List of things to fix after the first trip of the season...

[Daveroo]

I took the boat out today for the first time this season and dragged some tackle for a couple of hours just to checked out if everything was working after being in storage for winter. I found a short laundry list of things to fix on the shakedown cruise. Here is what I found and what I think I want to do to fix the problem. I’m looking for feedback as to whether my course of action is the best one, or if there are other possible causes of the problem which I have not thought of.


1. The kicker (2002 Yamaha 8hp 4 stroke) started and ran fine, but no water would come out of the pee hole. I ended up trolling around with the main all day. When I got home I hooked up a hose to the flush point at the top of the motor and water come out fine from the pee hole, so I know there isn’t a clog in the pee hole. I then hooked up the ear muffs and started the engine. Water comes out everywhere, but only a small dribble initially comes out the pee hole for a second and then nothing. I am thinking that I may need to replace my impeller. Can anyone thjink of any other reason I may have this problem besides an impeller?


2. On the throttle, I can lower my main motor, but when I press to raise the motor. Nothing happens. If I go back to the engine itself, I can raise and lower it using the toggle switch on the side of the engine itself. I am thinking maybe there is a connection problem in the throttle? I don’t know. I thought I might disassemble the throttle stick and see if I can see anything obvious. I’ve never taken one of these apart so I don’t know how easy it is. My boat is a 2002 Campion 542 and main motor is 2002 Yamaha 115.


3. My starboard SmartTab is “loose” or broken. It easily moves up when you push up on it. My port tab has no give to it. I have a pronounce list to starboard when running, which is made worse by the fact that it was just myself on board today. I am thinking I need to replace the actuator.

 

[profisher]

Mt trim tabs have a plastic pin which is much like a cotter pin on the older outboards. It is designed to break if the tab is struck hard enough and prevents damage. If the 2002 kicker has never had a new impeller then it is overdue anyway. It still could be a partially clogged tell tale, it is very common..in fact mine is partially plugged right now and I need to run a piece of wire up it to clear it. I would say the tilt switch in the handle is at fault for the main engine issue. I just replaced my kicker remote as I think my key switch was just starting to act up with it not shutting down the engine when turned off. New key switch was $140 and maybe not the problem...new complete remote was $333,00 my cost and the one on the boat is probably the same age as yours so it owed me nothing. Opted for the $333.00 fix and the problem did go away so it was the right move for me.

 

[ReelSlim]

I had Smart Tabs on my last boat. A Malibu 182 similar boat to your Campion. They were the heaviest ones at the time 80# I believe but I ended up replacing several of the actuators while I owned the boat. I was going to upgrade to hydraulic tabs but got a new ride before I got around to it. A new actuator is definitely the fix.......for now. lol

 

[sly_karma]

Mt trim tabs have a plastic pin which is much like a cotter pin on the older outboards. It is designed to break if the tab is struck hard enough and prevents damage. If the 2002 kicker has never had a new impeller then it is overdue anyway. It still could be a partially clogged tell tale, it is very common..in fact mine is partially plugged right now and I need to run a piece of wire up it to clear it. I would say the tilt switch in the handle is at fault for the main engine issue. I just replaced my kicker remote as I think my key switch was just starting to act up with it not shutting down the engine when turned off. New key switch was $140 and maybe not the problem...new complete remote was $333,00 my cost and the one on the boat is probably the same age as yours so it owed me nothing. Opted for the $333.00 fix and the problem did go away so it was the right move for me.

I had an issue with kicker not shutting off from key switch. Tracked it down to bad ground in engine. Get a meter and check all the connections inside your old remote control unit, you might be able to fix the problem fairly easily and have a good remote for a spare or sale.

 

[Reeltime]

1. The kicker (2002 Yamaha 8hp 4 stroke) started and ran fine, but no water would come out of the pee hole. I ended up trolling around with the main all day. When I got home I hooked up a hose to the flush point at the top of the motor and water come out fine from the pee hole, so I know there isn’t a clog in the pee hole. I then hooked up the ear muffs and started the engine. Water comes out everywhere, but only a small dribble initially comes out the pee hole for a second and then nothing. I am thinking that I may need to replace my impeller. Can anyone thjink of any other reason I may have this problem besides an impeller?

Had the same problem with a slow trickle of water coming out the pee hole ... seen a guy use weed whacker wire to clear the pisser hole ,i started it up shoved the wire
in and out and hot damn it's like a jet stream now , so i keep a piece on the boat just incase , salt build up or small chunk of impeller maybe ..those holes are so
small it doesn't take much to clog ... been a year and it has a solid stream . at least try that first .

