I'm a boatin' nut: Bill, (n' the screen name is what I use on boat sites where I post).

I luv the old smokin' screamin' inline6 Merc outboard engines, (the black ones after 1967 when they went to the trigger fired CDI ignitions).

Ya go ta jail if ya run 'em in yer state: Bill.

They are kinda like SBCs, (a dirty word on a Ford site, sorry), in that they were the best selling large horse power outboard engines ever made, (fer very good reason). N like SBCs: many of the parts bolt up from 1962 to 1988, (the last year made).

The power to weight ratio of these old girls is second to none. My 99.x cubic inch 150 HP at the crank, (138 HP at the prop), inline6: "Tower of Power" is only 270 lbs and the power trim is only another 10 or 15 lbs.

There is no other outboard ever made of similar power that can come close to my old girls. N' on light hulls ya feel like you are at the wheel of a 1960s muscle car. I put my first 1968 1250 short shaft with power trim, (now dead after 1000s of hours), on a 14 foot Carlson tunnel hull and ran out at 74 MPH @ 6xxx RPMs. What a ride!

Let me tell ya: Bill, that is realy flyin' on a small boat.

In Seattle metro (in the off season), you can find fresh water virgins with great cornpression fer very small dollars if ya look, due to the fact that there are soooo many of 'em left. (N' people who don't know 'em bad mouth 'em.)

Fer instance: I bought a beautiful fresh water virgin 90 cubic inch 1967 950 inline6 with 136 psi across all 6 fer $400 and I got a solid 1977 trailer (worth the $400), and a boat, (18' hull in good shape; [interior needs work]).

Hard to pass that up, (fer an addict like me anyhoo).

I used to hate Mercs, (me family fishes and has fished in Alaska where they are refered to as "black boat anchors" and people run OMC and/or now Yamadingers), but after many years of trouble free service from a 1968 1250 I learned to luv 'em.

Have a 1500, a different 1250, (the other one is now a parts engine), two 115s, two 1000s and the 950. All runners in very good shape except the 1250 which I'm playin' with. I also have parts engines like the 1250 that I rob from to support me fleet of runners.

Sorry fer the off topic, (but you asked about me passion ). JR

BTW: I wish I had never sold me old 1972 F250 Hiboy straight axel 4x4 I had fer many years. I'm gonna have to buy another. I luv the old FE Fords as much as me old Mercs, too bad they are not as plentiful!

 

Check local boatyards for new in the crate V8's...especially if they are located along the "Inside Passage."

I attended a local boat shop auction in Long Beach several years ago, as the ad said there were some "used" Ford engines and parts.

The owner had passed away, his kids weren't interested, so they decided to hold an auction.

The "used" Ford engines turned out to be TWO brand new 427 long blocks, the used parts were brand new 390/406/427 engine parts including carbs, manifolds and linkage.

I bought everything for TWO GRAND...then resold the stuff...making a very tidy profit.

 

Yer right: I always sniff around 427 Boat engines, LUV those cross bolted FEs!!!! JR

 

The Inside Passage has all sorts of small towns, most have boat shops. One FTE member who lives in the Ketchikan area told me he found brand new crate 312 engines in one shop, but had no way to transport them.

I've thought about taking a trip thru the area via the Alaskan Ferry System.

I've taken three Alaskan cruises. The second and third times, I went scrounging in Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan (boat & pawn shops and gun stores) while the wife went to look at totem poles, glaciers, bald eagles and other assorted jazz.

She couldn't understand why I did this. I told her...once you've seen one bald eagle...you've seen them all!

 

I went over where the F250 is parked and changed out one of my group 27 boat engine batteries, (that I had put in the old girl when I rescued her yesterday after the new module was installed). That gave me the opportunity to trickle charge the truck battery fer 36 hours, (hate to admit it to you Ford luvers; but I had ta use the starter to get her to a good place to park her overnight, [ouch]), which was a good test fer the starter and battery, (that they both passed), n' I didn't want to "test" the 32 year old alternator recharging the truck battery after the long crank.

After the swap today, I fired her up and put me VOM meter on her: 15.25 volts at an idle. I don't have me truck manual handy but that seems to be in the proper range, (if memory serves).

Don't know if everything is perfect in the electrical system after 32 years but it sure runs good now.

Since the rescue and tune up yesterday and now the battery swap et al, I bet I have fired her 15 to 20 times and taken two trips and she has not missed a beat, (typical of the last 32 years and the 157,000 miles she has served my Dad [and now me]).

In fact: this is the first time this old girI has EVER laid down! Can't very easily call this old girl a "fix or repair daily" but she was "found on road dead" yesterday!

I could be wrong but me guess is the problem was the module, (not the stator in the distributor). If I'm wrong Bill thankfully gave me the part numbers so I can change it out real quickly.

