Neighbor with problems

[Dave Neptune]

Lat, I was checking my personal messages yesterday and may have hit send when I was checking. BTW, I just had a guy with a C-36 A-4 powered move in one slip down from me. I mentioned this site and he freaked at the idea of not using a professional mechanic. He says he constantly has problems and insists do-it-yourself is nuts. When he arrived he was towed in. He stated the P/O had the motor rebuilt 4 or 5 years ago and it is now about shot according to his mechanic (???).

David

[Baltimore Sailor]

Dave, ask him what the mechanic says is "shot" with the engine. I'd love to hear his professional opinion.

[Dave Neptune]

Shot

Baltimore, he said the mechanic(s) have told him that those OLD A-4's should be rebuilt at least every four or five years. I told him mine was 40 years old and never been out or rebuilt. He stated that I must not use it much or I'm satisfied with mediocure performance. I use mine about a 150 hours a year, his he said goes out sailing about a dozen times a year and I doubt he uses it that much.

Dave Neptune

[lat 64]

re. "shot"

Hey Dave,
I just posted to the virus thread. I didn't read it carefully.

It would be fun to hear about his a-4 and boat

It seems many of us bought A_4s that were just "rebuilt" and yet we had to take them apart to repair stuff. lots of pros with much hubris about the the docks. Conversely, there's a lot of amateurs on this forum that have done fine work with their motors.

If you can ask him politletly if he want's to get my take on a rebuild I would be happy to chat(via e-mail) He can start with searching my "Threads started by".

Mine is a reduction gear, and there may be a few tricks that are particular to the C 36 that I can share.


Russ

love means not having to say you're sorry.
Maintenance means not having to rebuild every four years.
Love your A-4, it will love you.

[lat 64]

the pro

Have to add:
There's nothing wrong with spending money for a good professional rebuild.

Please tell this fellow about Moyer Marine's engines. At least he'll get his dollars worth.

Yes, that is an unsolicited endorsement

Bill, do I get something for using the word "hubris"?
r.

[Dave Neptune]

Neighbor

Russ, he isn't friendly at all and was annoyed when I started to mention doing the work and learning about the boat himself. As I said he thought I was nuts to even suggest anything other than a professional . I didn't bother to mention to him that I have been involved with engines my whole life.

If he gets friendly I will mention it to him.

David

[Baltimore Sailor]

How old is this guy?

[lat 64]

oh well

not a prob.

I always thought that half the fun of owning a boat was hanging around the docks and shootin the bull. I suppose that is why we do this forum thing.

You are certainly welcome to slip P-14 Homer Boat Harbor for a beer anytime you can make it. Look for the guy that already has one in his hand.
The other hand will have wrench in it. and loving every minute.

R.

[Kurt]

That's pretty funny - have to rebuild A4s every 4 or 5 years! Many members here can attest to the longevity of these engines. Yes, they are old and require some tinkering, but they are also easy to diagnose and work on. I knew nothing about marine engines when I got my sailboat with an A4 3 years ago. I had the engine surveyed and the mechanic was impressed with the engine overall. He said I could easily get another 10 years out of this never rebuilt 33 year old motor. That says a lot for the value of routine maintenance on these engines. Any mechanic that says a rebuild is called for every 4 or 5 years is an idiot. However, I must say, during a couple of strange and difficult diagnostic sessions with my motor I did have a couple of mechanics shy away from even looking at my motor when I told them it was an A4 - one even did the Catholic cross thing on his chest as if he was praying for me!

[wlevin]

When my wife and I bought our first sailboat with an A4, I had never worked on an engine in my life. The first fall we had that boat we had a local mechanic winterize it. He charged A LOT. Then I read Don's newsletters (pre Moyer manual), went to a one day Moyer seminar and closely followed the discussions on this excellent site. Now on our second boat with an A4 (we intentionally chose an A4 boat so I could work on the engine), I maintain the living daylights out of the engine and we sail without worries that something will go wrong. We assume I will have a real good shot at fixing it. I actually have.
When it comes to engines it looks like there are two kinds of people; those who want to know how it works and those who prefer pay to have someone else deal with it. Surprisingly, having money has nothing to do with which one you are. I'm guessing that Dave's new neighbor in the marina will not be converted. He might be a wittle bit afwaid of his engine. I'd leave him be.
Bill and Jeanne
T-34C #453
Otter

[rigspelt]

I'm in between: love knowing the engine on my boat (and every other system), but feel more comfortable when I get a mechanic to look over my shoulder every once in a while. The key is "comfortable" when away from the dock. To each their own.

[sastanley]

rigs...there is nothing comfortable about putzing down the river with some other boats cruising along at 4.5 knots only to hear the A-4 quit as your buddy in his new boat cooling off the refer with his big diesel calls you up on the VHF to see what's happening.

"Hey Smitty, yeah..well...we've been motoring for 50 minutes...I figured it was about time for her to die...all that fuel system work we did obviously wasn't the problem. I'll get back to you in a minute..."

What is very comforting is being able to swap over to the new coil which we'd conveniently mounted the day before and have it fire up again in less than 5 minutes, and run flawlessly the rest of the week. The coil was mounted but not attached to anything yet..I tend to do too many things at once, then I can't tell which may or may not have fixed a problem, so I was trying to be systematic.

There wasn't much wind that day, and being towed would have been a big blow to the ego.

Now I just need to move my boat to a marina so I can shoot the bull with some neighbors..I keep the boat at a private residence with a boathouse and a total of 6 or 7 boats..there are even two other sailboats..one is a Columbia 10.3, which unfortunately has already been re-fitted with an ugly diesel. It is CHEAP, but the amenities are scarce, and the neighbors scarcer. However, you get a lot more 'work' done when you don't have someone to sidetrack you

Dave, too bad about your neighbor...he'll probably waste lots of hard earned money on mechanics and Sea-Tow...I guess that is Vessel Assist out there ... - My neighbor is a little weird too, but he has a 4-stroke outboard on his 26' Hunter (the other 'sailboat' there), so we don't talk shop much. He seems to get very nervous when he comes in & out of the slip, and I've found it best to busy myself with something down below during those 'events'

[67c&ccorv]

44 years old and still ticking - wonder what that guy would say about mine?

(Only thing done is electronic ignition, 55amp alternator, A-drive modification, rebuilt carb and fuel pump, new Moyer water pump, thermostat, and piping.)

[sastanley]

67, I have a random question...do you think there are any ill effects of the 55 amp alternator on an older motor in terms of wearing the bearings on the accessory drive? Mine is getting kinda noisy, I think that is something I'd rebuild (along with the Moyer oil passage upgrade) before adding a beefier alt. - thanks!

[67c&ccorv]

67, I have a random question...do you think there are any ill effects of the 55 amp alternator on an older motor in terms of wearing the bearings on the accessory drive? Mine is getting kinda noisy, I think that is something I'd rebuild (along with the Moyer oil passage upgrade) before adding a beefier alt. - thanks!

Oops - sorry, I had my favorite machinist perform that modification to the accessory drive prior to the changeover. I will have to add that to the list of mods in the previous reply.

FWIW - when the machinist (he is one of those old-school British tool&die makers who does most of his work on British motorcycles now) pulled the A-drive apart he said "why are you replacing the bearing?" There was no discernable (web adminsitrator, does that word qualify?) wear on the bearing assembly.