fishinwrench

LMAO! #11 Josh's..... You SCORED!

The project toon is going bye-bye here shortly, It's on its way to Columbia to be transformed into a duck blind/bowfishing rig. I gotta find a nice 14' jon to store the little Seahorse 6 on.

Well would you freakin buy it already so he'll go away.

Dude, can you please change your avatar ?

His name is Power Pack, he's my test tank pet.

Speaking of a 6hp here's a 1973 2S (although I mistakenly said "1976" in the video) dug out of the ashes and blew off the cobwebs.... Sadly I prolly won't be alive to see a 4S that old run as well.

I don't have a dog in this fight but I blame the wedding cake. That s#it is poisonous and it effects the brain in drastic and destructive ways. Guys dissin' their fishing buddies is merely the beginning symptoms. It gets much worse before it gets better so by all means give the guy a break, he'll make it right in the end.

As a service tech who is not a "dealer" my actual hands on experience with the E-tec is in its infancy. I just haven't had very many cone in yet with any running problems. I've had a few with tilt/trim issues but that turned out to be a rigging fubar that was easy to rectify. The diagnostic equipment and software are fairly expensive for me and I still haven't bit the bullet and aquired it for my shop....it's hard to justify spending several thousand now just so I can swap out a few 30.00 sensors someday. LOL But I work with a local dealer that has it if needed and when the time comes that I appear to be "bugging them too much" I'll go ahead and get my own stuff. The Etec design incorporates the time tested best of the best. They took their best (toughest and most reliable) lower unit design, best water pump, starting system, tilt/trim system, their most water proof and corrosion resistant electrical connectors, right down to the least problematic little clips and fasteners, and used all the best 'stuff' at their disposal on the Etec. I sure haven't noticed that much thought being put into the development of any of their competitors products yet.

That is absolutely NOT true. As a matter of fact J/E/Bombardier is the ONLY outboard manufacturer that makes it a mission statement to continue providing replacement parts for their earlier model engines, clear back to the 1950's in most cases. Yamaha is very good about parts for older production motors also. Mercury on the other hand is famous for discontinuing parts (some vital) for their engines. Some Merc parts for engines no older than 7 years are listed as "NLA" (no longer available). Suzuki? .....Forgettaboutit! Nissan/Tohatsu?.....better than Suzuki, but a backorder from Japan can take 6-8 months. Honda? No personal experience, but I'd expect disappointment before I even picked up the phone. Honda

That has got to be the most annoying thing ever put online....I love it!

I wish ! It's not a matter of a simple sync adjustment because the issue isn't caused by a lack of proper valve timing, its caused from valve wear and/or inconsistent sealing of components throughout fluctuating temperature ranges. The "adjustment" requires a teardown, inspection, and replacement of internal parts followed by a complete refresh of all engine operating systems.....Fuel delivery, fuel distribution, air distribution, Ignition timing and throttle pickup timing (whether mechanical or electronic), and the cooling system. If all the individual systems aren't performing perfectly (individually) during setup....then "setup" doesn't happen. Because a chain of correction attempts by the ECM throws everything off and defaults to a limp mode when it cannot manage it. Valve or mechanical "slop" recognition is not programmed into the engine management system so it doesn't recognize THAT....it just thinks the engine needs more/less fuel, or advanced/retarded ignition timing. All it wants to do is maintain a balance between clean exhaust while still preventing detonation in the combustion chamber..... To Hell with that guy with his hand on the throttle who just wants to get out from in front of a BARGE! or a thunderstorm..... We shall not pollute, THIS is the most important thing to an emmisions controlled 4S For example: An O2 sensor picks up a rich mixture and the ECM trys to correct it by shortening injector pulse width and/or by retarding ignition timing regardless of what the throttle position is....Power on demand is now lost, and there you are lugging around in default mode until the seeping seal, that caused the O2sensor to trigger a too rich code and sending the management system into a whirlwind, is replaced. There are no quick fixes, cheats, tweaks, or minor sync adjustments on an emmisions controlled 4S... All systems and components are either operating 100% perfectly....or your @$$ is in default. That's the best way I know how to explain it. And although the 3star DFI 2 strokes have similar management systems there are way fewer moving parts, making engine management a breeze. And troubleshooting / repairs (when there is a problem) go so much more friendly for all involved. I would love to overhaul a 4S outboard, and I'm patiently waiting to start on my first one....but so far nobody has been willing to pay what it takes to do it. Has anyone here had one fixed? Or did ya just trade engines? Anyone?......Anyone?.... Yep, that's kinda what I thought.

