Took the Muskie out for the last run of the season before we store her for winter. It's not every year you get 78 degrees and calm & sunny on October 11th around here! The girls got to drive a little bit too, we had the lake to ourselves.
I'd been struggling the past few weeks with a cylinder dropping out under load on WOT, and I was finally able to track down 2 issues with the ignition system:
1. My lower cylinder's spark plug wire had gotten pinched in the engine cover guide pin, damaging the wire - replaced the coil and wire.
2. The middle cylinder was arcing at the plug boot. Probably due to a poor connection between the wire and terminal pin in the boot. The arcing had torched a carbon track in the boot, and it was arcing to the outside of the plug. Pulled the old boot off and threw it away. Cut back the wire a 1/2", restripped it, and repinned the terminal pin correctly, since I finally figured out how it's supposed to be done. Slipped a new boot on, and finally changed all 3 spark plugs for new ones. No more arcing, and she's firing on all 3 cylinders again.
Splashed it yesterday to test and burn off the last little bit of fuel left in my two tanks. She ran great!Learned a valuable lesson about boat plugs, though. Apparently, they're ADJUSTABLE....oops. Ours was too loose and it popped out at 30mph. I looked down as I was changing the fuel tanks and saw the lake screaming by in a white flash of foam through the hole. "Honey, don't slow down, " I said.
We were fine. I jammed a rag in the hole and we were able to land and trailer off no problem. Took on maybe a 1/2 liter of water, no big deal. Note to self: keep a spare plug in the tool kit onboard!
BONUS: My father in law called us about 2 weeks ago and said he'd found the last piece of the bimini cover. So the boat is in fact complete!
Picked up an anchor so we can pull up at sandbars and do some swimming.
This winter I will spend some time working on little stuff to get her ready for next season:
1. Find / replace fenders on the trailer
2. Install guide posts to the back of the trailer to aid in landing.
3. Install 12v accessory outlet
4. Repair/replace missing/damaged snaps for the cover
5. Replace keel rollers
6. Toss a copy of the engine key in the glove box (for when we forget the boat keys!)
All in all, it was a very informative summer. We learned a ton about our new boat, and I feel like I've got a handle on it for next season. We should really be able to enjoy it next year!