Boat Maintence Questions ... ?

BigWaterBigFish · 12-30-2002, 10:58 AM

Took the boat out on Sunday for a shake down cruise, prepping for those Springers that'll be here soon. Lots of debris and dead head's in the Willamette from the falls down to Portland. :depressed: Use extra caution if you are boating/fishing, watched a huge log take an anchor line sideways and there are flowing logs with root balls down, wakes make them disappear under. :shocked:

Questions:

1) have some condensation in my dials (have a dash with RPM/Speedometer, battery guage, trim indicator. What can I do to get that out?

2) Getting quite a bit of corrision build up on the poles of my batteries ... after I clean them off with the wire brush, is there anything I can coat them with to keep the build-up down?

3) have a Honda 4-stroke 8hp kicker, has a spotty history as it's a rebuilt salvage motor. It is a bear to start and I have wound up flooding it more times than starting it. :whazzup: Any suggestions or procedures that have been used to start ... ?

RogueFishr · 12-30-2002, 12:04 PM

for batteries I have used some stuff called LPS-3 (I think thats the name) Got it at a truck parts store. Its a rust inhibitor that sprays on a wax type of coating. Worked great at preventing battery corrosion.

RF

Troller · 12-30-2002, 12:39 PM

As far as the battery the spray stuff they sell works great. Also those little green and red felt washers do a good job also. They soak them in some sort of solutions. I use the spray stuff on my pickup. Apply once a year and still using same terminals and batteries for 7 years with out cleaning terms once. I say batteries it is a diesel and has two batts. to turn it over. It's about time for new batts but I wont have to replace the terminals.

Great White Sturgeon Hunter · 12-30-2002, 03:03 PM

Good old grease works great on the battery terminals.

Perfect Drift · 12-30-2002, 03:27 PM

For the battery terminals, I use anti-seize. Either the gray kind or the high temp with copper in it.

12-30-2002, 03:44 PM

Anti seize has metal in it and conducts electricity. Use the felt washers and battery spray. De-Ox or No Corode will work too.

[ 12-30-2002, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: Keta ]

riverraider · 12-30-2002, 07:08 PM

Sounds like you already got your answer on the battery question.
For your kicker, toss in new plugs and run some carburator cleaner through it. It will make a huge difference.
I carry extra plugs and a $2 plug wrench in the DB all the time now. You can change them in about 3 minutes.
PS: dont forget to gap the new plugs. Most Mercs are an .040, but check with the books as different years have different specs.

1pump · 12-30-2002, 07:57 PM

If you use both the felts and the sealer, you'll never have a corrosion problem. The brush-on coating makes less of a mess than the spray stuff, but for some reason it's not as popular or as easy to find.
If your gauges are illuminated, the heat from the bulbs might be enough to dry 'em out. :smile:
As far as the kicker goes, sounds like a carb problem, but plugs would be a good place to start. But it shouldn't flood, period. At least not without help. :depressed:

Angler of Repose · 12-30-2002, 08:03 PM

ordinary axle grease or No-Alox (at the electrical dept of home depot) will work for the battery terminals

HOGTIDE · 12-30-2002, 08:12 PM

One thing I noticed with my new 4 stroke is installing the RIGHT spark plugs makes a big difference. My Merc called for NKG's which I couldn't find locally, so I cross referenced to some Champions. Proper gap and all, the champs simply would not fire smoothly in my merc. Finally got ahold of the NKG's and it was just like butter!

Never had this problem before, but it was very obvious with my new 9.9.

I Fred · 12-30-2002, 11:40 PM

I had the same problem with my dash. I used a hair dryer on low,maybe medium heat,both front and back side of the gauges. It worked fine. I was careful not to get it too hot for obivious reasons

[ 12-30-2002, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: bouyant minnow ]

lost_sailor · 12-30-2002, 11:59 PM

There is definitely some spray-on stuff for battery terminals. I've never used it, but mechanics have sprayed it upon my auto batteries.

here's one I googled:

permatex

on the kicker ... new spark plugs can make a world of difference. Next place to go would be the carburetor, I s'pose.

[ 12-30-2002, 01:04 PM: Message edited by: lost_sailor ]

1pump · 01-01-2003, 10:12 AM

I don't care what plugs the manufacturer calls for. There's only one brand of plug for me. That's NGK.

Especially for 2 strokes.
I sold parts for 17 years and couldn't give Champions away, except for the occasional lawn mower. If you ever want to **** off a mechanic, just send him a set of Champions. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

CAGEY · 01-01-2003, 10:36 AM

You received info on the motor and the batteries both of which were right on.
:smile:
As far as the instruments go, remove the glass/plastic covering and dry them out. Then make sure that you have good air flow thru your boat while in storage. If you are not covering your boat and it is raining on your instrument panel i would suggest that you at least cover or use silicone to seal the instruments. Either way should work just fine for you.

boater · 01-01-2003, 11:49 PM

make sure you dont have to much oil in your honda. it will be a pain to start and run like crud, dont ask me how i know this