Can This Boat Ever Make It Across the Lake?

[00:00:00]All right, guys. Today, we're going to take our budget boat that we built here on the channel out on the lake and back again. And the reason why that's a big deal is because we've never been able to take this boat out on the lake without it breaking down or something bad happening. So, the boat is a 1974 15 ft runabout, and we took it all the way down to the barrel hole, restored it. We did new stringers, new floor, new interior, all new wiring. The original engine was locked up, so we bought a used one off Craigslist, got it running, and the first time we took the boat out, it spun a rod bearing. Oh no.

[00:00:33]Oh no.

[00:00:35]That's a bearing. So, we bought a new long block, totally rebuilt, put it in, and the first time we took the boat out with this new engine, the carburetor started messing up. The float was sticking. It wasn't running right, even though it was a brand new carburetor.

[00:00:48]And then it broke down the next time we took it out because I used RTV on the fuel tank to seal the top and some of that got into the fuel tank and was clogging up the fuel system. And then we took the boat out again. We got caught in a storm. And the last time we took it out, it decided it didn't want to produce spark anymore. So the engine stopped running. I couldn't get it to work. And for the first time, I had to pay $300 for a toeboat company to bring us back to the dock. So I think I figured out why it stopped running. It's kind of a weird failure. So, I figured today we'll try and fix it, take this thing out on the lake, see if we can make it back without breaking down.

[00:01:21]That's it. That's all this boat needs to be able to do. Unfortunately, I wanted to try and build this budget boat to show everyone that you can spend a little bit of money on an old boat, get it running good enough that you can have fun out on the lake. And all I did was prove that you can spend some money on a boat and make it totally unreliable and break down every single time. All right.

[00:01:40]So, the last time we took this thing out, we made it about 10 mi across the lake and it stopped running. We started troubleshooting and no spark, which is interesting because there's not much to this ignition system. So, this is a 3 L Cruiser 1974 technology. So, you've basically got a coil and a distributor, and that's the extent of the ignition system. So, there's really not much to go wrong with it other than these two parts right here. The worst thing about it is paid $300 to get towed back and then of course the thing fires up and it works just fine after that. So what I think goes wrong is the coil. I think when it gets hot, stops working correctly, cools back down, it works again. It's an oil fil coil. This company makes an epoxy filled coil for high vibration and high heat. I was looking at some slow motion video of this engine running and you can see how much this coil vibrates and I think all the vibration ruined the coil. Uh, that's the best thing I can come up with. So, what I did, I purchased the epoxy filled coil for this thing, another distributor module. We're going to swap those two things out. Shouldn't take too long to swap out cuz it's basically just a couple terminals here on the coil for the wires and then the module inside the distributor is not too bad if I remember correctly. That is the one good thing about this old technology is pretty simple. Of course, when it does break, it still breaks and leaves you stranded. So, all right, coil is free. All right, next distributor.

[00:03:12]So, we'll get this ignition module out of here, even though it's probably still good.

[00:03:20]What is going on? Of course, distributor looks great cuz it's brand new.

[00:03:26]So, in this distributor, we've got this electronic conversion, and they make these for all kinds of boats and cars.

[00:03:32]And it replaces the mechanical points that open and close in old distributors.

[00:03:37]And it's just this little magnetic pickup that spins. And there's some kind of a hall effect sensor in here that triggers the coil. And that's all there is to it. Now, this is one thing that was used that I stole off the old boat.

[00:03:51]I mean, this part's probably 15 years old. It's probably still good. I really do think it's the coil that went bad.

[00:03:57]So, but we bought a new one anyway.

[00:03:59]We're going to replace that and keep this one as a spare. So, I got the old points conversion module off the distributor and it looks okay, but we still ordered a new updated version that they make. I had it sitting on the back of the boat. I went to move the boat.

[00:04:12]This fell off and I ran it over and destroyed it. So, now it's been a couple days. I had to reorder it. Got a new one in. So, I think that's ready to go. I wanted to test the coil cuz I think this is what our problem was. Listen to this.

[00:04:27]Y'all hear that? The oil in here. Air bubbles. So, anyway, let's let's do old test with the So, let's do a test with the old um multimeter. Jesus Louise. All right. So, old coil. It's a 3 ohm resistance. So, that's what we should get across the main contacts here. 3.1 ohms. So, that makes sense. That's what that should be. And then the specs say we should get 9,000 ohms from the positive terminal to the tower.

