Need help nordic 28 t444e parasail boat
 

Hi guys im in Cambodia with a 1995 nordic 28 parasail winch boat 7.3 diesel t444

Got the boat from the US and since its here we ran into a couple of problemes ! Its got very low hours but dint run for many years ! First issue i have at the moment is the bravo 3 when hot sometimes wont go into forward , it can take 5 to 10 seconds before engaging and if i give it a little rev it goes into gear right away ?!

Second probleme is the turbo , we put a new one in , the original one the bearing was ****ed . It runs great but the lag is huge !! Any solution to that probleme ? For island tours its fine but with the parasail its very anoying

Any way i can crank a few hp on that t444 or we should leave it as is

Thanks for your help Parasail Cambodia

The bravo might be down to shift cable adjustment or damaged shift cable. That motor has not been available here for years, I understand that they were used more recently in Australia. Found this vid on common problems related to the motor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWiP1DcwsP0 hard to find much on the marine version. Good luck

Hello , How is the Parasailing on that side of the world? As far as the drive goes , sounds like the cone clutch is worn , but you could start with a drive oil change ( use the Merc gear oil , is it available? ). It may buy you a little time. Make sure linkage is free in drive.
As far as 7.3 diesel , that lag is just where you dont need it , annoying as hell. Most of those were replaced with 454 gas ( perfect power and not expensive to repair / replace , but a gas engine.) or 315 Yanmar ( bolts up to Merc , but expensive and hard to find ).
With the chutes we fly now ( 40' + dia.) most guys that still fly Nordics are using 496's and 502's. Good Luck and Be Safe!!!

Parasailing is great here we fly arround the islands at Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem . We use a 33.5 with dampers for heavy winds and a 37" for regular days . Im not planning on changing this t444 as the diesel here is 47 cents a liter and petrol is 1$ plus the motor as only 650 hours ! The shift cable seems ok i did pull the leg appart from the transom a few time already to replace shaft , seals ect... My guess is the cone clutch is glaced so i will try to ruff it up seems like a quick fix if it will get me threw the end of the season before replacing it ! I did put some new oil in 30 hours ago , merc oil .
As for the turbo im planning on installing a air tank so i can spool the turbo up and get rid of the lag .
Getting parts here is a big probleme , need to order from US , Australia or if im lucky Thailand

Thats the international slash ford powerstroke 7.3. Not a bad v8 diesel, and i dont really care for fords. obtain or make the injector tools, dont run crappy oil , and they will actually last a foolishly long time .
put some money aside for injectors when the time comes. run non silicate coolant in closed cooling system for best results . (Blue premix)

Put a permenant boost gauge on it too.

We run fully synthetic oil castrol 10w40
What do you meen by injector tool ? I pulled them off just using a 1" wrench ! They wont last long ?
As for the coolant i will check what we put in cant remember thanks

lag is NOT huge on a well maintained well running T444E international check double check fuel tanks , fuel quality , new filters , check lines fittings test for leaks , / oil new filters new synthetic or semi synthetic oil / mix couple qts trans fluid with new oil as flush run / new filters new oil , new air filter , oversize cold air filter will help / those motors are legendary u should have neck snappin tq acceleration , if a chev 454 keeps up u got HUGE issues

everybody yaps about extended oil changes , remember its oil that runs this motor like injectors / maintain oil filter changes and drive it / check for any boost , drive exhaust leaks

You can get Alliant injectors for it, they are pretty good injectors, I have used them for 7.3, 6.0, and dt466 you have to buy them through a dealer http://alliantpower.com they are usually around 250 each with core return

Its not the amount of power , its throttle response. You may only need an additional 500 rpm for 2 or 3 seconds to change attitude of 'chute, so it has to be right there , right now. Many times this is on a motor under almost no load , so not making much boost.

I will make a little video to show you guys whats the lag

I did a little bit of looking around, it looks like an air tank and air jets to help spin up the blades is probably the safest/cheapest bet. maybe could add a wastegate to allow the turbo to spin faster before trying to build boost

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/...engines-boost/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L-URaOmM_U

That 7.3 international was a great truck engine , but it is horrible in a boat unless you are going to use it for an anchor.

I have years of seat time in the 28 Nordic ascenders . Great parasail boat for the day.

That 7.3 does not have the throttle response that is needed so flying with a larger than needed chute for the conditions will help but you have to be sure you have it propped down also.

Over propping and overloading that motor will kill hat motor with heat.

If you have to run that motor over 3/4 throttle throughout a flight you are killing it.

Keep you weights low and limit your throttle to no more than half and you may get that motor to live for a little while longer.

Problem is that the 7.3 is simply not enough power so the motor is being ran hard all the time, and the 7.3 didn't like that. Never had one make it past a thousand hours.

Back in the day we were all sold on how much money we were going to save with diesels instead of gas motors.

Hah

In my 20 years of being in and out of the Parasail business if I could have back all the money that I lost on downtime and spent on diesel parts I would be living in a mansion with a helicopter out front.

