The baby flipped last night during ATB. I guess the guy driving wasn't as good as I thought he was. 3 guys 1/4 of the way around, I saw it up on it's side and tossed the handle, but it was too late. Pics are on the way. Any body know if there's anything special you need to do to an E-Tec after submersion? So far I have: pulled the plugs and turned it over until no more water was coming out of the cylinders replaced plugs, turned it over. It fired and quit. Turned over again, and it idled fine. towed it back to the landing so I wouldn't do any more damage with water in the gas or oil (not sure if there is any or not, but I don't want to risk it). unplugged all the electrical connections I could find to let them dry out (both in the motor and for the gauges) Next in line: drain gas and oil, refill with fresh gas and oil re-connect all electrical connections inspect cylinders through spark plug holes Any other things I should do? Should I run some mixed gas through it to help re-lube everything? put a few drops of oil in the cylinders?
Wow. These boats seem so controllable on the edge, I'm surprised and a bit nervous, frankly. What did he say happened? I don't have any experience with drying out motors. Can't help much there. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Can't wait to see the pictures, though! Mark
I don't have any experience with the e-tec, but you did the right thing by getting it running right away. It needs to be warmed up to get the water out. I would spray storage seal (the foam stuff) in the cylinders, and in through the carbs. On a Merc, the starter needs to come off to get the water out of the bottom bearing. I have a friend here in town that is a Evinrude dealer and a good tech. If you want his number, let me know. I'm sure he will work with you on the phone. jim
I just spoke to Danny McMannus who owns Lake Eustis Marina. He is an Evinrude dealer. He said he will have you going in one hour. I sent you a PM with his phone number. jim
Mark, You are correct, they are controllable on the edge. But when there are 3 guys pulling straight to the side on top of a 3 foot+ tall pylon when the boat is trying to turn back towards them, the boat can (and does) tip over. As soon as the prop comes out of the water, it's all over. I have been pretty close in a single 18, and a twin and triple 20 to that point while driving (five skiers for the twin and triple). When the driver's lap gets soaked from the water coming over the side, it's time to either back off on the number of people around, or make some tweeks to the way it is driven. Jim, The guy driving is used to using an inboard for ATB's, so there isn't much technique involved. There are a bunch of things that contributed slightly, adding up to a big problem. I think he started with the trim all the way down. A little up trim helps keep the back end down and the motor in the water. I think he started his left turn a bit early, and then the right turn back a bit early as well, so when he was rolling up onto the right side of the boat for the right turn, we were just coming up to the 90 degree point. I don't know if the other two skiers had backed off on the cut at all when he was turning back. I don't want to throw blame around though. It was a comedy of errors that turned up a poor result. I should have spent more time with him getting the technique down. I also should have reminded the other two skiers to back off on the cut for the turn back. I even thought about mentioning it on the way out, but instead I just assumed they remembered from previous years.
I have watched Brint Burril put five around. He basically never turns into the skiers. After the left turn and the throttle cut, he turns the wheel to the right but waits for the skiers to get in front of the boat before adding power. He just sort of parks it for a second or two, then he spins the boat around and they ski away. Pretty cool. jim
Just talked to Danny. Thanks for the info Jim. He said I got a good start, and gave me a couple other things to do. For info sake, here's what he said. After draining the fuel and oil (without ethanol in gas, you could seperate the water and fuel and re-use, but with ethanol, it's not a good idea), add fuel drier, conditioner to at least the first tank (evinrude 2+4 or equivalent). disconnect the oil line at the motor and pump fresh oil through the oil line to make sure there is no water in there. check the clear oil suply lines out of the injector for any air or water bubbles. run a self winterization process (engine fogs itslef) pull the air silencer off and squirt some oil into each throttle body. I just need to find a squirt bottle that can propel some xd-100 now, and I should be good to go.
Good show. Danny is a racer and has seen plenty of flipped boats. You might take a look at your instruments and see if they need to be dumped out. I think I would park the boat in the sun for a while too. jim
I used to drive them that way as well, but recently, I started turning back under power (about half of the power during the whip portion). It really speeds up the act. And if you wait long enough for the skiers to get going, you can safely do it that way with multiple ATB's. But I think the way you described is a little safer. I was able to pull 4 around doing it your way a few years ago.