[00:04:59]Let's see what we get there. Oh, 54,000 ohms. So, we're a little bit out of spec there. That's crazy cuz this thing still works.

[00:05:08]But when it gets hot, it stops. So, yeah, that's got to be what our problem was. Let's check the new coil. Okay, the new coil says it's 0.6 ohms. Very hot, whatever that means. It also says, um, you should get the epoxy version of this coil when extreme vibration is a factor.

[00:05:28]So, yeah, I think that's just, uh, me being an idiot and not ordering the right coil, cuz that engine obviously vibrates like no other. So, let's test the new coil. 0.6 ohms. And then to the tower, we should have that 9,000. Let's see what we got. Uh, 9,300 ohms. So, that seems like it's good. Brand new coil. It should be. Let's throw all this in the boat. Go test it out. Okay, let's throw our module back in the distributor here. They make these for all kinds of old distributors for just about any kind of engine in a car or boat that uses old points. They've been pretty good.

[00:06:07]So, basically that bolts in there and then there's a little magnetic ring that goes on the distributor rotor there. They give you a little I think it's like a 30,000 spacer so you can make sure it's close enough to that magnetic spinny bit but not touching of course. And then you just bolt her down. That's it. All right. Coil Get that in there. Hopefully this holds up to the vibration better. It's still going to vibrate like hell, but apparently it can handle it. Okay, I've got an ignition wire, a wire for the choke, tachometer wire, neutral.

[00:06:56]No, that's the uh what you call it?

[00:06:58]Shift interrupt switch.

[00:07:01]and then the wires from our module. And that's it. Another thing I did while I was waiting on that new module to show up since I ran over the other one, I rebuilt the carburetor and drained the fuel tank because it was full of kind of gummed up gas. And I think our marina here does not have ethanol free fuel.

[00:07:21]And so that might be part of our problem why the carburetor was acting up. So hopefully that helps a little bit. All right, let's turn the key. What do you think? fire up the first time. Let's find out. All right, here we go.

[00:07:36]Oh, yeah.

[00:07:40]Right away. Awesome. Okay. All right, guys. Since it's just me here today, it's really windy out there. I figure we'll take an easy trip. We're going to do maybe about 7 miles out and back. And the place we're going to go is significant to the housebo from the channel. So, I'll tell you more about it if we actually make it out there. All with me around the lake tonight.

[00:08:06]Around the lake tonight by my side.

[00:08:16]All right, let's see if we can get off the dock first.

[00:08:25]Island gear. Highland gear. 750. It's pretty good. Okay, we've made it past the breakwater. I figure what I'll do, we'll get out here away from land just a little bit and check the timing. So, right now we're at 850 RPM in gear at idle and it's idling. Okay, the tachometer apparently has stopped working even though it's only 2 years old. 11.2 hours on this engine.

[00:08:54]Tachometer has already stopped working, so that's cool.

[00:08:57]Temperature looks good. Oil pressure is at uh 30ish. Looks like volts are good. So, alternator's charging.

[00:09:09]The fuel tank is totally full. It was overflowing out the top, but it's reading barely over 3/4 of a tank. So, who knows if the fuel gauge is working.

[00:09:20]All this again is pretty much brand new.

[00:09:22]11 hours.

[00:09:25]The tachometer already stopped working.

[00:09:37]>> All right, it's windy. We got 15 mph gusting 25 today. So, it looks like it's white capping out there in the big part of the lake.

[00:09:48]That's okay. We'll figure it out. We're also in the worst boat for a big lake like this. It's a trihole. So instead of a V, it's got a little V and then these side parts that come down. So basically the waves hit the hole in three places.

[00:10:03]And it it rides terrible. It was a terrible design. That's why they stopped making little tri holes like this. Bring her up a little bit here.

[00:10:19]2,000 RPM.

[00:10:23]stumbling.

[00:10:29]Uhoh.

[00:10:42]Oh, popping.

[00:10:54]Not good.

[00:10:57]Not good. Not good.

[00:11:18]idle's fine.

[00:11:21]Doesn't seem to want to get up on plane.

