Yay for me!!

[SailingWebGuy]

Sorry..no questions for SN this time This one is a little celebratory post. My engine works!!

I took a huge risk by buying my boat without knowing if the engine would work or not. All I knew was that it would turn over...that's all. I successfully did a minor rebuild all by myself. I had never worked on any type of engine before. The engine was the MAJOR repair and I have been nervous about whether it would work or not ever since I bought my boat.

I can now relax a little

Here's a pic..

P.S. - I should mention that the wiring is temporary and the final wiring will be nice an pretty and color coded as the original wiring once was.

[erps]

Looks purdy!

[eherlihy]

That looks like an A4 - and it looks good! Congratulations!

Things that I would change, however, are the el-cheapo butt splice on the water temp sender wire, the ends of the wire ties (those things can be sharp), and the wiring to the alternator and starter... well, all the wiring actually, looks to be painted the same color black as the alternator. Try to remove the paint, so that you can see the color, and put the wire in a loom. You, or anyone else that works on the boat in the future, will be glad if they can tell which wire goes where.

[SailingWebGuy]

Originally Posted by eherlihy

That looks like an A4 - and it looks good! Congratulations!

Things that I would change, however, are the el-cheapo butt splice on the water temp sender wire, the ends of the wire ties (those things can be sharp), and the wiring to the alternator and starter... well, all the wiring actually, looks to be painted the same color black as the alternator. Try to remove the paint, so that you can see the color, and put the wire in a loom. You, or anyone else that works on the boat in the future, will be glad if they can tell which wire goes where.

Thanks!

I had a big spool of black stranded wire lying around so I used it to quickly hook everything up...I was getting anxious to see if it started. Now that I know it works, I'll wire it it correctly.

That temp sending wire is a real pain. The stud spins and the nut is corroded onto it. And the brass housing began to strip when I tried to remove it.

[eherlihy]

More on the wire ties here.

Usually, the temp sender ends with a fitting that looks like a common nail on the end. The wire uses a simple female spade connector. All you have to do is pull the wire off, cut the butt splice out, crimp a new female spade connector on, slide the new spade connector on the temp sender, and you should be good.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by eherlihy

More on the wire ties here.

Big peeve of mine too. Good installers will use a set of flush cut diagonal cutters to snip wire ties flush. I use the 170D cutters from Xcelite. I buy these three at a time because I love them so much!!

Xcelite 170D (LINK)


P.S. Engine looks good! Don't forget to plug that thru-hull hole in the hull!

P.S.S. Perhaps I just can't see it in the photo but where's the raw water injection for the wet exhaust?

[SailingWebGuy]

Thanks for the link and photo. I'm gonna do a little shopping tomorrow and try to pick them up. My hands will need a months recovery after working in that engine compartment.

All the thru hulls have been taken out. They're one of my upcoming projects. And I'll definitely be following your instructions in regards to installing proper thru hulls and shut off valves. All of my thru hulls were the old "volcano" type. I was able to spin most of them by hand...good thing I didn't try to put the boat in without checking them. I've grinded off the old volcanos but that is about as far as I've gotten on work with the thru hulls.

I believe the raw water intake was the hole that's visible in the pic. Right now I have the intake hose for the water pump leading into a big bucket.

[kwaltersmi]

Wow, I wish my engine and associated wiring and mechanicals looked that clean and organized. I really need to rewire my main panel and clean up the clutter in my engine room but electrical work (even simple rewiring) seems daunting.

[LakeSuperiorGeezer]

Originally Posted by SailingWebGuy

Thanks!

I had a big spool of black stranded wire lying around so I used it to quickly hook everything up...I was getting anxious to see if it started. Now that I know it works, I'll wire it it correctly.

That temp sending wire is a real pain. The stud spins and the nut is corroded onto it. And the brass housing began to strip when I tried to remove it.

Well, if the stud spins, probably does not make a good electrical connection in the sending unit so you will want to remove the unit and replace with new. That means a good six point deep socket so you will not strip the brass housing. I cannot tell anything about the electrical connector from the picture so I could be wrong about this, but maybe if you hold the wire terminal with pliers and put a little socket on the nut that holds the wire terminal, you can get it loose. Use something like Liquid Wrench, or WD40 to loosen the corrosion on the wire terminal nut first, let it sit several hours and then try removing it. If you do get the wire loose, put an ohmmeter on the stud and see if you get electrical continuity. Good wiring is critical here. If you do not want to spend the $50 for a proper crimping tool and get the correct connectors, you could have trouble later. I think what you have for wiring is intended for house use. Also, get tinned wire for boats. If you want to go cheap, and I do not recommend it, use bare connectors, crimp as best you can, solder, and then insulate with shrink sleeving that has silicone rubber inside it. Label the black wires so you know what each is for. Make sure you have at least ten guage wire for the ground wire under starter bolt, alternator and starter solenoid. The links below are not my own research, but supplied by other members of sailnet, I forget who.
Crimper: Marine Wire Termination Photo Gallery by Compass Marine at pbase.com
Electrical Supplies: Genuinedealz

[tommays]

REALLY Nice job A4 forever