Not the spring we imagined.......

BigKahuna

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All right Lakeliving story #1........Had dinner at Nautical's house last night with cwag911 and our wives. We try to get together whenever our schedules permit. Anyway we took our boat out of storage on May 4th. Took the cover off cleaned the pollen off of everything, put all the equipment we took out last fall back in and headed for the ramp. Picture perfect day not a cloud in the sky had the ramp to ourselves. Put the boat in the water.......Cranked over couldn't get it started. Our boat usually starts right up so I knew something was up. Had a full tank and checked fuses. (A couple years ago the fuse that fed the electric fuel pump was split so I checked that first) It was intact. I did notice that when I turned the key I didn't hear the fuel pump kick in so either power wasn't getting to the fuel pump or the fuel pump was bad. We put the boat back on the trailer and took it back to our mechanic. Now we're thinking how could a boat that ran perfectly last season not start in the spring? Hmmmm.......Well it's the fuel pump. Had it replaced before we left Virginia 5 yrs. ago with a genuine original Mercruiser fuel pump. For those of you who don't know it's mounted on the underside of our I/O so the engine had to come out to replace it. We contacted Mercruiser to see if there were any recalls or bulletins on it and see if there was anything they could do and stand behind their product. They basically said No! Its past the 1 yr. Warranty period. So we just had a Sierra brand fuel pump installed. Hopefully this one will last more than 5 years....... Story #2.......After removing the engine and installing the fuel pump our mechanic calls us and asked us exactly how much gas we had in the tank??? Of course it was full. Always fill up in the fall before winterization. We have the receipts. He then tells me that the TANK IS EMPTY! What! Are you kidding me? Someone siphoned/stole 52 gallons of E free fuel in a locked storage area? He said he would fill it up. Not the spring we imagined .
 
Ouch!
 
Wow, that is a rough start.
Hopefully the rest of the season goes well.

Is there anyway to clean out the garage and fit the boat in there for storage?
 
Wow, that is a rough start.
Hopefully the rest of the season goes well.

Is there anyway to clean out the garage and fit the boat in there for storage?
Oh yeah we'll have a good season. Needed to be fixed so just fix it. My wife is ready for an outboard though. Ha! Our 3 car garage is full of cars. No room for a Benny. Our mechanic charges $100 from October to May for storage in a locked fenced in area. Dirt cheap. He said he's never had any trouble before. Might have to look at alternatives in the fall ....
 
Wow! That is a rough start for sure. Anyway to block off the original fuel pump and go with an external mount unit? Pulling the motor every time is a real bummer.
 
I’m with Andy, with our hot rods we always removed the mechanical pumps and install a full electric remote mount pump along the frame and put out of the way. But I’m with you... just fix it! Ain’t no good broken!!
 
Yup that's what Carl suggested last night. Mount it somewhere accessible. But the job is already done and ready for pick up. If this happens again Big Kahuna is going to be missing at sea ......
 
nobody bothered to look at the fuel gauge when it would not start? Not even the mechanic!
It was full when we put the boat in the water and when we took it back to him. He did look at the fuel gauge after installing the new fuel pump. But he knew it had a full tank because I checked the gauge and visually checked the tank which you can see with the engine hatch open and couldn't believe it was reading empty. Somebody siphoned/stole it from the time I returned it to the storage yard and when he actually performed the work in the adjacent bldg.......
 
Bummer! BUT things will get better and you all will have a great time with it for the rest of the summer.
 
Hope the SOB hurt his back carrying it out in 5 gallon cans

Like that lady who broke her leg steeling packages off of porches.
 
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