Here's the situation I run into most often: 4S comes in...."won't start, or starts and immediately dies". Usually a fuel pressure issue....600.00 +/- P&L Motor is back in the shop way too soon afterwards...."hard to start and down on power, lousy throttle response". Gonna take a lot of money to fix it RIGHT. Customer unhappy, feels like he got shafted by a shadetree idiot (understandable) and bounces back and forth between 2nd, 3rd, maybe 4th opinions until FINALLY he trades boats or gets sold a fresh outboard. Customer never comes back to my shop....because I was the first one to give him the unpleasant news. I like happy satisfied customers, and 2 strokes make that possible long term.

It appears that once the valve train experiences some normal & expected wear they can't be "brought out of it" for a reasonable cost. Nobody can ever afford to rebuild a 4S powerhead though, so I don't know if I can successfully do one or not. Yes, "making oil" (raw fuel getting into the crankcase) is very common, and it is a very time consuming/expensive repair....that is not worth doing because soon afterwards you will probably start having valve train wear issues again. Because of the emmision demands the tolerances for smooth operation are just too unforgiving. I'm not gonna sit here and further bash 4-stroke outboards, if you are the type that trades up to a fresh rig every 5 years, is anal about maintenance, and never buys used then it's likely you'll be happy forever.

I didn't say that "everyone should", just that I would personally. I work on outboards for a living and eventually 4-strokes of all makes end up with a "condition" that neither I nor anyone I have met to date can honestly rectify (reasonably). You'll develop a full understanding of what I'm talking about in a few more years (or less), I promise. Meanwhile thousands upon thousands of 10+ year old 2-strokes are churning water with as much vigor as they did when brand new, and when they have an issue their owners are usually back on the water in 3 days max. And they aren't burning enough extra fuel in a days fishing to even bother discussing. 4 strokes are quieter.....yep, ya got me there. It's amazing how quiet they are, especially when they are setting at your local "authorized service center" for a month or more while the techs beat their heads against the wall until finally a salesman steps in and convinces you to "trade up". The tech then breathes a big sigh of relief, slaps on your new powerplant and ships the hopeless POS to Semmes, Alabama where it is reduced to components and 50% of it is resold as reman parts.

Anybody have an opinion on the NEW Rio Grand? As I understand it is now a full size heavy, instead of 1/2 like the original grand. My 7 loves the original grand....but now it's time for a fresh one. I wish they'd just leave things alone, I hate change!

OP, you can't go wasting time fishing for owls when you're in a tournament ! 74 years old and still out chasing hooters. I can only hope.....

That's a cool old boat. There are a few (very few) of those old square-nosed wood & glass jons up here on LO,. Was Holiday the only company that made those?

Area History does seem 10x more interesting after you slap a lake on top of it.

Hey, if it weren't for those guys they wouldn't have gotten to play in that sweet little rescue boat. Those things are a blast!

That's 100% Awesomeness right there!

Prolly included a honeymoon.....Poor fella And another one bites the dust.... Ness/Gavin, I may require some skip-tracing assistance in the very near future. Wouldya/Couldya in exchange for an amazing warmwater FFing day (or two) in the land of the magic dragon?

I've been chasing whites year-round for the last 4 years, I've learned some interesting things about them in my particular watershed that do not seem to apply in other watersheds. I had a tracking study write-up from Wisconsin saved, but deleted it after studying it and noticing how incredibly different my own observations were where I fish, and so few studies have been done elsewhere that you're pretty much on your own as far as developing a year-round understanding of their habits. All the literature and habit info you'll find online or elsewhere indicates that they travel great distances and roam open water following baitfish schools 24/7.....but that's not what they typically do where I fish the most (at least not the catchable ones). In my watershed they are very structure oriented and kinda picky about bottom composition. For example; you won't see whites on LO busting shad over a silty bottom area, even though that may be where the mass of baitfish are hanging out at times. Matter of fact I'd challenge you to even catch a fluke white directly over a mud flat at any time of the year. In lakes where shad aren't as thick and plentiful they very well may "follow them around" during the Summer months, but on lakes where the shad are basically thick everywhere I think whites (in much smaller groups than in Spring and Fall) operate more like ambush style feeders and have a definite home range tendency, patrolling a certain area and ambushing shad on their own terms as the baitfish pass through. I'd love to see an actual year-round tracking study done on reservoir whites though.

Not sure I could S#it with Four cats Watching me. Surveillance at Bennett is totally out of control. Maybe they were left there in lieu of TP?

G3 are well built boats IMO and hold their value well. I'd avoid a 4-stroke outboard myself, but I know the whole "quiet" thing is of ultimate importance to some folks....which is the only plus to owning a 4-stroke.

That first pic is really cool.