at last, a report from Alaska

[lat 64]

I thought I'd give a final update on my rebuild.
Here's the links to the story thus far:

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2978
http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2822
http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3110

So...
I got to Homer May 23. It was a little warmer and I could focus on the startup. After moving the solenoid wire to the right post it actually cranked! Duh.
A little trouble starting it because the throttle cable was positioned wrong. Details.
Oil pressure was 50 psi while just cranking and stayed there after it started.
Whoopee!
Temp came up to 160 in about five minutes. It climbed to to 180 and was still climbing so I shut it down and added another half gallon of coolant. Started again and it settled down right at 160 F. Oil pressure settled at 40 psi. I shut it down after some battery charging and hose-clamp-leak finding, and retourqed the head and manifold nuts. This is not easy as some of the nuts are not reachable with a socket. I faked it with an end wrench.
I did some shade tree(dock piling) calculations and pushed about 40 pounds on a 10-inch end wrench to reach the nuts under the hose that runs across the head.
The engine startup was exiting and it sounded to me like an old air-cooled VW.

The previous owner came by to say hi and I got to show off the new baby.

We did a daysail and discovered that the forward gear slips at high load but I could ease it up to speed and get around, and reversing gear held fine.
I have to adjust and test this next time.

We took the boat on an overnight to a little secluded town of Seldovia.
Good wind and great sailing but the slippage was a hinderance when we tried to motor against a gusty head wind to get in to the harbor. Gotta fix that.

Now the cautionary tale: We were reefing the sails to get home in a gusty blow that went from 0 to 25 knots of wind. Very fickle and challenging.
I kept the motor idling for safety during the sail changes. It was idling too low and just died. We finished the reefing and forgot to turn off the ignition key until ten minutes later.
I started to smell gas. lots of scratching heads and lifting bilge boards to find the leak. Then I realized the fuel pump was on during the time the key was left on.
I checked the air horn and sure enough, gas was dripping out at the bottom. The pump was strong enough to overcome the float valve and flooded the carb.
I got out the fire extingusher and cranked the engine as you would with a flooded carb—full trottle, no choke. She coughed and gagged and started to run fine.

The PO had bypassed the oil pressure shutoff switch on the fuel pump because there was not enough oil pressure to keep it closed. Now I have oil pressure! I will reinstall the switch and be much safer for it.
I might have the wrong fuel pump. It is a facet, but I think it just something from a NAPA store and it probably makes too much pressure. Time to upgrade.

Well that's it, other than a small leak at the fresh-water pump(needes new kit)
I'm happy.

I'll post some fun shots as soon as I can,

Russell

[Mark S]

Your slipping out of forward under load is familiar. I have the same problem, usually when I add a little extra throttle to overcome headwind or current. The engine suddenly races and I have to throttle down, shift to neutral, shift back to forward, and gradually power up again.

Keep us advised as to your progress with this issue. Maybe you can solve my problem for me!

Mark S

[sastanley]

Russ, it is good to hear you are alive and were not swallowed by a polar bear up there in Alaska!

Keep up the good work and post details about your forward/reversing gear adjustments.

pics are always fun!

[Baltimore Sailor]

Are you sure it's not a cavitation problem occurring at high rpms?

I seem to remember that growths on the prop can cause it to cavitate, and then it's essentially just spinning in air instead of water. Anything that slows the prop allows normal water flow to resume, which makes it seem like it "went back into gear."

Just thinkin'...

[tenders]

For what it's worth, my electric pump does NOT force fuel around the needle valve when it's left on.

[Dave Neptune]

Russel, your season is short up there so have some cruising fun! The F/P should be an easy fix and depending on access may not even affect your next outing!
I ran for a few years until I learned of the "DETENT" and was amazed at how easy the adjustment actually was to do. It is worth the time necessary especially if you need all the lil' A-4 can deliver in a hurry!

