CrownHawg

Been there, done that! Except mine was a brand new boat. 2002 Crownline 225LPX w/496. Bad fuel pump relay, less than 20 hrs and got pulled in by a blow boat. I could SEE the marina for 3 hours before we got there! AHHHHH!!

shepnic74

I boat the upper Niagara and would go over the falls before I let a snail boat pull me in lol

hvymtl939

Bought the $22 impeller kit without a new housing, rather than the $35 kit with a new housing. Was out for 15 minutes memorial day weekend, and she starts running warm. Pull her out, pull the cover off the impeller assembly. Stock housing that I didn't replace had cracked, and destroyed the new impeller. Went without a boat memorial day weekend over 15 minutes of work and a $13 part. Lesson learned. Bought 2 kits this time. One to install, and one to keep under a seat on the boat.

altamate

Agreed, but my "Mother in Law" was in the boat, how long would you float around broken with yours in the boat? and how can you turn down help with her there?

rak rua

Mother in law was in the boat? All the more reason to go 'over the falls'.

tommymonza

Not my Phuckup, it was done to me.

When I 1st started in the parasail business I had a homemade winch boat with twin 140 Johnson loopers.

Halfway through my short Spring Break I fry a piston in one of the motors.

Now I am very familiar with 4 strokes but never touched a 2 stroke.

So my partner who owned the beach biz I was running out of had a guy who was a mechanic who was "The best outboard mechanic in town" and owed my partner A couple grand.

So after missing a week of business mechanic brings new power head down and installs it at the dock.

Motor starts right up but runs like crap. He screws around with it trying to get it running for about 3 hours and than tells me my carbs need rebuilding and he doesn't have time to do it and I need to find someone else to rebuild them.

So the next day I come down and reset the carbs on the crap running engine back to the identical settings on the good running engine , because the mechanic was screwing with them.

I also deduced that the motors were running like a champ before I lost the piston, so At what point did the carbs need rebuilding on the bad motor ?

So I switch carbs off good motor to bad motor, no change good motor runs like a champ with carbs , new crap running motor still crap.

Soo much for carbs needing rebuilding.

Next I switch all the coil packs and ignition.

Still no change , new motor still runs like crap.

So I drag out the compression gauge, sure enough I have a dead cylinder.

So off comes the cylinder head.

Now on a outboard there is a exhaust side and a intake side to the piston . And In case you can't identify which direction the piston goes in,they stamp it in the top n nice big letters.

Well you know what I found.

Tore the motor back down that night at the mosquito infested dock, switched the piston around , had it running like a champ by 3 am.

Made a couple thousand with it the next day, learned a lot about outboards in 24 hours.

Never let another Mechanic touch my boats.

CDShack

Buddy had a new Chaparral 256, so we all load up and headed to Lake Murry in Oklahoma for a long weekend at one of their floating cabins. Boat runs perfect first day. Won't roll over the next. We tinker and talk and test and come up with the brilliant idea it HAS to be a bad starter, so on a good ole summer day we borrow tools and dive in. Get it out and drive 45 minutes (each way) to a Parts store that could test it on Sunday. Tests fine. ??? What are we missing?

Head back, sweat and contort to get that POS BACK in the boat. Nothing. So we went old school and started tracing each and every wire. Got to the helm, tah dah!
When they dropped in the shifters at the factory the neutral safety wire got wedged in between the cams and shorted out. 2 minutes and a roll of electrical tape (also borrowed) and we were boating....6 hours later!

CrownHawg

Agreed! MIL was not in the boat, but there was NOBODY else to help. They offered, I accepted. I can tell you though, there was not a DROP of alcohol left in that boat when we pulled into the marina! Not much to do other than drink (and look at the sailboat towing you) at that point. That was only the FIRST time stranded, the second time was in front of the Branson Bell on Table Rock lake. Puckering to say the least.....

Wally

iTrader: (1)

ok guess i'll add my stupidity to the mix

Getting ready to leave with my normal crew that is familiar around boats and i ask a buddy to back the truck up and hook it up while i finish some details inside the boat...i get out of the boat and just glance at the back of my truck and see what looks to be a normal connection...chains crossed under hitch etc.......didn't notice the coupler wasn't locked down through!!! Moved about 10' and the boat came off the concrete pad it was sitting on bounced a little bit...just enough to lift off the hitch ball and drop down to the ground!! The chains did save the coupler from getting damaged but the lifting jack stand was toast!! live and learn to double check everything yourself!!

On that note..... another story.....second time going down to LOTO...pulled an all nighter putting a motor together before leaving Chicago....it fired up on the hose and ran great at home....we get down there and i had my buddy get in the boat as i wanted a quick drop off in the water and go park the truck....pull up to the ramp and we were like a nascar pit crew.....he hops into the boat my other buddy is standing in the middle between truck and boat and im tossing stuff out of the truck to him and he tosses it up into the boat....no need for any dock lines as friend will idle and float out in open water to not tie up the ramps...so into the truck i jump....both friend in the boat and i launch them and pull away...i get about 100' away from the ramps and look in the rear view mirror to my friends both waving like idiots and both bilge pumps going full bore!!! I slam the truck into reverse and rip back down the ramp in reverse slam the brakes and skid a good 6' coming to a stop in the water as my buddy is driving the boat back onto the trailer...pull it out and go to the parking lot to see whats going on. Forgot to hook up the main hose to the thru-hull pickup!! (TRS boat) I couldn't believe how much water came in through that 1-1/4 fitting!!! she was draining for a good 5min.

Lets see what else have i done.......threw an anchor out and forgot it wasn't tied down to anything!! Lucky i had a 2nd one that day Still have the spot marked on GPS just have to find time to go diving for i....its only in 20' of water LOL

once tried to "clean up" the harness on the engine and routed it too close between the exhaust and power steering bracket.....it rubbed through and fried the Alternators main wire back to the main breaker....had to raise the hatch and start the boat with a screwdriver for an entire weekend! LOL

Im sure there's more...will post when i remember lol

DanWentworth

Have to chime in;
Pulled a late nighter getting ready before family vacation with my Glastron. Teflon coated the bottom.
Hit a small bump on extremely sloped ramp at Hickory Star (Lake Norris) , boat slid completely off on the ramp 20' from water to the delight of 50 on watchers from our Ski Club.

Pulled late nighter getting ready before family vacation with the same Glastron.
Replace steering cable. reversed it.
Successfully got away from the dock and over to Kelley's (complete with tandem in middle of boat) was easy in the lake, Not so easy docking.

I matured
No longer pull late night repairs the day before leaving.
No longer have family.