Stupid Boat Problems

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04-12-2011, 06:27 PM
DOCDRS

Stupid Boat Problems

The time I felt most stupid in my boat was when it wouldn't start for some reason. After many minutes of tracing things down, it turned out that although the throttle appeared to be in neutral, it was in fact just slightly engaged,thus no start...........did I feel stupid !!!!!

Stupid # 2 was probably my 3rd year spring start up and with the clamshell up something did not sound right. After probably a solid minute plus of running I found the sound coming from the intake side of my tranny cooler, located beside the oil filter on my 99 outback. I forgot to hook this hose back on.....did I feel stupid.......but after a solid 1-2 maybe 3 minutes of dry running my impeller was still good! How about that!!!!
04-12-2011, 07:43 PM
smokedog2

kill switch - been there.

CB popped - been there.

Battery dead from tunes - seen that.

Perko never switched - effectively one battery - been there.

SD2
04-12-2011, 07:44 PM
moombadaze

ever spend a hour trying to figure out why the boat wont start only to fing the cut off teather was not engaged
04-12-2011, 08:51 PM
saberworks

I had a blown up tube strapped to top of boat over the engine cover (direct drive). Launched the boat only to realize I had forgotten to put in the plug. I realized it right away but it still took a while to get the tube untied, cover up, and plug in. Luckily water didn't get anywhere near high enough to damage anything but I've never done that again.
04-12-2011, 09:06 PM
BensonWdby

Tried to start boat at landing while rear tiedown straps were still attached. Wen through almost a can of ether. Would run with ether, but died right away. Brought from landing to dealer - they put fake-a-lake on and it fired right up.

Theory - the tie-downs kept the bottom of the boat deep enough on the landing that the engine could not overcome the backpressure on the flaps. Never happened again - but I have never forgetten to unstrap again either.
04-12-2011, 10:24 PM
newty

I haven't had any stupid boat problems...

This week!
04-12-2011, 10:54 PM
viking

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOCDRS

The time I felt most stupid in my boat was when it wouldn't start for some reason. After many minutes of tracing things down, it turned out that although the throttle appeared to be in neutral, it was in fact just slightly engaged,thus no start...........did I feel stupid !!!!!

Ha - that's funny. Happened to me early in the season 2 years ago. Just finished eating lunch in a cove with the family. Of course my 5 year old and 3 year old like to take turns "driving" at the helm when we are floating. Got ready to head out and boat wouldn't start. I spent a good 15 minutes freeking and trying everything before I realized it was just (as you said) "slightly engaged". Boy did I feel dumb - but thankful :)
04-12-2011, 10:58 PM
jmvotto

First day out in 08, first boat had guests in the boat for the inaugural ride. Tripped the moomba cruise. Took 30 embarrassing minutes to figure it out. Could not get the new boat above 5 mph.
04-13-2011, 01:20 AM
mapleleaf

spring '10.
tune up, mani and valve cover gaskets, all new hoses, plugs, dual batt set up, finished reupholstering.... test drive....ran out of gas.....Best part was we drained the batteries dead because there was no way i was out of gas.....
04-13-2011, 09:43 AM
sandm

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOCDRS

The time I felt most stupid in my boat was when it wouldn't start for some reason. After many minutes of tracing things down, it turned out that although the throttle appeared to be in neutral, it was in fact just slightly engaged,thus no start...........did I feel stupid !!!!!

did the same thing my 3rd time out in the boat. almost sold it and decided that boat ownership was not for me. glad I stuck it out...

for those that have not really grown up on the water, there's no more sick feeling than being helpless/stranded out on a lake and knowing that if you can't get it started and no one stops, you're screwed.. as I panicked, I just kept watching the rock wall loom closer and closer as we drifted into it. ended up bumping the throttle and got her started. ours was more like 1.5hrs not a few minutes..

knowing what I do now, I have come to realize what kind of comradery there is on the lake and that 99% of boat owners will stop if they think you are in trouble. it is an amazing network of people that share the same passion and are willing to help out those in trouble knowing that karma does exist.....
04-13-2011, 10:25 AM
kaneboats

Well, your 99% may be a little high. But, it's true. I've towed in 3 in a single day on a holiday.
04-13-2011, 06:26 PM
Poison

Left the plug out last year. Self-critiquing.

Drove away from the ramp at the end of the day with a wakeboard on the transom. Again...self-critiquing.
04-14-2011, 09:48 AM
KG's Supra24

I turned the boat off on a night cruise a few years back after being advised not to due to recent starter issues. The boat wouldn't start back up and we ended up spending an April night on the lake, with a pregnant wife! Our daughter is 3 and i still hear about it from time to time.

Hey Dusty, do you have a story? (hint: walker, rack, busted) :p
04-14-2011, 09:53 AM
dusty2221

Quote:

Originally Posted by KG's Supra24

I turned the boat off on a night cruise a few years back after being advised not to due to recent starter issues. The boat wouldn't start back up and we ended up spending an April night on the lake, with a pregnant wife! Our daughter is 3 and i still hear about it from time to time.

Hey Dusty, do you have a story? (hint: walker, rack, busted) :p

No.

But add me on the list of leaving the transom straps connected. Wife kept telling me boat wouldn't reverse, So i kept backing deeper, after a solid 3-4 minutes of moving the truck back and forth, getting out pushing the boat while she tried to reverse, it dawned on me.
04-14-2011, 10:14 AM
kaneboats

Let's see:

2 y/o pulled lanyard loose-- I was pulling spark plugs on the outboard and checking fuel, etc. for about 30 min. before I decided to start at the beginning and figured it out.

Launched and the bilge pump started running-- why the heck is the bilge pump running when I know the bilge was bone dry? Oh #hit!

Backed trailer in and one of my trailer bunks floated away. Another time saw it was missing off the trailer and couldn't find it. Waded in the water for 10 min before I realized it was still stuck to the bottom of the boat.

Had 10 people in the boat and headed out for a day of entertainment- hit a rock in the first hundred feet and knocked rudder clean off, bent shaft and mangled a prop.

There's only one rock in this whole river and I know where it is now. Wait, there's actually two rocks and I found the second one-- this time only a shaft, prop repair and hull scrape.

All electrical went dead while filling bags to surf in the Outback. Couldn't find anything wrong- got a tow in. That night found the reset button on the back of the engine where you really can't see it unless you know it's there.

Pulled out of garage with ski locker door standing open on LSV- bent the locker door and mangled the garage door.

Took off on a trip at 4 pm on Fri. of Memorial Day weekend. Blew one trailer tire about an hour out and then the second one 10 min. later.

I could write a book on boating for dummies.