Enjoy!!!
Dave Neptune

[Mark S]

We had a great sail today several miles offshore. On our return the wind died over a greasy sea with clouds building in the west so we motored back in at 1700 RPM. At one point, motoring with the mainsail up, the drive slipped out. Instead of reducing throttle and shifting to neutral and back into forward as I have in the past, I left the shifter in the forward position and reduced the throttle. When the RPM reduced down to around 1200, forward gear became engaged again without me having to touch the shifter, just like Balt predicted above. We took down the mainsail and had no problems thereafter.

I conclude from this that I don't have a detent or collar adjustment issue because I don't have to shift it into forward -- it's still there. Besides, I feel the detent on shifting into forward. So that leaves slipping clutch plates or Balt's cavitation theory.

Mark S

[lat 64]

Mark,
That's exactly how mine was (not) working!
I set up shifter on the bench but I think it needs a couple more notches.

Tenders'
I think I have an auto pump and also it was quite rough when the gas got past the float I think it wa just too much to ask of the float valve.

Baltimore,
Yes I have to look into that. I might put on my dry suit and dip in the harbor next time I'm down there. Brrrr.

Sastanly,
No polar bears, but we saw a nice Blackie on the drive down on May 22.

Mark,

I won't get back until August but i will report all my findings.

My season is short but it's even worse 'cause work piled up on me. I'm looking forward to a little personal resession.

Thanks all,

Russ

Some shots. #1 Seldovia harbor, #2 captain's mast—keeping a helmsman in order, #3 Black bear eating, shoots and leaves.

[Mark S]

Lat,

I just spent some time reading old posts of other people's complaints about this slipping issue of ours (searched the site under "prop" and "cavitate") and I'm back up in the air about my problem. The next time it happens I'll rush below and shine a light on the shaft. If it's turning like mad I'll know it's a cavitation issue; if it's not I'll know to adjust the collar one notch.

Mark S

[lat 64]

Mark,
I have thought that one could rig some kind of tachometer on the shaft and watch it when the "traction" is lost. This would put diagnostics up to light speed and be useful at all times.

Maybe even some kind of audible thing like the playing cards we used to sick in the spokes of our bikes when we were kids.

Just had an inspiration. My mountain bike has an after-market speedometer. It just zip-ties in place and a magnet trigger is placed on the wheel. I think these are about fifty bucks or more but think of the information you could get if you could always see shaft speed.
You would have to "calibrate" it by just comparison, but it's a relative thing anyway.
I'm going to think on this.

Russ

[sastanley]

maybe those are Canadian or Alaskan dollars..

I have one on my bike (a Cateye brand) and it was 30 bucks for two sensors...one you gave it the wheel diameter and then it would figure MPH, and the second sensor was cadence...RPM's of your pedals. Perfect for shaft RPM!!!

What a great idea Russ!!!! They are optical, attach with a zip-tie and they run on watch batteries!!!! :smack head:

[lat 64]

Just have to make one more entry in this thread for closure.
I just got back from Homer (by the sea). Had a good two weeks fixing things and day sailing.

I solved the slippage problem in the reversing gear.
As you may have read, I set this up on the bench. I thought it was sufficient then, but it was slipping at higher throttle settings.

Last week I cut a much better access from the quarter berth and then got to the work of adjusting the ring in the reversing gear just one notch. this did not seem much, but it was perfect. it went from slipping to not slipping with that small adjustment. It seems Don does know what he talking about.

I ran it hard to make it slip—no go.

After that I got all exited and installed a heater under the settee that uses twenty feet (x2) of hose from the engine. The boat smelled like hot hose for a few days while running, but having warm air blowing across my feet will be worth it this fall.
I installed ball valves to shut off the new heater and a ball valve to isolate the heat exchanger. I was even able to run the engine with the heat exchanger shut off and only the cabin heater cooling the engine. This will be a good back up if the raw water intake gets clogged or some other problem with the heat ex.

The motor ran fine all week with only three plug wires connected.
it ran awesome with four!
Remember folks, to check for loose wires when ever you goof around with the engine.

So now I will have to make or order new engine mounts and some water pump leak fixing but it's working great for now.
Thanks for all the advice on this one.

Happy sailing,

Russ