Repowering to a larger engine on 2002 X

[fouz]

Please let us know how it works out.
The Yamaha 70 on a is something I have wanted to know more about.

[Whipsyjac]

Re: Yamaha F70,

Here's a recent thread with some info about the F70(I wanted one but my worst case rebuild cost me 3.5 boat bucks vs 9+ boat bucks for an F70)

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... 0&p=281432

Willy

[beene]

If I could justify the cash outlay, I would replace my 75 with a 135-150 kinda thing, maybe optimax or etec

The most hp with the lightest lbs

Whatever I could find

Those days where the lake is glass smooth and no wind to sail, I would love to open her up with the lightest 150 I could find

G

[SENCMac26x]

It's taken longer than I thought to get my trailer back (needed a lot of work, had to cut out and replace the rear cross member, sand blast it down, Ospho treat it and repaint) but the plan is today to pull my boat from the water ahead of (soon-to-be) Hurricane Arthur and let my boat sit in a warehouse during the storm getting the new engine.

If all goes as planned, I should finally be back on the water making mistakes next week.

[Tomfoolery]

I'm confused about who's installing the new engine. Is a dealer doing the whole job, or are you mounting it and the dealer is installing the controls?

Monkey Junction - I had to look that up. I didn't think it was a real place. Turns out it's right down the road (or up the river) from where we'd like to retire (Southport area). I'm interested to know where you got your new engine, especially since it's in the same general area as I'd like to land for the last time.

[Sea Wind]

what Victor said,dealer is located on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Boat/engine/trailer currently insured with Allstate, but I am about to switch with Boat US and had no problem with underwritter with the engine size.
In terms of liability I would point any dealer to the BWY website where they offer the Suzuki 70hp for the 26M

[SENCMac26x]

Salt Water Marine (located 2 miles from my house) will be swapping out the engine, the Etec dealer here was the one giving me grief and wanted me to swap it out myself before he rigged it up.

Monkey Junction is local term and refers to a particularly weird intersection south of Wilmington where an old gas station that had a pet monkey once resided. (Strange how names stick 50+ years after the monkey dies)

Since you're looking to move, let me know if you're in the area, you can help me break in the new engine.

[Catigale]

I purposefully ruled out Mercury/Tohatsu for the lack of service providers in this areas

The very best criteria for engine selection, IMHO

[SENCMac26x]

Well I got the new engine one and took it out briefly Sunday for a shakedown.

For some reason my battery was either dead or putting extremely low voltage (<4 volts) despite being plugged in and the battery chargers showing "fully charged" on both batteries just before I left the house. (Please note: the shop replaced the cable from the engine to the battery due to the corrosion) Anyway, putting a jump-pack on the front battery (2 batteries wired parallel) allowed it to start right up, and by the time I docked, it was showing nearly 12 volts again and the engine cranked without any problems.

Didn't have problem with the engine getting juice before, but based on the symptoms mentioned above... could the issue simply be I ran down the battery too much somehow and now it's worn-out battery(ies) or do you have other ideas?


Anyway back to the story, the 70hp with 14x11 prop offers a LOT of power for the X. Since we were just motoring down the ICW from the boat ramp to the Marina, I was running with Mast-up, no boom and no ballast. WOT was 6200 RPM and appeared to be running 24~25mph, it seemed to run best about 5800rpms. I plan to try it out with full ballast and rigging later this.

Also, I'm please to report for the first time in many/many months I was able to finally dock under my own power!

The only real problem is my wife is still terrified that the engine will die, we'll get stranded or bump into another boat because I no longer have control (happened 2nd time she was on this boat in our marina) and is unable to enjoy herself.

I'm hoping taking lots of little trips after work will build up her confidence in the boat, engine and me....but if anyone has other ideas let me know.

[mastreb]

Battery issue sounds like a parasitic load--something either being left on unknown to you, such as a nav light, or something you've got wired in that takes power when turned off. A lot of marine electronic have a small parasitic load. Also could be short circuit in the wiring somewhere although those usually cause a lot more problems.

Do you have an "all off" switch wired between the battery and everything except the motor? It'll solve that problem.

[SENCMac26x]

The issue was 2fold....1) I left the nav lights on 2) When the engine installer changed out the junction box they didn't securely reattach the ground so the charger weren't working. 1/4 turn of the wrench and it looks like we're in business.

[cptron]

Great, get up with us as the admiral and I would like to do something with you and your admiral this weekend. We plan on sailing up to you this Friday, spend the night on the hook and then maybe go up to Masonboro Island Saturday and possibly spend the night there or whatever we might be able to find.
Of course all of this is weather dependent.

[SENCMac26x]

Sounds good, if the weather holds we'll try a day trip up to Masonboro (I (maybe my 2 oldest kids) might stay the night, I doubt if my wife will...yet)

[cptron]

you could do a quick 5 minute blast back to the house with that new outboard.

[Starscream]

Looks like I'll get my X in the water on Friday for the first try on the new E-Tec 90...can't wait even though I am sure the dealer put on the wrong prop (13 pitch, 3-blade). I suspect from what I have read on various posts here that the 13 pitch might result in over-rev at high throttle. Anyway chances are it will be a big improvement on the BF50A regardless of the propeller.

From Mercury Marine:
"If the current propeller isn’t within the manufacturers recommended WOT range, select a propeller with a larger or smaller pitch using the following rules:
a.Adding 1 inch of propeller pitch will reduce WOT RPM by 150 to 200 RPM.
b.Subtracting 1 inch of propeller pitch will increase WOT RPM by 150 to 200 RPM
c.If you’re upgrading from a three-blade propeller to a four-blade propeller, remember that many four-blade propellers generally turn 50 to 100 RPM less than a three-blade propeller with the same pitch."