Speedo question
 

Hey guys, I'm new to the board here...great to finally be a member. Anyways, I have a question about my speedo. I have a 97 Boss Hammer that I just bought...only 112 hours and I've only put it in the water twice. The speedo does not work...everything else does. Some people have mentioned to check the cable on the outdrive to see if it has come loose.....I'm not sure exactly where the cable is or what I should be checking. If any of you have any suggestions or anything please let me know because I'm clueless and I'd like to get it fixed ASAP.

Thanks

Get used to it...

I have had the Bravo pickup clog all the time, I switched to a gaffrig external pickup, and that clogs all the time - usually with wood. You have to be sure that there's nothing in the pitot. Other than than, I disconnect at the speedo and blow through with compressed air.I found the external a little eaiser to clean out.

BossHammer

Acouple of places to check and look are where the hose connects to the drive. This is on the front of the drive up near the exhaust bellows. Hose attaches with a pinch type clamp and will sometimes come off if not tight. Also check the pitot opening in the lower leading edge just above the propshaft torpedo. Most likely this is cloged with wood and debris. Use a long drill bit or a piece of coat hanger cut to 5-6 inches to clear the tube out. It will clog frequently. You may also check on the inner transom assembly (inside the engine compartment) where the speedo hose attaches there. It attaches with the same type pinch clamp. If it comes loose there you will fill your boat with water as you travel and have a slow leak at a stand still. I know this from experence. It was early in the year with a lot of debris in the water. When speedo quit I just figured I had hit something pluging the pitot. Several hours later after sitting around and doing some running also I had noticed the boat did not feel right. I raised the engine hatch to find a bilge full of water to the point it was up on the engine. This was also when I learned that the auto bilge pump did not work from the factory. Corrected both problems and had no more problems.

Good Luck & Enjoy
Mark

Drill bit works good but...
 

That hole is pretty deep, if I remember correctly, its about 7 inches, so the wire will work much better. Bend the wire like a cork-screw and when you get most of it out, you can disconnect the fitting where it connects into the lower unit and blow air or water through it to clean it totally out..

FORGOT
 

Be careful with a drill bit,, the initial hole is larger and is very short, then it narrows down, use the smaller of the two...

Chris has some good points about drilling.

Be very careful...I've heard too many times that someone has busted a drill bit up inside the outdrive to never get it back out.

Ok so the place I should check are up by the exhaust bellows on the outside of the boat.....then look for a small tube by the outdrive torpedo.....then in the engine compartment right? I'm confused as to which of these you guys are saying to use a coat hanger with? Sorry, but this is new to me and I'm trying to learn.

I think Gettin'Bye meant to say pilot hole above the torpedo.

Start here first.. you know where your boat drain plug is right? well if you look towards the outdrive from the drain plug side (front) you'll notice the 'torpedo', it's kinda shaped like a womans breast. Okay look for a small diamond shaped hole right above the torpedo. First just try to see if there is any obvious blockage in the hole, weeds, wood ect... Then if you don't see anything try poking a small piece of wire in the hole and up the tubing to try to unblock it.

I'm not trying to be a smart ass, just trying to make it clear what we are talking about.

Now if that doesn't work, trace the tubing back through the bellows and through the engine compartment. Your speedometer
works by forcing water through the little hole in the outdrive, up the tubing, to the dash.

Hope this helps, let us know if you find it.

Cool, I'll do that and see what I can come up with. I've been looking all over the place and I guess I'm just overlooking stuff hehe. I appreciate all the help and I'll let you guys know soon.

Thanks

Ok dudes, last night I located the little hole right above the torpedo...right after that I called it a night HAHA. Seriously...I found the hole and got a coat hanger and shoved it in there...didn't really see anything clogging it up. Today I'm gonna open the engine cover and see if I can trace the wire in there....where should I be looking for this?