[00:11:23]H Let's check the timing. Check the timing. Make sure timing's right. It's idling.

[00:11:30]900, not in gear. All right.

[00:11:34]No water in the builds. That's good. All right. Timing should be 6° at idle. Uh 5.6.

[00:11:43]Uh that's pretty much it's pretty much dead on. Pretty much dead on. Okay. Try richening up the carburetor a little bit. Let's see. Let's give her give her half a turn on the adjustment screw.

[00:12:04]I don't think that's going to do anything. This seems like a float level issue, even though I've just rebuilt it and set the float with a with a ruler.

[00:12:24]Nope.

[00:12:27]Running out of fuel, it sounds like running out of fuel. Oh, okay.

[00:12:30]Everything is new on this boat. Still can't get it right. Why? Why should I try and mess with the carb? Maybe.

[00:12:40]Maybe. Let's throw the anchor.

[00:12:52]>> All right. Anchor's holding us into the waves here. I don't know, boys. This is a interesting one. It's popping after a few seconds of trying to run up at a about 2,000 RPM. It's like it's running out of fuel, but the carburetor's been rebuilt. Fuel system cleaned out.

[00:13:12]I thought the float level was set correctly. That's the only thing I can think of. Maybe I can take the top of the carb off while we're out here floating around. Check the float level.

[00:13:22]All right. It's a little windy out here.

[00:13:24]We'll see what we can do, though.

[00:13:28]All right.

[00:13:33]Hey, it's just a few Phillips. Should have a Phillips out here.

[00:13:42]I do. Okay. All right.

[00:13:48]Why not rebuild your carburetor while you're floating out in the middle of the lake?

[00:13:55]I really don't get this. This was an Amazon special old two barrel Mer Cruiser replacement.

[00:14:06]Maybe I just got a bunk carburetor. All right, come on, budget boat. It's probably hard to see in there. It looks pretty dry, which is not what we want, but the needle probably to see the needle is moving up and down. It's free.

[00:14:23]Um, we could bend the float up a little bit. If we bend the float up, we'll get a little more fuel before it cuts off.

[00:14:33]All right, I gave her a little bend.

[00:14:35]Damn it, man. I didn't want to do that.

[00:14:39]I didn't want to do that. Okay, it's bent bent up more than what she called for.

[00:14:49]See what happens.

[00:14:52]About to get stranded out here, aren't I? Damn it, man.

[00:15:01]Did that do anything? Here we go.

[00:15:05]All right. 780 RPM.

[00:15:10]Oh, 780 RPM in gear. That's the same.

[00:15:17]Here we go.

[00:15:20]2000 290.

[00:15:28]Nope. Surging again.

[00:15:52]It's even worse than the last time we took it out. I made it I made it worse again. Made it worse again. I don't know how.

[00:16:09]>> I don't think it's spark.

[00:16:14]I mean, it could be.

[00:16:16]>> Nothing would surprise me, but it idles so good. It cracks right off. Let's see.

[00:16:20]Kill it. Hot engine.

[00:16:24]Fires right up.

[00:16:26]Idles in gear.

[00:16:28]Not that I'm an expert carb tuner, obviously, but it seems like over the years that that sounds like a running out of fuel problem, especially when it runs fine and then all of a sudden just pops and runs out and then it'll take off again. Man. All right, boys. Well, I let us down again. I was going to get to the other part of the lake where we used to keep the house boat and see how that old marina is looking. Tell you some stories, but we'll have to try again another day. Oh, before I forget, we do have the jetboat up here and we're going to dump it in the water, I think, next weekend. So, keep an eye out for that.

[00:17:07]And I'll have a housebo update at some point for you guys that are interested in that project. Now, all I'm going to do is try to idle us back to the dock.

[00:17:17]I think I'm going to tear this carburetor off. And maybe I just got a messed up carburetor that I can't figure out how to fix.

[00:17:26]Maybe I should order an actual OEM Rochester two barrel instead of this old Chinese Amazon knockoff special. I don't know. If you guys have any ideas, let me know. I'll keep trying. Worst budget boat build ever.

[00:17:47]Anyway, I appreciate you guys hanging out with me. As always, we'll see youall next time.

[00:17:58]you. I will treat you well, my sweet angel. So help me Jesus.