Maybe it is just me, but I rarely fix things that aren't broken, (even though I admit that I should have changed it under cornventional wisdom that ace mechanics employ).

Thanks fer all the help you fellers, this site is awsome. JR

 

Not being from England, I wouldn't know what's proper and not proper. ;)

And getting CRS myself, so I can understand your memory problem. ;)

Over 15 volts sounds too high to me, especially at idle.
Have you got one of those old mechanical voltage regulators on it? (tall box)
If so, change it out to a new electronic one. ;)

----------------------------

The first time I heard... "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" was from the sorriest
and laziest railroad signal maintainer I ever knew. I took over his district
and found dead cells all over the district. So the phrase really rubs me the
wrong way. (not anybody's fault but mine on that ;) If he hadn't been such
a braggart and self promoter -plus- run others down every chance he got,
his district being a friggin mess wouldn't have bothered me at all. :)

But see?
Him being proud of that phrase, showed what type of -maintainer- he
really was. :)

Alvin in AZ (retired signal ape, and -not- into boats!)

 

13.2 (too low in my opinion, but acceptable) and 14.5 is the range I accept as practical out in the field.

Over 15 is pretty high.

Josh

 

x2 :)

Been in situations where the battery was really low and started after a jump
and the charging voltage was being held down by the half-dead battery tho.

Last one of those is clear in my mine it was a "new" Ford diesel pickup with
two batteries and the alternator could only muster 12.8 volts even after an
hour of running on its own.

But the charging circuit was clearly working tho, it would gain a bit of voltage
when reved. We drove it over to the shop and hooked it to a battery charger
overnight and next day the readings were good. :)

To get the sucker to start, a simple jump from my pickup wasn't enough.
Had to charge his batteries using my alternator.

Did that by taking a clamp off his battery so his batteries were isolated
from the rest of its electrical circuit.

Started my pickup hooked the jumper cables to his batteries then carefully
removed one of my clamps so my alternator and voltage regulator was only
"seeing" his batteries. Ran it like that for half an hour (45 minutes?) before
a "normal" jump would even turn that dangged high compression engine
over. LOL :)

Dangged clickity-clacketity-*** diesels anyway. ;)

Alvin in AZ
ps- He's posted on FTE asking about his pickup battery going dead like that.
It just happens overnight a few times a year and others have experienced
the same sorry thing and last I heard, no remedy's been found.

 

I like boats, and that is why I like 4 x 4s as well. The boat launch I use is steep and gravel and a hot foot on a 2 wheel drive could leave ya sittin' in the drink, (hasn't happened to me yet, but it is always in the back of me mind). Of course me come-a-long and log chain that I pack would prolly get her out if I got her stuck, still I hate ta test that theory.

I also have a Nissan SUV that is 4 x 4 if there is risk I get stuck I use it.

I own an island so that kinda forces me to have a boat or two since I don't like ta swim that far, (I have a Nissan 4 X 4 truck out on the island ta pull me boats out when I get there).

Thanks fer the heads up on the high voltage readin' I will pay attention to that. JR

 

I notice that too with our 7.3 and 6.0 Diesel trucks at work. I assume the alternators are 3G, but it WILL NOT charge a dead battery to save it's life. If anything I think it quickly takes the alternator out.

The alternator in my 2005 with the 6.0 Powerstroke hardly ever goes over 13.2 Volts. Like you said, it clearly is working, but definately strange.

Josh

 

I put in a new regulator as the origional was still showin' 15.2 volts, now it shows 14.7 volts with the new regulator.

That still too high? JR

 

Nah, 14.7 is ok. Especially if that was without anything on, I'm sure it'll drop if you turn on your high beams and heater.

But is that at idle? What is the voltage at around 2000 RPM? Sometimes or at least usually you'll get an increase from idle to 2000. So hopefully 14.7 at idle doesn't turn into 15+.

Josh

 

Good point, I googled around and I guess the desirable range is 13.8 to 14.4 volts, but excitement about R & R doesn't seem to get high until 15 volts is exceeded. I will make sure my meter zeros out and retest the voltage at various rpms with various accesories on. Thanks for the help. JR

 

As long as it doesn't exceed 15 volts you'll be fine, I also suggest testing it with everything electrical turned on, especially the heater on high and headlights on highbeam.

Josh

 

Tried it at various rpms with and without accesories on and it was the exact same reading, (prolly closer to 14.8 or maybe even 14.9) but it is definitly under 15 for sure and the reading is the exact same regardless of rpms or electrical load: doesn't change at all!

The meter does read zero when off so I guess it is accurate.

I wonder if that battery is still down a bit from the running on the starter even after the trickle charger, so the system is still drawing amps to charge it from the alternator?

The next time I take the truck on a trip I will take me meter with me and keep an eye on the charging system fer a bit. It has just been sitting since the tune up and the new regulator, (where I started quite a few times).

Thanks fer the help. JR