Extended motoring

[Bayou Sailor]

Hey guys, I have a bit of a situation. Margarita is in New Orleans getting a bottom job etc. Without getting into too much detail, the work is done and she's ready to go. The problem is that the draw bridge going into the lake is broken and has been for 2 weeks and parts are still on order with an unknown date of arrival. Normally, I would motor about a mile, have the bridge opened and then sail the 28 miles home. With the bridge out, I must motor about 25 miles on the ICW to get to the closest inlet to the lake. Then there's still 20 miles left to go, and if the wind sucks, I may have to motor the entire way. The day before I delivered her for the work I changed the oil, trans oil, replaced racor filter and polishing filter. Within the past 90 days I changed points, plugs, wires, dist cap, water pump impeller, alternator and belt. She runs like a brand new engine, so is there anything that I should worry about with possibly motoring for 8-10 hours?

[roadnsky]

Sounds like you're pretty much set.
Of course, bring tools and spare parts and some extra oil.

A while back, Don answered a similar question HERE in the FAQ section.
(6th Question)
Worthwhile reading for you, me thinks.

[Mo]

I wouldn't have an issue at all doing that. Keep an eye on your temp, carry some gasket maker permatex, spare impeller if you have one...if temp rises and she starts to steam check the strainer, if that is good open up the T-stat and remove that, replace cover and move on....then carry on. I say that because the only problems I've ever seen were bad fuel on my boat, blocked strainer on another that cracked a block (not my boat), and overheating due to T-stat issue. The T stat issue was never really defined..I talked to him on the radio, he removed it and then carried on his trip...was fine after that but I never did hear from him after about an hour as he was not from my area and on holiday. We were travelling in different directions and he was talking to coast guard and I overheard the conversation. His temp dropped right out after removal of Tstat and I think he did OK...that was on a pretty calm day.

I've done 60 miles steady run without a hitch. If you know your engine, hey buddy, giv ér.

EDIT: the reason I mention that is because I don't know the waters and if there might be growth or patches of debris in them as you pass through.

[joe_db]

Hey guys, I have a bit of a situation. Margarita is in New Orleans getting a bottom job etc. Without getting into too much detail, the work is done and she's ready to go. The problem is that the draw bridge going into the lake is broken and has been for 2 weeks and parts are still on order with an unknown date of arrival. Normally, I would motor about a mile, have the bridge opened and then sail the 28 miles home. With the bridge out, I must motor about 25 miles on the ICW to get to the closest inlet to the lake. Then there's still 20 miles left to go, and if the wind sucks, I may have to motor the entire way. The day before I delivered her for the work I changed the oil, trans oil, replaced racor filter and polishing filter. Within the past 90 days I changed points, plugs, wires, dist cap, water pump impeller, alternator and belt. She runs like a brand new engine, so is there anything that I should worry about with possibly motoring for 8-10 hours?

We motored non-stop from Cape May to New York City once with some 5 gallon jugs to add along the way. She should do fine.

[edwardc]

Speaking from experience motoring on the Atlantic ICW 8-10 hs per day for weeks on end, you should pay special attention to your seals and bearings on the raw water pump (and the coolant pump if you have FWC). Any sign of corrosion or leakage means you should probably rebuild the affected pump (or swap it out for a spare). It sure beats getting towed, or rebuilding a pump at anchor ( DAMHIKT ).

[joe_db]

Also if you have a bad coil, you will find out. Bring a spare

* my wife says no spare coil no go, although I haven't lost one in years now, back in the dark days before the issue was known we ate a LOT of them

[Mo]

Also if you have a bad coil, you will find out. Bring a spare

* my wife says no spare coil no go, although I haven't lost one in years now, back in the dark days before the issue was known we ate a LOT of them

Absolutely. it's good practice to have a spare coil on the boat. A brand new one, not one that was used and thrown in a box of spares.

[Sam]

In Chicago we have some inland boat yards requiring about a 21/2 mile river run with 27 city bridges that must be raised to get to the lake and then to your harbor. Trip motoring can take 4 to 14hrs motoring depending on the bridges etc. A few years back the A4 quit mid run. Quick diagnosis was spark from coil but no spark at plugs even though I had installed new points, condenser, rotor and cap from my inventory. While being towed by another boat I switched out the cap then the rotor and the A4 fired up. The solution was matching the brands for the cap and rotor. I think with the low volume of usage that exists for some of these parts that the subcontracting, "made in mexico" or generally relaxed mfg tolerances may cause problems with extended running. My suggestion is to match or check brands for long motoring trips.

[ronstory]

Yes, I've seen this happen twice or so where and old cap and rotor looked fine, but the motor would not run reliably. After lots of debug, in desperation I just replaced the cap and rotor with new... and it ran like a top. The carb got rebuild during the debug, plus new plug and wires... but I rationalized it probably needed it. That my story and I'm sticking to it.

Now with any motor with a disti, when I've completed the basic debug for fuel-fire-air and it all checks out but the wotor runs 'weird', I now just replace a cap & rotor with a matched set from a name brand. They are not that expensive and it's miraculously avoided potentially many hours of unfruitful debug.

Plus I also keep a new coil on the boat, and every vehicle (car or boat) has an extra ignitor module as well.

My two cents.

[romantic comedy]

That does not sound very far. Many Atomic Fours have done the ICW running from dawn to dusk for weeks.
I did it with no problems with the engine.
The longest single run has been 150 miles non stop.

[Antibes]

I think beer and ice would be needed to ponder any problems that could arise to smooth out troubleshooting

[Bayou Sailor]

Thanks Antibes, but I have a strict policy on my boat. I only drink beer when I'm by myself or with somebody

[Mo]

Thanks Antibes, but I have a strict policy on my boat. I only drink beer when I'm by myself or with somebody

I concur....and the boat is off the dock on time.

[Al Schober]

Longest I've run my A4 was about 30 hours continuous. Engine was not run hard, just enough to keep boat speed up to target to suit desired arrival time at destination. This was crossing the Gulf of Maine from Cape Cod, with a desired arrival time in Rockland, ME. Winds were light so the engine was run to keep the speed up to 5 knots. Fuel consumption was about 10 gallons for this time.

[Bayou Sailor]

Well guys, we picked up Margarita this weekend. Motored for over 5 hours straight. No issues at all except that the engine quit 4 times. The geniuses at Cal boats put the push-pull ignition switch in the cockpit just to the right of your right calf. If you accidentally move your right leg too much you hit the switch! I've learned to avoid it, but the guy that was helping me with the delivery had a tough time remembering it! It was good day! Thanks again for all of the input!