denny-o

Notice that the Pentagon bans fuel and oil additives for US Military engines... If one of those proprietary additives could give a tank or a hummer even a few % increase in service life, the Pentagon would absolutely require its use.. They ban additives instead... Draw your own conclusions... denny-o

How far you go for a given customer depends on how likely he is to make a purchase (a gut call)... It also depends on the size and margins on the sale... A 15' fishing boat with a 700 dollar margin will not get as much invested in the prospective customer as a 3 million dollar mega yacht... denny-o

OK, there is a tip.. Make the trailer fenders the same width as the beam and the po po won't even blink as you go by...

Yup, there are no breaks from my wench... Gets my knuckles whacked every time they get in the wrong place without careful preparation... denny-o

Additives are snake oil... If there was an actual advantage to a given additive that you named, then at least one major brand of gas would be licensing the stuff and adding it to their fuel and trumpeting the advantage to the high heavens.. The major brands do have proprietary additive packages (think TECHRON, etc.) of detergents and the like... So, for what it is worth if you are worried about your engine falling into a heap of rubble because you forgot to add that miracle stuff to your last fill up, then buy the major brands with their proprietary package and consider it good... With a few exceptions, all stations in a local area get their gas from a local fuel depot who has huge tanks of base stock gasoline - I get gas for my plane from the local fuel depot and it is an impressive fuel farm... The tankers pull in and tell the computer to load 5 or 10 thousand gallons for a given station brand... The computer adds the appropriate additive package and ethanol, to match what that brand calls for... The base stocks for regular versus premium are different- premium is not just some stuff tossed into the base stock for 'regular', but is a different mix of gasolines and chemicals to start with... Anyway, I digress... When I was a boy in the 50's we did not buy additives (no money) ... To get the carbon out we would run the engine about half speed and carefully pour a thin stream of water into the carb, and the exhaust would be black at first with carbon deposits and then gradually clear to just steam... The engine would buck and rattle and snort, and really carry on, but seemed to idle and run better after the treatment... The majority of additives contribute lubricity to the fuel in the form of a long hydrocarbon chain solvent and (usually) a bit of sulfur, phosphorus, or other antiscuff agent... I did just use some Ringfree on an OB motor that had not been run in 18 years... I did the shock treatment to 5 gallons of gas and ran it through to - supposedly - decarbon the rings... Did it do any good over just running the engine, beats me? (shrug)... Since I could not see the difference, I won't be doing it again... From what i have seen in 50 years of playing with motors - auto / plane / boat / tractor / semi -, you can add a pint of diesel fuel to 20 gallons of gas and get the lubricity advantage at a much better price... denny-o

A few inches will go unnoticed... Most of the guys find that up to 9' the boat is ignored... Once you reach 10' the extra is enough to draw looks from the officer cruising past... Of course, nothing will get past the officer with a week left on this month's quota of citations and way behind... denny-o

I have been watching for a follow up on this.. Curious what the OP found... denny-o

Just two comments from a guy who has been in business most of his life... First, that you are buying a different make of trailer that you feel is better was not part of your interaction with dealer #1... If you bring up as aside like that, then maybe you should also tell him your wife bought new throw pillows for the couch... Second, that you now want to vent on dealer #1 accomplishes nothing... Just say you found a better price at dealer #2 and leave it at that.. Don't burn bridges... You never know when dealer #1 may have a better deal on the next boat, whatever... denny-o

Letting the carbs run dry means air in there which will dry wet surfaces turning them to varnish... I don't do it.. The hours on the carbs is meaningless... It is whether or not you have varnish narrowing the jet... A carb sitting after having been soaked can have the gaskets dry up and get hard and start leaking air... Most likely in your case is the carb... Next is fuel pump getting air bubbles... Next is intermittent spark... Last is vanes... denny-o

The first thing is to go through the wiring - and especially the ground wires -... This sounds suspiciously like a bad ground wire very close to the batteries... +DC wires tend to branch off as they are run for ward from the engine/batteries and not go directly daisy chain fashion... Ground/return tends to be a single buss for much of the equipment... One bad connection near the battery can kill the circuits for the entire boat... Look first near the battery and the heavy gauge cables coming off them to the console.. Then look inside the console... 90% odds you will find the open circuit in one of the two spots... denny-o

OK Big K, I didn't know you had any carb experience... Actually, along with what I posted, I would have ordered a fuel pump and a carb rebuild kit and gone though it (them)... You can get lots of suggestions for cleaning carbs but I use MEK in a 2 quart Mason jar/jug because I keep it on hand for the engine projects we always have underway - boat/car/bike/plane (many hardwares will have jugs and the MEK)... Let the carb and parts soak overnight... Blow it out with compressed air.. Reassemble with the new gaskets... The Ringfree is also for cleaning the fingers and the rings so do that treatment along with the carb rebuild... I am in the process of resurrecting three 1960's Chrysler 45 hp motors, so have heard lots of sneezing in the past few weeks and have been doing carb rebuilds like popcorn... GL denny-o

A good mechanic is a treasure... I had to raise my own and train them - for the very reasons you put forth... Of course the downside is when I grumble about something not being done right they just look at me and say, 'well,go look in the mirror!' and then snicker as they walk away... I will be watching for your findings on the water leak... denny-o

Umm, this is not good - and my condolences on getting screwed by some lowlife... If you cannot get the engine drained and the heads off within a day then flood the engine with antifreeze, just fill it up through every top opening, squirt it in the spark plug holes and role the crank over a couple of times by hand, etc. and then put the plugs back in and fill through the rocker covers until it runs over - or it will be a rust ball within 2 or 3 days... Next, given the circumstances you describe every part in that engine is suspect... My suspicion is you will find junk rods and pistons, etc. and your good parts went somewhere else - like in his engine... Ya know, we got civilized and gave up tar and feathers way too soon... denny-o

The only problem is we have a new owner of a really nice boat with zero boating experience... Moving up the steep part of the learning curve with that boat is going to be expensive... Give him as much help as you can... Maybe she can spring for a hired captain to go with him for the first ten trips - money well spent... I am not denigrating the guy, he just doesn't know what he doesn't know... Is the required safety equipment and a waste and black water written plan on board, etc... Does he know what one horn versus two means? Can he read the buoys? Does he understand the differences between intercoastal rules and ocean rules? Can he dock in a cross wind from one way and a 90 degree current from the other? and on, and on... I did not know all this either for the first boat, but luckily it was a 26 foot sailboat which made the groundings, etc. low speed and low dollar events... A fist full of dollars and decades of experience later my knowledge has improved (errr, at least I hope it has)... denny-o

Replace the primer bulb, and anything rubber that feels suspiciously soft... Put in a new set of NGK plugs - gap them... Bump up the idle screw a tad... Put a shock treatment of Ringfree through it with 5 gallons of gas and Penzoil Synthetic OB Oil, just go out and run it around at various speeds and burn up the 5... If the motor is still sneezing at idle after that, you need to see an OB mechanic to check the fuel pump, the electrical, etc... denny-o