Stooooopid Question #121

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:23 pm

went for a lookskie at another f32 here in chattanooga today (only two of them, and this is #2). liked it overall, but two very important things i want to get input on.

the boat had a noticeable vibration while under way. especially on the fly bridge. wheel shook somewhat, and you could also feel it in the boat itself. not super terrible, but noticeable enough where the wife even felt it.

could be props, shaft(s) bent...engine mounts...who knows. input? how worried should i be?

also, a couple of times, mainly when first giving it gas to power up, i thought i smelled oil burning. couldn't be sure as i was on the fly bridge, but thought i smelled it. couldn't tell if the 'steam/smoke' that i was seeing from the exhaust was just steam, or if it was oil smoke. the 'smoke' didn't linger...water was cold, so it could have just been steam from the exhausts....i guess. never had a boat which had the exhaust ports that far down, and not sure if, again, it was the cold water mixing with the exhausts or if i was indeed oil smoke.

again, input?

going back tomorrow with the guy who helped me look at the original trojan tricabin...hoping to get a more informed opinion.

jimbo36 · Post by **jimbo36** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:38 pm

Most common cause for the vibration is a dinged prop. Next, I would say would be engine alignment followed by bent shaft or worn out cutless bearings. To check the prop, shaft or cutless bearing you need to haul the boat. Engine alignment can be checked by seperating the shaft coupling. If there is a misalignment this will be obvious when the bolts are removed. First, before undoing the coupling, examine the stern tubes and stuffing boxes for excessive leaking. If so, this could be an indication of shaft misalignment. Oil smell? Did you pull the engine dipsticks to check the level? color of the oil? Clear? or black? or worse, gray? Smelly? You know, the smell you get from an old engine with a few hundred thousand miles on it. Pull the spark plugs. Are they black and oily? (bad) or light gray and clean? (good). I am always amazed that the more boats we look at, before buying, the closer we look. Sure is a learning experiance. We can only hope we have learned enough when the time comes to write the cheque. Good luck. Jimbo36.

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:56 pm

the port side's packing was dripping a bit more than i was told it should...a constant drip after we brought it back in, while the starbord packing didn't drip at all...that i could see. i'll have frank take a closer look tomorrow and see if he can tell anything.

is it hard/expensive to fix an engine misalignment?

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:35 am

Alignment can be as easy as simply adjusting the screws on the motor mounts.

The issue here is WHY IS IT OUT OF ALIGNMENT?

The ANSWER is GET A SURVEY.

To rest your mind, the most common cause of vibration is dinged prop.

This will show up on the haul out portion of the survey.

The MAJORITY of used boats you will see will be victims of DELAYED MAINTENANCE. Owners put off repairs and maint on boats that are for sale. An older boat can sit on the market for a year, longer in this economy.

With the ongoing costs of slip fees and insurance, don't be afraid to make a LOW OFFER, you might be surprised.

The offer is pending a survey and seatrial.

You pay for those and the haulout.

If there is a broker involved, he's like a realtor. It's his job to take the personality and emotion out of it and make a sale happen between the parties.

GOOD LUCK!

RWS

jimbo36 · Post by **jimbo36** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:10 am

Tuck, The engine alignment proceedure is not expensive. It is a matter of adjusting the engine mounts to the exact position to provide a perfect fit at the coupling. This must be done with the boat IN THE WATER.

As RWS say's, you need to know why it is out of alignment. The first thing I would check is the tightness of the engine mount bolts going into the stringer. If they are loose try to tighten them. If you can, that's good. You know the stringer solid. If not, then stringer is rotted. F32's have a history of rotted stringers and they usually start at the engine beds. When I was looking for my Trojan I saw a few with this problem. Very expensive to fix. I saw one that someone had "sistered" the stringer and rebolted the mounts to the new wood. Not good. Hope this helps.

JuiceClark · Post by **JuiceClark** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:46 pm

I had a vibration about six months ago and just paid my diver to come give it a look and change my zincs while he was here. Sure enough, there was a tiny ding on the leading edge of the starboard prop. He took the prop off and I had it reconditioned for 100 bucks.

If it is an alignment problem, you need to get it fixed right away because that is a primary cause of transmissions getting ripped up. But if you can, start with a diver because he's the cheapest way to get a look. Of course, it will be wasted money if you have to pull the boat anyway.