Save your self a ton of money and heartache and buy a gas 454 that is carbureted and makes 330 hp.

I used to get 4000 hours out of them, most I ever got out of a diesel was 2500 out of my yanmar 300 and I had spent close to 20 thousand to get it to last that long.

Parasail941 I take it you are running the 496 s these days.

What boats you running?

Just sold my last boat , 31 OP , now I sub out all my flying to some great guys. I had 2 Premiums and 2 Nordics. I phased out the 496's mainly because of the Guardian System and went back to 502's. It's a bad feeling having people in the air and going in to guardian mode because water pressure drops a few pounds. Most people find it hard to believe a gas motor ends up giving a better bottom line than diesel in a 2000+ hr application , but in our business , it does.
By the way , Tommy , I sleep like a baby now!

Only way to sleep like a baby is to sub it out , if the Captains aren't whining how they are Superparasailors and they are underpaid ,they are tearing up the equipment.

Yea I never had the 496s.last motors were the yanmars 300s in a 31OP with direct drive .Drawing 4 and a half feet makes it pretty tough to go in and out a pass that is barely 5 feet. And changing daily. But no more out drives ,Yea.

I was up in Cortez a couple months ago for the 1st time in many years. Is Chris and Debbie still around from Custom Chutes?

When the 496s first came out and they always were having sensor problems I was like why go backwards.

In the old gasser days the old 330 carb motor was the only thing that never gave us a problem.

My 1st parasail boat back in 85 was a cobbled together aluminum 32 BellCraft catamaran . Had twin 120 Johnson loopers . Bought a winch up in Central Fl and put a 13 horse honda on it.

Very rough looking by today standards but I flew for the Ritz Carlton in Naples with it for many years. Sold it to a buddy 20 years ago and he still runs it up in Jersey.

Loved the repetitive systems for safety .If I had to do it again I would do a small water cooled honda for the winch with a couple Yamaha 4 strokes hanging off the back.

Yes I was with Chris this morning , I have to pick up a Nordic from Neil in Ft Meyers this afternoon. Hauling it to Long Beach,Ca , its going to Saipan.

Good for you Mate , as Chris would say.

Tell Chris , Tommy from Bonita said Hi old friend.

Chit wish I knew you were in town I was down in Ft Myers today.
Could have said hello.

Glad to see Neil is still around , I see his inflatable out everyday I just didn't know if it was him that as still in the game. I Have not spoke with him in years. There is a Diehard Crew there.

You know Patrick from Diamond Head down here also?

Or what about Kurk up at Cortez? There is a Character.

Saipan? What do they need a Parasail boat in a little hick town right outside of Guam for?

This is the third boat this guy in Saipan has bought from us , and he wants one more. He's over 10 k shipping per boat and fine with it! I put a composite floor in Neils inflatable about six months ago , i guess he'll run that thing forever.
I did complete paint / transom /floor on the Premium for Bonita Beach Parasail last Aug. Parasail world is small , I had a captain fart on a boat in Bradenton and got a call a couple hours later from a friend in Key West telling me what it smelled like. Only business I ever owned where I've had to actually fist fight my competition and my own Captains/Crew on occasion and they considered this normal procedure! Luckily I'm bigger than they are!!!

For us its are first year of operation in parasailing ! Were doing this me and my wife combined with private charter , island tours and snorkeling . Parasailling is alot of work !! But the smiles on people face is worth the effort ;-)

Yea my old. Location at Bonita is on its 3rd owner since I got out of it. Was that Andrews boat you fiberglassed and painted?

What motor is Neil running in that inflatable , I thought I remember it being a Cat , Just wondering what kind of luck he has had with it.

That inflatable is way to wet riding for me, ran one for a few times that was setup with a 502 sterndrive to do hang gliders . Way too much work and you had to run the boat way to hard to get the kite up to altitude.

Be safe and be careful. Stay off your lee shores, you never know when you could lose power or in counter a snag in the propeller

Have a oversized anchor with a good length of chain and 300 get of line in a position that it is easy to access and deploy in a emergency.

Learn your local weather conditions and watch your weather . Dealing and predicting your weather conditions is one of the most important things right behind knowing and maintaining your boat, motor , out drive, and winch.

Keep good tow line on your winch, that is your lifeline between the people up in the chute and you , lose that control and you have a problem, hence the "stay off your lee shore".

Sun is brutal on your chutes and harnesses and any webbing on your tandem bar. When not in use cover them to protect them.

If the webbing on your harnesses or tandem bar is looking the least bit raggedy. Throw them out.

I could tell you a really bad story about 2 fatalities that happened because of webbing failure on a tandem bar right down the street from my location, but I don't want to scare you that bad.

These people you are flying are putting their lives in your hands and are trusting that not only you know what you are doing but you are using good judgement .

Do not fly near thunderstorms. You usually only get one chance with lightning. Got a story for that too.

Good luck and be safe.