 

[noluck]

it is not the pee hole, when he hooks to the flusher it pee's out just fine

 

[Reeltime]

oops ! read that a bit to quick ... pisser problem ....weed whacker wire works if anyone else has that problem .

 

[ThreePer]

I had issues similar with the pisser:
1) Used some air pressure (my mouth and/or compressor) to blow air up the pisser while it was running.
2) Went to replaced the head gasket and found that my thermostat had detonated inside its housing and small plastic bits had gone all sorts of places and might have been causing blockages to the water flow.
3) Replace the water pump anyways. Take the leg off and then you can do the gear oil while its in the vice too. Easy job.

 

[Rockfish]

I had issues similar with the pisser:
1) Used some air pressure (my mouth and/or compressor) to blow air up the pisser while it was running.
2) Went to replaced the head gasket and found that my thermostat had detonated inside its housing and small plastic bits had gone all sorts of places and might have been causing blockages to the water flow.
3) Replace the water pump anyways. Take the leg off and then you can do the gear oil while its in the vice too. Easy job.

Daveroo There is some good advice above. In my experience 98 out of a 100 time something flexible like solid copper wire up the pisser and wiggled around will solve the problem breaking up the dried salt. It will often **** some even if the impeller in the water pump is toast, bent over blades etc. You can destroy one of those little Yami impellers with just a few seconds of starting it with it up and dry and not getting water - been there done that by accident. They are not anywhere near as robust as the impellers on say a large Merc. If you have serious problem with cooling you may start to notice signs of over heating especially oil and anti corrosion spray on the outside of the block starting to smoke - stop running it till it is fixed. Sometimes kelp or weed, bottom sand/debre etc can block the intake or get sucked in and block a passage.

If you have not changed the impeller and the thermostat in sometime, now's a good time. If the motor is producing a lot of steam you may have a head gasket problem but since you never mentioned it, likely not.

If the pisser stream is still not strong or missing then run it in garbage bucket with a lot of Salt Away added to the fresh water. It is not all that effective but sometimes it help. You can also buy a device that hooks up to the water hose and injects salt away into the motor with an adapter.

If it is still a a problem you need a Yami Mechanic. Worst case scenario he may be tearing down your motor cleaning cooling passages and looking for blockages.

If you trailer your boat, flush the motor with fresh water every time and if you are using muffs taste a drop of water from the pisser. If there is no salt taste at all you are good other wise keep flushing or far better, take it for a run in a lake at speed.

After all that, it has just occurred to me that if you are just flushing the head through the attachment it may be completely normal for it not to ****. I always use muffs so I am not completely sure. I have some vague recollection that you don't even start the motor to flush the head that way. Time to read the manual or ask the dealer if that is normal, I am thinking that flushing the head that way may bypass the pisser or even the water pump altogether. If that is what is happening then it may be a good idea to use muffs sometimes/most times and flush the entire cooling system (pisser passage etc) and not just the head. One advantage of just flushing the head is that you could do it if the motor was off the boat without running it and without a battery hooked up because starting it in that case to flush with muffs could perhaps cook your charging circuit, assuming you have an electric start model.

 

[sly_karma]

To the OP: your water pump is weak. Pressure from your water supply through the ear muffs is force feeding the cooling system. But with the engine in the water, the pump has to raise water from leg to head and out. Impeller change is the first thing, also inspect the pump housing for scoring that might be letting water past the impeller blades.

 

[Mighty Sylvan]

My tilt has failed before. if it is working at one switch and not the other it is most likely the switch. You should get continuity in the depressed state. Common, up and down. 3 wires.

 

[Daveroo]

I'm shopping around for a water pump kit which includes the impeller. For the extra few dollars I might as well replace the water pump assembly along with the impeller. I'll have the motor apart already too. I'm also sourcing out the switch. Just waiting for some replies back about stock status. Hopefully I can pick up the parts for the weekend. Thanks to all for the input!

 

[sly_karma]

Carefully check the connections in your key switch with a meter before you replace it. Could be a ground problem, it's the number one cause of electrical issues on boats and cars.

 

[Daveroo]

So I thought I would look into the tilt problem a bit closer. I thought I would buy the toggle part and replace the contact and wiring harness inside first. Well after taking apart my Yamaha remote, I realize it appears that the trim tilt switch and throttle is one integrated unit. I could not find a way top disassemble it any further. I shopped around and I am getting price quotes of $91-$93 for the assembly. Obviously not just the toggle switch. I also discovered that the wiring and throttle runs through a side console to panel to the main control unit. I cannot see how to remove the side panel to access things. Probably clipped somehow, but sometimes it is risky unclipping things if you don't know how it is done and where the clips are located.

Anyone done work on a 2002 Explorer 542 with this part of the boat?