[Cheshire]

Hey! I finally put together some pictures from my maiden voyage to CATALINA Island in early April. I took my cat BOO. She loved it! A two day stay turned into 6 . The weather was great and the water surprisingly warm. I swam twice. On the way back the engin over heated. $2,000 later I am up and ready to go again. The boat was stored in doors for man years, then purchased and in a slip for 2 more. But she was rarely run for more than an hour at a time. So I guess I had it coming. The good news is the Merc. 5.7 engin tested at a perfect 175 compression on all 8 cylinders. The engin has 186 hours on her. I am thinking I should some how test how much water may have accumulated in the tank after such a long storage time. It runs well, but my mechanic tasted the gas coming out of the carburetor and he thought it tasted watery. Any of you folks out there have any thoughts on how t proceed, or ignore? Oh yeah, a couple of pictures from my Maiden Voyage!

Mark Cheshire

[Motoxxx43]

I would get a new water separating fuel filter at a minimum. The better idea would be to drain the tank and start fresh. The fuel with ethanol in it absorbs moisture out of the atmosphere. Plus fresh fuel wouldn't hurt.

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[ColoradoDiablo]

And get your mechanic a beer or two to wash the bad taste out of his mouth.
Click "Edit Post"
Click "Go Advanced"
Click "Manage Attachments" under "Additional Options" just below the main box
Upload pics from your puter
Done deal

[ShabahZ280]

I've had great luck with a product called "Gas-Shok". It's made by a company called USA Fuel Service. It's a "fuel polisher". I've seen it in person at the boat show and have used it myself for years. It's some sort of chemical compound that literally attacks water particles and does something scientific (that i could probably never explain), but the water disappears. You can read up on it here.

USA Fuel Service

Like I said, I've used it for a few years, and the boats I've used it in have run like a champ. It's about $45-50 for a bottle that'll treat 320 gallons. Well worth it.

Just for good measure, if you plan on doing the Catalina trip often, and/or traveling in the ocean more often, buy a spare impeller. These tend to go out over time, and I'd bet a dime to a dollar that's what caused your overheating situation on the last trip. Also, get familiar with your engine compartment. Know where your thru-hulls and strainers are, and how to close the sea-cocks, in the event you need to change an impeller while out on the water. It's easy to do once you know what you're doing. I'd also recommend buying a spare fuel-water separator and keeping that onboard as well. If you have the Mercruiser service books, it will lay out the exact procedure for changing the impeller and fuel water separator replacement. If not, we do have them here available to contributing members. Also, I might recommend Boat US membership with towing as well. Better safe than sorry... I had to have a soft extraction and tow 1.3 miles to a launch ramp, and had I not had their towing coverage, it would have been $874... And that was only for a 1.3 mile tow. Just some food for thought.