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A little PSA after our first outing.
Got our boat out for the first time this season. Dropped it in the water. It started right up. And I began idling to the lift with the stereo on and the kids all smiles. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice said, lift up the motorbox and give it a once over before heading out. So as we got near the lift, I did just that. At first things looked fine, but I quickly noticed the my water pump belt had not been reinstalled correctly (by me) when I changed my impeller.
So I made a b-line for the lift and got the belt back on. I started it up and everything looked fine. But just to be sure, I idled around for a minute. When the temp started creeping up quickly, I put that boat back on the ramp and checked the impeller.
The new impeller looked like a hockey puck. Fortunately, I had a spare and got it changed out. A quick call to the mechanic and I learned that on my PCM GT-40, impeller bits tend to go down stream. I pulled my hoses and found a few bits of impeller. Still not sure how this shredded with no belt turning it initially. Yes, I checked upstream, too.
Put it all back together and had a great weekend on the lake with no further troubles.
So once again, I know we're all excited to get out on the lake. But what first time you crank it up, be it in your driveway or at the ramp, lift the motor box and give one last look around to make sure everything is how it is supposed to be. Doing this saved me from not only an overheat, but also, an overheat a long way from home.
Put two spare impellers in my glove box when I got home.
Happy boating!
Got our boat out for the first time this season. Dropped it in the water. It started right up. And I began idling to the lift with the stereo on and the kids all smiles. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice said, lift up the motorbox and give it a once over before heading out. So as we got near the lift, I did just that. At first things looked fine, but I quickly noticed the my water pump belt had not been reinstalled correctly (by me) when I changed my impeller.
So I made a b-line for the lift and got the belt back on. I started it up and everything looked fine. But just to be sure, I idled around for a minute. When the temp started creeping up quickly, I put that boat back on the ramp and checked the impeller.
The new impeller looked like a hockey puck. Fortunately, I had a spare and got it changed out. A quick call to the mechanic and I learned that on my PCM GT-40, impeller bits tend to go down stream. I pulled my hoses and found a few bits of impeller. Still not sure how this shredded with no belt turning it initially. Yes, I checked upstream, too.
Put it all back together and had a great weekend on the lake with no further troubles.
So once again, I know we're all excited to get out on the lake. But what first time you crank it up, be it in your driveway or at the ramp, lift the motor box and give one last look around to make sure everything is how it is supposed to be. Doing this saved me from not only an overheat, but also, an overheat a long way from home.
Put two spare impellers in my glove box when I got home.
Happy boating!
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