foot corrosion and also losing a little gear oil..and an A/C & heating question....which I will post

rasbury

Well, had a great weekend on the water but already pretty darn hot here in Fl. The place I went does not have any swimming area available and I'm not much for punching a gator in the nose just to be able to cool off- so, will have to find a better area to summer, like the coast but that will be another subject....

Foot Corrosion: The foot is VERY clean, however, I'm starting to see a little paint bubble here and there with corrosion underneath. Both of the previous boats I've owned were fresh water boats and trailer kept so I just never had that as a concern...at what point to I attempt to start knocking paint off and repaint? Also of concern, have had the boat for just about a year now and when I first picked it up, the reservoir for the gear lube was down to the fill mark- I topped it off and I checked it yesterday and it was back down around to the need to fill mark so I topped it off. I don't see any residual around the foot where it might be leaking, my corrosion I speak of is not around mating surfaces. I just replaced all the anodes as they were in very bad shape and I'm sure the first change they had.
A/C- we don't use this a lot as we are just getting things caught up on the boat to where we can stay out so we have only done the overnight thing maybe 5~6 times in our first year....the a/c thermostat does not seem to be working as it should but there are some differences I know from a house hold type unit- if I set it all the way as low as it will go it will keep the boat cabin "comfortable". If I try to set it say at 70 or 72, it seems to flip to heat so it becomes cooler outside than in, even in the am. I read there is a cycle it will go through to defrost the coil if it is freezing up but I don't think any ever got that cold. Like wise, the one night we used the heat I had to shut if off as it was roasting us. I have no error messages or anything on the thermostat and I have the manuals but there is not a lot of trouble shooting information on it.....any ideas? I looked at the cooling unit and it does not seem to be crudded up or anything.....

MarkB

The gear lube should not regularly leak. The drive does not consume gear lube. When drops occur in the reservoir, it normally is an air bubble that comes out of the drive and is displaced with fluid. Less frequently it is a leak, either to a seal, or a coupling. A leaking seal is an issue as water is getting into the drive and likely causing corrosion damage. So keep an eye on it.

Capt Ron

I agree with the comments on the fluid levels. It is possible that a shaft seal is losing a little oil while underway so just keep an eye on it. The only way to figure this out is to do a pressure test on the leg when it comes out of the water which you may want to do since the anodes don't seem to be protecting your outdrive. if this boat was previously used in fresh water and is now in salt water you need to change your anodes from aluminium or manganese to zinc ones. Don't wait on this one...

MarkB

For the gear lube, if you had your drive off recently, it could be simply a burp of air being displaced by gear lube. If it keeps going down, then there might be a leak somewhere on a seal or union. I would watch it on the next run, you might get another burp but it shouldn't be a huge drop. If it gradually goes down, then it's likely a leak.

For the AC it sounds like you have to calibrate your thermostat. The thermostat is probably in the air return vent to the air con. It may be in a poor position to measure the actual cabin temperature.

Anyhow, bring in a pool thermometer and measure the actual cabin temp. Check what the thermostat is saying it is. I'm thinking it's off, and if so, download the manual off the net and calibrate it. You can adjust the thermostat up and down around 10 Fahrenheit, so before you do it know how many degrees it has to come up or down to match the pool thermometer.

rasbury

Mark- thx for the input! I have not had the drive apart and it leaked down the amount between the marks so that's maybe 2 oz. tops....I have no idea if the previous owner may of had that serviced recently before I bought it but I don't think so....it was a year to leak down that much. I also need to check the hose to the foot and make sure I don't have something loose or something before I push the panic button but do they all "leak a little" or should this be something that any leak is an issue?
I have a laser temp sensor to check the temps but I did not see anything in my manuals to calibrate the thermostat but will see what I can find online, maybe there is another manual available I don't have.....thanks Mark

rasbury

will do...I am hoping that maybe something is loose between the reservoir and the foot like a clamp or maybe a chaffed hose- would not be my luck. Sounds like a good time to change the foot oil and see if there is any water in it- the anodes I don't think had ever been replaced and assume they loose their value at some point? Anyway, new ones on there now and will investigate the leak. If I don't see water in the foot and I can't find a leak going into the foot then I will keep an eye on it and see where we go from there...thanks for the input! The motor was to hot to climb around yesterday so I'll bring it home this weekend.......

06Rinker270

What are you going to do about the drive? Repaint or wait a while?

rasbury

o6, not sure...it's a big job to do it right....

frenchship

Ras,
Just have your sterndrive pressurized with air at any boat dealer  should not be expensive and  easy to do nothing as to come apart. Just make sure that they drain all the oil from the sterndrive before pressurizing it. From that test you will know if there is a leak at the seals in the back of the props which is usually where the leaks happen. 
Good luck.

rasbury

so then is that a seal that can be replaced without disassembly? What is the opinion on the corrosion, should I be scrambling to re paint the lower unit? It's really mainly on the lower part/foot....

frenchship

If you could post a picture of the corrosion you are talking about it would be easier to give you my opinion.
Paul

rasbury

I will do that Paul when I bring the boat home this weekend....thx

06Rinker270

I have spoken with a few guys on her about repainting the drive and most say its not too difficult.  I am getting ready to do it myself.  Maybe tedious with all the hard to reach places.  

Handymans342

Do you have the Tstat programmed for Auto Change. This will change the unit to heat and back to cool automatically. Try changing it to AC only. You dont need heat down there anyway. 

Dream_Inn

I agree with Handy, change it to AC only.  Then you won't deal with that issue at all.  As far as defrosting, you can change those settings to cycle every so often for like a minute or two every hour.  I had to do that on my last boat when it was really humid out, so down there I'm sure you'd need it so it wouldn't freeze up.

rasbury

Well, nothing I have in my manuals and I have the user and installation, describe anything about programing etc....my thermostat or what I thought is the thermostat on my 270 is located by my TV- there is a van button which I did read you can program to run continuous or to cycle with the compressor, I have up and down for the temp and then there are symbols for heat, cold and something in between and it switches back and for between the heat auto- sounds like I have some real digging to do! 

Dream_Inn

Look up the exact brand and model you have and then we can help out.  There are plenty of online manuals that give the details and it is real easy to program how you want.  Most are done by holding the power button on for a few seconds, the something like 'P-1" will come up.  There are ~ 15-20 programmable settings to go thru.  But, it only makes sense with a manual.

rasbury

will do dream......the boat is in storage but I think I have one of the manuals at the house....I was going to search on line tonight and see if there were any other publications out there to help also since everyone has me moving in the right direction and it makes sense as well...thx!

rasbury

I believe what I have is the Passport Dometic system...I found the manual and flipped through it but did not see a calibration for the system but will print it out at work tomorrow,,,,, 

rasbury

I looked at the manual on a normal size screen and see there is an adjustment for the ambient temperature so will give that a shot next time I'm in the water!