan and securite call if nothing else) and you simply inform every 5 years that you are still using it otherwise they assume you have died. Like you say though, it is pretty unlikely if you called for help for them to worry about whether you had a licence or not and they would probably know if you sent a Mayday (immediate risk to safety of life) when it should have been a Pan-Pan (at risk but not in imminent danger) call. Using marine radio from the shore is a definite no-no unless you are a company with a licence for a specific shore based station.

There's a couple of things on the safety certificate that I'm not sure are going to be acceptable on my boat. The rules say that the fuel filler must be clearly marked with Petrol, gasoline, diesel or whatever and it specifically mentions that Gas isn't acceptable. As my boat is American (Bayliner), the fuel filler clearly says GAS on it. It also says the battery should be fitted with an isolator fitted as close as possible to the battery but it also says that the isolator should be in open view or the location clearly marked. My isolator is next to the battery but under the engine cover/sunbathing platform so not in open view and without a notice saying that it is under there. It is obviously good enough for USCG rules but not for here. For a boat up to 7m it says there should be 2 fire extinguishers but "The minimum number of extinguishers may be reduced by a maximum of one 5A/34B rated extinguisher where the vessel has either no internal combustion engines, or no fuel‐burning appliances", so as I don't have a cooker, or anything else other than an engine, I only need one but what the hell a 5A/34B rated extinguisher is I have absolutely no idea......

[LPGC]

Every boat I see moored beside the river long term has a sticker with a number on it but none of the boats I see using the slipway at Acaster or small boats going up and down the river have such numbers on them.

Just to clarify - The guy at Acaster marine said he thought the lock keeper would let us through without a river license.

I was using ship to shore VHF as a kid and think I remember most of it, can't see me getting a radio licence (unless somewhere I really want to take it demands I have one) but will Google ship to shore VHF etiquette to remind myself. I remember as part of my dads radio license he had to have the boat name written on the boat for which he used car/trailer number plate stickers.

I've mentioned my battery switch that doubles as an isolator, it is normally hidden behind a hinged trim panel but like you say there is a label that can be read anytime that tells the position of the isolator switch.

My boat is American too, I meant to take a pic of my fuel filling point for you but forgot. i don't remember if it says gas or fuel on it. But it is white (since I jet washed it) and I think it would be easy to write 'petrol' on it with a waterproof marker to tick a box if necessary for an inspection.

5A/34B extinguishers are easy to Google, apparently it points to the type and size of fire it's suitable for and seems to point to a powder or foam extinguisher that can put out small fires of soilds or small amounts of fuel. I'll take a pic of my extinguisher when I'm back in the boat again too... Not that I know for sure whether it should have passed an inspection with this extinguisher, but it did pass.

[Gilbertd]

I think I'm ready to go, or will be once the skeg protector/extension arrives. The shift cutoff is still operating when I engage forward or reverse but it's getting better now the cable is routed correctly. I was going to order a new one but to install it will involve taking the outdrive off again which I'm not looking forward to. At least the gear cable kit comes with new gaskets and seal. But I'm hoping that with a bit of use it will free off enough that the cutoff no longer operates. With it disconnected the gears engage and disengage as they should with it in my header tank (and 5 seconds with it in gear can empty that tank completely!). The time has come now to get it on the river. Sunday is looking good at the moment....