Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
Results 16 to 19 of 19

Thread: Adventures in deferred maintenance...

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Posts
    2,690
    Rep Power
    26
    Just a note on the GLMs. Keep an eye on the anodes. They will deteriorate over the next year or two depending on usage. I would pull them after the season and replace when needed.

    Goes with the territory of aluminum manifolds, if you want them to last. Meant to post this info before you ordered, so that you could order a spare set, but I got busy. They are only a few dollars each.

    Bob
    Member - WAFNC
    1997 22 Classic (sold)
    1997 Formula 271 Fastech
    502 Mag MPI

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    519
    Rep Power
    0
    Had the day off of work and got quite a bit done on the Donzi. Cleaned up all of the gasket surfaces on the heads, checked compression, installed new Delco plugs, pulled off the old outdrive, and pulled the lube resevoir for a good cleaning (NASTY!!). Also yanked out the fuel filter/pump assembly and resealed all of the fittings with Permatex aviation sealant. There was a drip from one of the brass fittings at the fuel filter housing that I spotted on the sea trial and the dealer supposedly fixed it. Unfortunately he used some sort of green goop that didn't work well with gas because two fittings were blowing air when I cranked for the compression test. Scary to even contemplate if those started misting raw fuel into the bilge with a bunch of kids in the boat.

    I was a little nervous about the compression test. Seems like a lot of other "routine" maintenance tasks have turned into huge, ugly, expensive projects. I was tickled to find that the compression was perfect. 180 high, 165 low, and the rest were dead nuts at 175.

    So this weekend I will install the new drive and hopefully some new plug wires while the exhaust is in the mail. Bought a set of Accel wires to try but they were a little short. Does anyone have a recommendation or better yet part number for decent plug wires? Preferably something I can pick up at the auto parts store. The stock Mercruiser ones weren't that impressive, but apparently they are made of gold based on what they cost.

    Still have a big list of stuff to do, but hopefully the big ticket items are taken care of. Just playing catch up on all of the ankle biters that come with a 15 year old boat.

    Tidbart - good call on the anodes, I should have ordered some extras. Will have to do that when I order winterization supplies.

    Thanks to all for your advice.

    duckhunter
    "Speed's fine, but accuracy is final."
    - Bill Jordan

    1998 Donzi 21LXR
    1971 Boston Whaler 13

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    519
    Rep Power
    0
    Got the new SEI drive installed this weekend. Ended up hanging the upper/lower separately since it was a one-man operation. No drama other than having to clean the powdercoat out of the alignment holes in the upper for the dowel pins on the lower. Also installed the drive shower and a new prop hub.

    New cap and rotor & some "made to fit" plug wires cleaned up the ignition system.

    The bilge blower has been an issue due to the cheesy plastic thru-hull vents under the sun pad. Couldn't get the hose to reliably stay on the 1/4" of exposed vent outlet inside the engine compartment, even with a hose clamp. Went to Lowes and found a chunk of PVC that I could fasten inside the thru-hull fitting that gave me 3" of clamping surface to attach the blower hose to. My first inexpensive boat fix... Will eventually need to add some bling with stainless clamshell vents.

    Now just waiting on the GLMs to arrive so I can prep and install them. Then I should be ready for the spring oil change and outdrive break-in.

    We went to the boat show yesterday to get out of the rain and saw a lot of nice shiny new fiberglass. Similar size (21-22') bowriders from Cobalt/Crownline/Bryant/Regal were in the $40-$60k range and the dedicated inboard ski boats started at $50k and went north quickly. Makes me feel good about doing maintenance on an older, paid-for boat even if it isn't as fancy as the new stuff. At the end of the day there isn't very much you can do on the new boats that we can't do on the Donzi, although my wife and daughter did like the console heads on some of them. Gonna have to stick with the folgers can for a while I think.
    "Speed's fine, but accuracy is final."
    - Bill Jordan

    1998 Donzi 21LXR
    1971 Boston Whaler 13

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    519
    Rep Power
    0
    The GLMs came a couple of weeks ago and looked pretty good right out of the box. All hardware was included (riser bolts, pipe fittings, metal Quicksilver gaskets, drains) minus the manifold to head bolts. Since I had time, tools, and beer available I went ahead and spent an evening prepping them prior to installation. There was a good bit of casting flash in the exh ports that I was able to clean up with a die grinder, and I ran a tap through every threaded hole to clean out the powdercoat.

    The biggest effort was cleaning off the mating surfaces between manifold and riser, which had pretty thick powdercoat. They were flat enough to run out of the box with the thick Mercruiser gaskets, but I took a straight edge and a file to them anyway to get them as flat as possible without visiting a machine shop. Took probably three hours total to get them ready to install.

    The extra $100 for the aluminum hardware was worth it from an ease of handling standpoint alone. They were very straightforward to mount up and I didn't give myself a hernia like I would have wrestling with the cast iron pieces. Torqued everything down to spec and it was ready to test-fire.

    Had the opportunity to start her up for the first time this year and she is running great (and no leaks!). Got everything up to temp and let her run in the driveway for 20 min and changed the oil. I definitely need a remote oil filter mount at some point, or a midget to climb in the engine bay. My daughter would fit but unfortunately doesn't have the hand strength to remove an oil filter. Retorqued all of the manifold and riser bolts, which had loosened appreciably after I brought the engine up to temp. Lots of gear whine from the SEI drive, but that is supposed to decrease upon break-in.

    I'm also chasing a rattle from the Corsa diverters. Both of them rattle in the closed position (exhaust thru outdrive), the starboard a little louder than port. I've tried adjusting the threaded solenoid rods to no avail. It almost seems like they should have stronger springs, but I suspect that might affect operation of the solenoids as the system ages. It is somewhat quieter than it was last season and they only have three or four hours of runtime on them so I will probably just monitor the noise and see if it keeps decreasing.

    Looking forward to getting the boat wet fairly soon. Going to try and knock out the majority of the outdrive break-in (10 hours) in a weekend and make sure everything is running well before loading up the family.
    "Speed's fine, but accuracy is final."
    - Bill Jordan

    1998 Donzi 21LXR
    1971 Boston Whaler 13

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •