Odd run on the river

rasbury

Hit the river today as it needed to be run and probably last chance before the holidays.. so it started fine- batteries a little low but started. Volt meter was showing like 10 volts but started coming up. As soon as I was able to accelerate it started coughing and spitting a bit...after a while it smoothed out but would not go above 3500 rpm. Sounded fine- was running smooth but just would not. Also have a noise- engine usually very quiet- this sound like an electric fan on a car- I'm guessing a water pump, alternator is in my future? When I lowered the hatch it changed the volume of it for a second...always something..

raybo3

Gimbal bearing????

aero3113

Did the sound change when you raised and lowered the drive? Turning left and right?

YYZRC

Some people say the gimbal bearing pre-failure sounds like a faint helicopter womp womp womp type sound. 

rasbury

I'll have to spend more time on the water with it. I rebuilt the transom assy a few years back- maybe 50 hours on that bearing. Last time we took it out was smooth as silk. I got worried one other time (after a couple of boat tails) and it was the blower so that was just a brief duh moment.  When I got the boat to storage I pulled the plug and there was a lot of water- when I checked the hatch on the water I could see a little but nothing like what drained out. . I just installed a new water system pump in so it may have been leaking some- but the tank was still close to full.  The problems you get when it sits. I did not see any pulleys wabling but maybe I need to take the belt off and see by hand if something is going on. My gimble does have the zert fitting. Not sure I get why the coupler gets greased? I've used it so little I'm behind on the maintenace items like that. Water impeller I'm sure is due- temps were fine and could see water thru the site glass on the strainer. I'm fresh water cooled as well- that is the original pump. Same with the alternator and guess I'm 350/375 hours- since I replaced my stolen gauges I don't know exactly where the hours are. All the coolant, liquid levels looked good. I just did not have time to mess with it. I'm afraid to run it at home as I seem to burn up the impeller- my thru hull must not seal 100% or I have a leak somewhere that gets air.

I'll have to spend more time with it and investigate further but it was such a drastic change from a run maybe a month ago..

rasbury

Well, went out to do a little spec fishing and same program. Would not go over 3k and would not get on plane. I think my alternator is going...like the bearing- it just make a noise- charging. When I raised the hatch you could hear the tone change with electrical load. The crazy part, did not see any / much water in the bilge. When I got to storage and pulled the plug water ran for two to three minutes- that's a lot of water.  It actually feels like there is to much water in the back of the boat to get on plane.  And the really crazy part, and the power was off..
when I turned on the water at the sink behind the helm- it seemed like super pressure and ran for some time-AND it was hot! How the heck could it be hot? It's a cold water only facuet?