Maybe it is pitot hole? I just saw someone else call it that. Kind of an odd name? Looked it up in the dictionary:a device that consists of a pitot tube and a static tube and that measures pressures in such a way that the relative speed of a fluid can be determined.
Anyway... I've never had mine clog, but I think the tube is a real hard black tube that goes up through the gimbal bellows area, through the engine bay then up the side of the boat next to the shifter and throttle cables.
I would probably start at the speedometer and try to trace it back.

Chris232: who is that in the picture? sure is a hottie!

Bajadave & Bosshammer

The pitot is the name for the hole that detects the flow of, in this case water. As stated the defenition can be found in the dictionary. For this case it is the hole in the front of the drive on the front/leading edge just abover the propshaft torpedo. It goes in aways horizontal to the propshaft and then right angles up to the fitting on the front of the drive near the bottom of the exhaust bellows. You will be looking for a hose approx. 1/4 to 3/8 inch Dia. It attaches there and then goes to the transom assembly where it goes throught to the inside of the transom where it again has a fitting where it goes back to a hose (same size as on the outside) and on through the boat to the speedo head itself. The fitting on the inside of the transom assembly is on the right side of the drive shaft as you are looking towards the rear of the boat. It will be just to the right of the drive shaft and at about the same height. If the hose has come loose at this point you will see a brass hose barb. Find the hose, it should be very close by, and reattach it to the brass hose barb making sure to clamp the pinch style clamp as tight as you can with your fingers. If this is where the problem is you should be fixed. PS Sometimes the pitot tube can be a real pain to get clear depending on what it is plugged with.

Good Luck!
Mark

That tube sure is a pain in the ass to clear..
 

you would be surprised how deep the hole in the torpedo goes, and how hard it is to get all the crud out, especially if its wood...

Another thing you can try is to un-hook the speedo tube from the back of the guage and blow air through it, to find a leak, or see if its clogged.

Ok i'm all confused now hehe. Last night I cleaned out a very small hole on the back of the outdrive, down low right above the torpedo. I'm not sure if this was the right one or not. I took a coat hanger in stuck it in there a good ways but didn't really see or hit any garbage. The only hose I have found is if i'm looking from the boat plug hole to the outdrive I see a black hose coming right in the center of it.....I'm not finding any other one's. Sorry to sound so dumb over this guys.

Just out of curiosity, was there water coming out from behind your dashboard? Sometimes the hose will come off the speedometer itself and push water into your dash. You might try unscrewing the guage panel and looking at the back of the speedometer to see if the hose is attached.

Ted

BossHammer,

What engine and drive combo do you have?

If it's an Alpha drive, the pitot maybe in a different location?

Go to Boat US and get a maintenance manual on your motor and drive. Probably run you about $25, but well worth it. You'll learn a lot just flipping through the pages. And a lot about care and maintenance for your equipment. I used to think changing the oil once a year was 'good enough'... but there are a lot of other things that need regular maintenace, grease, oil, ect... anyway it should go into great detail about the speedometer system.

Keep in there, don't let her get the best of ya!

I haven't noticed any water from behind the speedo gauge....I guess 1st thing I should do is see if the cable is disconnected from behind the speedo first huh. I have the 454 mag engine and Bravo 1 drive.

Speedo
 

Mine doesnt work either, I have checked all the connections from the engine compartment to the outdrive, no loose or disconnected fittings. Mine gradually dropped when I noticed the problem, after going WOT the speedo was reading 30, then at idle it would drop real slow then stick on 5 or 10, should I be checking for something different??:confused:

twin 454 with bravo outdrive
29 outlaw

NASD,

It sounds like you have a partially clogged pickup tube. Try taking a piece of handy wire or coat hanger and sticking it in the pickup hole which is located on the front of the Bravo drive, just above the torpedo. Wiggle it around a little bit in there and see if anything comes out. The other option would be to blow air through the tube from the speedometer side. Disconnect the tube from the back of the speedometer and blow air through it, preferably with a compressor...

Ted