Very Short Boating Seaason

Ike

Active Member
Dec 17, 2011
460
Pacific Northwest
Boat Info
1972 Sea Ray SRV 190 I/O
12 Ft Rowboat
8 Foot Sailing Dinghy
Engines
Mercruiser 165 6cyl inline GM 250
Took my 72 SRV 190 out to do some fishing yesterday (Thursday) . Only had it out on the lake 3 times so far this year and the first time was just a test run to see if everything was OK. Was headed north at about 2000 rpm just below planing speed (Admiral doesn't like to go fast) and the sterndrive suddenly whined, and quit working, engine revved way up, I shut it down immediately. Bad smell of burning. That went away quickly but I pulled off the engine cover just to check. It won't go into gear. Used kicker O/B to get back to the marina , it was only a couple hundred yards away. Looked for any leaking seals. Didn't see any water getting in. Came back next day (this morning) water was up to the sole. Pumped it out. Pulled the boat out and parked it in the storage lot. Called the marine repair I use today. Will take it to them next week. The last serious look at the sterndrive was 8 years ago. Hasn't been apart since then, just routine maintenance. Oddly enough I was planning on having it rebuilt this winter. Well, now it'll be there all summer. This sucks. I'll still go fishing, I'll just have to use my 12 foot rowboat. I have a little 2 HP O/B for it.
 
Sounds like you spun a coupler or prop hub. The hub is an easy fix, the coupler requires the engine to be pulled. Still not that bad a job, mostly labor. This doesnt have to end your season.
 
The odd twist is the incoming water. Sure sounds like a coupler but that shouldn’t cause any leaks. Maybe the ujoint also combusted during the failure and damaged the bellow? Keep us posted
 
I'll be taking it to the shop on Wednesday or Thursday. Then it will be a couple of days before they give me the bad news. I think the bellows was leaking, but no way to be sure. It was a really slow leak, but enough to haul the boat. I simply don't have the equipment or place to be working on the drive, and at my age I would probably injure myself and then the Admiral would be pissed.
 
Took it to the shop Monday (yesterday) Waiting to hear. Usually takes several days before they call.
 
Very sorry about the early season problems. At least you had backup propulsion and could get home.

Certainly not as comfortable in a tiny boat with a tiny motor but at least you have that.

Look at the positive side. At least you will be able to get into and out of super skinny water where you could never take your SRV!
 
Bad news. Something failed and dumped all the oil and essentially burned up the insides. Not repairable. So I'm going to convert to an O/B. They'll seal it up.
 
Yes. 3 years ago the engine died. I replaced it with a 1978 version but it took almost a year to find one that was in good running condition. The engine only cost me $300.00 but I had to rent a truck and drive around 200 miles to get it and bring it back, and then had to take it to a marine repair to remove the old one and install the new one. Overall it cost north of $4k. Frankly I don't want to go through that again. I love this boat but it's become the proverbial hole in the water. These MC1 drives are a dime a dozen on craigslist and ebay and most of them are just good only for parts, but I would be facing the same situation. Not knowing what the condition is and so on. Replacing it with an alpha is not an option.

A this point I only use the boat for lake fishing so speed is not even a factor. I already have an outboard kicker on it. For now that will suffice. It's brand new. Paid about $2200 for it. (got a good trade-in on an older outboard).
 
Well my boating season just got shorter. Boats only been in the water for a week. Had the marine repair guys plug up the hole for the I/O. Maybe sometime in the future I''ll get a new drive. But today some dumb &****$$&** hit it. Fortunately not too much damage and as far as I can see no hull damage. Knocked my windshield off it's track but the windshield itself is not broken. Put big skid marks across the deck, seat and engine cover on the starboard quarter. It's a mess, but can be cleaned up. The only damage to the deck is a small crack just forward of the vent louver and that can be repaired. Knocked the Bimini off it's tracks but didn't damage it. But the worst insult is it was a Bayliner! Not that I have anything against Bayliner (used to know most of the execs at their HQ in Arlington WA) Anyway. It's not taking water, and he didn't hit the brand new kicker O/B, Sheared off the stern light pole. (oddly enough the light still works) Boat next to me got hit too. He has a fairly new aluminum Tracker. Big outboard on it, and the offending boat hit the O/B. $$$$$$$$. He hasn't had the O/B looked at yet. Could be big bill if that O/B is damaged.
 
So sorry to hear this. Maybe reach out to Dennis/LazyDaze for a lead on the best bracket. He did it for his Grady White.
 
I've cleaned it up, re-installed the bimini. I still need to figure out how to remount the windshield. I have a short list of things I need to replace, like the sternlight pole, a windshield support rod, and some new bimini track slides. Later I'll see about getting the crack in the deck fixed. I've done a little fiberglass work in the past but I might hire a pro for this.
 

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A lot has happened since my last post in 2020. In 2020 due to the pandemic I had to take the boat out the lake and put it in storage. It has been there since. In Dec 2021, due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to move out of our RV and into an apartment in Seattle, 50 miles away from the boat. I haven't been able to do anything with it. Now I would like to sell it and I have an ad for it on the Fiberglassics forum and and Facebook. I hate to see it sitting there unused. Just sitting is probably doing more damage than it would get by being used. Hopefully I will find a good home for it with someone who will be able to fix the windshield and install a new drive. (well at least new to the boat) The outboard and trailer are fairly new. These MC-1 drives are available as remanufactured. Or maybe someone could find one on ebay or craigs. I had a chance to pick one up back in 2017 but at the time I passed it up. Now that seems to have been a stupid mistake.
 

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