former member needs help

[Passages]

Damn it Randy - Change that impeller NOW!

You don't know how old or brittle it is and if it busts up underway and pieces get stuck down stream, you risk an overheat at what could be a most inopportune time.

[67hat34c]

Randy ran out of money for this project and his pesonal life was in limbo, believe things have improved for him however. he as been trying to sell her as is.

If he can find someone who will committ to rebuild the motor and do quality work then i believe he will committ to fix the engine that is bad. in fact if he has to go to TN i believe he is planning on stopping at a Hatteras dealer in AL and they may do the rebuild. The heads are done, he had them done in a shop in orlando. believe they are still sitting in the shop as they are allowing him to store them there.

Any of you know someone who can do his work, between tampa FL and Alabama? Genesis do you know anyone? if so any chance his boat can be docked at you place for a short time? Just thinking out loud.

He is showing the boat today so who knows. I am waiting for his call to move it today , take me about 2 hrs to get there and the trip with no problems should only take a few hours

[67hat34c]

can one of you describe how to change impellor in his motors. Randy cant find anyone to do it before tomorrow, he is not confident to do it him self. I did say we can pull apart the pump on the dead motor and see if we can do it. We dont have a puller for the impellor however.

Because i cant stay on line to see the replies, if someone can call me regarding this or call randy

thanks steve Hierholzer 407 928 5173

[Passages]

I assume changing a 12-71 impeller is similar to my old 6-71 so here goes.

1) Find the raw water pump. Follow the intake line until you get to a circular drum shaped appendage attached to the rear of the engine. It will have a flat circular plate held on by 5 bolts.

2) Remove the 5 bolts and the cover plate.

3) Inside you should see the impeller. With 2 screw drivers placed on opposite sides of the impeller hup, apply equal leverage to work the old impeller out. West Marine sells an impeller removal tool for $80. Makes the job a snap.

4) Scrape off all pieces of the old gasket. Clean any crud from the pump interior.

5) Apply grease or never-seize to the inner hub.

6) Apply liquid soap to the new impeller vanes

7) Use 3 tie wraps to compress the vanes. Begin inserting the impeller in the pump, progressively cutting the tie wraps as you go.

8) When flush, Clean the face place, align the new gasket that came with the new impeller and reassemble.

9) Start engine, check for leaks.


Side note - hope that the old impeller is whole upon removal. If it's missing vanes, you must retrieve them. Also, the pump cover plate is often scored from use. I like to have it machined flat but you don't have time for that. Alternately, you can flip it over and use the other side if needed.

PS- I'll give you a call on this.

[jim rosenthal]

Good luck to you guys, and I hope you are able to make it with a safe trip. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Starman]

I have been quite busy lately and have not posted much.

So this is somewhat late.

I had the pleasure to meet Randy and Michelle and they are good/decent freindly folks and I wish them all the best in everything they do.

He was speaking of this trip and I feel sure he will make all the right decisions.

Wish I could help you Randy, but you know how busy I am here at the marina.

[67hat34c]

My brother and i got there late yesterday afternoon. we worked on getting the motor ready. cleanedout Racor, opened up the waterpump. gave half hearted effort to pull impellor, would not move with screw drivers. the rubber looked good, all fluked ere in shape and no apparent cracking so we closed it up. got the motor fired and it runs fine. the gen cranked after we repaced cable from the battery switch to the starter. first time it ran in a year. we emptied some trash and got it unpluged. randy made one last call to the home owner who was going to let him use his dock. the home owner said he did not expect him until sunday but either way he was no longer agreeing to the use of the dock. he said he called his insurance agent on friday who advised him that the liability is too high. Randy did not loose his cool, he explained that he has a 1mm liability policy but that did not sway the home owner. so we canceled the trip. Randy has to be out by sunday as the slip owner(condo slips) was returning on monday. We made some calls and Randy made some calls last night and this AM . He found another place to go further north in Clearwater. I could not make it over today but Randy picked up my brother on the way. Last i talked to them was at about 2pm and they were getting prepped. they were goint to pull to fuel dock fuel up and pump out waste tank and give it another try. I am getting ready to call them and see how it is going.

I looked at Freebird. she is a grand boat and in good shape. outside does not realy need much. inside it in the need of refinishing work, no leaks and no rot. former owner covered most of the wood with vinyl, wall paper and mirror type plastic. basicaly it use to look like a cheep disco. Randy ripped out all the crap for the most part, much of the wood is covered with glue that will come off. the forward cabin is original and nice. galley on back needs refinishing. Of course the starboard engine is opened up. heads off and top end off, blowers etc. you know the cylinders look fine, not torn up. but randy tells me there was oil comming from exhaust. Mechanic said it was most likely rings. He said the engine never ran out of oil , did pump a few into the bildge however. oil still there.

Told randy that before any long trip, all oil needs to come out. blige pumps need to be fixed, impellor in starboard motor pulled and replaced, and that engine checked out. I said i would help with engine room clean up and pumps, mechanic will have to service the motor. also he has a very large 110v water pump that services all 5 ac units. motor is shot and must be replaced, she gets a little hot down there.

Guys she is a boat that someone could make grand again and i do not believe it would be all that involved at least on the surface. Was surprised how well the window frames looked and clean the exterior is. he says the bottom is solid with no issues. a diver removed the prop from the dead motor and it is sitting in the rear saloon area it also looks good.

[67hat34c]

update.

they are under way, passing eggmont key as we speak. the one thing i though of checking and forgot was the steering. since he has one motor steering system is more criticle than ever. well the upper station is not working but lower helm is fine. electronics are on upper, engine gauges on bridge also are the only ones that work properly. My brother is steering her from below, randy on the bridge monitoring speed and engine status etc.

Making a list of stuff to check is a must, you will always forget some stuff. Randy said he did check the steering but from lower station and it worked, he did not think it needed to be checked from both.

Wonder if the thing has completely independent stations or does each wheel have its own pump that connects to one steering ram. Any ideas?

[Pascal]

if he has hynautics, he needs to check te gauge on the reservoir. should be in the ER. if pressure is low, upper helm will not work. it's likely to be just a matter of pumping it back up to about 20PSI (fitting on the reservoir) then turnign the upper helm till it re primes.

of course, he needs to check the level as well (sight gauge on reservoir). hynautic fluid (or MIL equivalent) is needed but in a pinch he can use ATF, although steering efforts will be higher

[yachtsmanbill]

The Hynautic reservoir is inside the lower helm on the 58 TC. Its a breeze to check. I inspected both of my impellers too, and left them on for a 1500 mile trip. The 12s are "nestled" between the hydraulic pump and air compressor and cant be got with out the puller. It was suggested to me to pull the pump off and service it on the floor. You just need to pull the mount and flange bolts and it lifts off. I have a new complete spare pump if it came to that. The pic shows the RW pump with the hydraulic pump removed for a tach drive job.
FB called me the other day and we STS for a half hour about his trip. I think theyll be OK as long as they resign themselves to the fact that they wont break any sound barriers. I told him to run the one main at 14-1500 and be prepared to see disappointing performance numbers. The one prop being off will help immensely.
I hope he inspected the sea strainer; thats paramount. AND I hope he got a
BUNCH OF FILTERS !!! ws