1993 Nautique Excel Questions

I just picked up a 1993 Nautique Excel about a month ago. It's a 5.8L PCM V-Drive. It is in great shape, but like most boats it needs a few little things. I'm going to take it for the last ride of the season this weekend, but I'd like to start knocking out some of the issues.

First, the blower is dead. It'll actually run for about 10 seconds while making a wretched noise, but then it locks up and dies. At least the wiring is good though and the part is pretty cheap. I forgot to look at it the last time I used it to see if it was a 3" or 4". Does anyone know off the top of their head? If worst comes to worst I'm going to buy both and return whichever one I didn't need, but I'd like to save the extra step if possible.

Also, the carburetor is dripping a small amount of gas on the intake manifold. It looked to me like it was coming from a leaky gasket on the back bowl. I know it's a Holley carb, but what do I need to tell the people at the auto parts store so that they'll give me the right gasket for it?

Leaking carb + bad blower...You can see why I want to knock these things out asap.

Also, how do I find the right oil filter? Do the guide books at Advance Auto have boat engines listed in them? How many quarts of oil do I need to do an oil change?

the thing with gas dripping on a hot surface it really really really raises its flashpoint and with the blower the way it is, the bushings are probably out of it and causing a slight wobble opening the clearance to where the fumes may sneak in and ignite from the brushes arc
as snob mentioned.....

Hmmm...I'll get that list number when I get to the lake Friday night and run into town to pick up the gasket Saturday morning. I thought the ones on the back bowl were pretty standard for some reason. What size carburetor came on these boats from the factory?

I'll definitely have the new blower. At this point I'm just planning to buy both sizes and return the one I don't need unless someone can say for sure what size it is. That's one of the benefits of living 5 miles from Overtons I guess.

And don't worry; no plans to use a Fram filter. I'm a PureOne fan, but the Napa and Motorcraft ones are good as well.

What weight oil do you guys run in your vDrive units and transmissions? I want to go ahead and change all the fluids since you never really know how old they are when you buy a used boat. It would be rare for me to run in temperatures less than 75 degrees so thicker oils are probably better.

I got the blower fixed last weekend and did a few little miscellaneous things before winterizing it. I tried choking the engine by dumping Marvel Mystery oil into the air intake, but it didn't actually shut off...It just produced a massive amount of white smoke. I guess that's better than nothing?

I hope I got everything. I basically followed this procedure: http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8368&PN=2

I didn't pull the lower hose from the transmission cooler. It had a drain plug at the bottom so I just pulled the plug.

I also found a plug on the vDrive unit that drained a ton of water. Of course I found this after pulling a plug that dumped a bunch of oil into the bilge of the boat.

Is there supposed to be a drain on the transmission itself or do you just drain the transmission cooler in the above link? It's my first time winterizing a boat, so I want to make sure I get everything.

It's a velvet drive transmission.

I'm pretty sure I got the only water plug on the vDrive. The plug itself was corroded really badly and will have to be replaced. It was rotted through to the end threads and wouldn't go back in. I wish I had pulled the hose going to the vDrive unit too, but I didn't think about it until I was on the way home. I'm planning to replace the cooling hoses next year anyway (they're almost all starting to crack) so if the hose itself pops it will be ok. I did pull the hoses that go to the thermostat housing and drained a lot of water out of them.

Yes. There is a plug on the bottom to just drain the water (and fuel) out. To change the filter the whole black case has to come off.

I miss my old Excel - Great Boat. Wake is a bit hard for skiing but trick/boarding wake is great. VERY Comfy and dry too.. enjoy!

BTW - the fuel separator is mounted differently in the Excel (But you have already seen that... those carpeted side panels sure open up the engine access).

LKG (Andy)
I was at the lake 2 weeks ago, saw your new boat (thought it was Chris's) She sure is fine, congrates. I was there long enough to turn the water off, turn the heat on & grab my canoe. Could you shoot me a e-mail at work with Chris's # so I can keep up with you guys. Thanks and I know you did your home work. Wecome to the BEST brand of water sports boats Correct Craft!!!
                               -Andy-
                      andrew.owsiak@navy.mil

^ I've heard Nautiques don't usually surf very well on the regular side. I figured I'd give it a try, but if it doesn't work I'm just going to use this boat for wakeboarding. I'm not setting up a goofy wake for all my friends to enjoy if I can't enjoy it too. I'm spoiled by having friends with Wakesetters, VRides, and Avalanches; so I can always pull them on the early morning wakeboard runs in exchange for mid-day surf runs behind their boats.

SML sounds fun. Isn't that where they have the big Malibu party weekend every year? Do you ride with any of the ATV crowd up there?


^^ I sent you an e-mail earlier with all that info. I'll catch you up there one weekend.

Planning to get her ready for spring this weekend.

I cleaned and sanded the teak swim platform last weekend and it came out great. Went with 400, 600, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit wet sanding.

I had some new upholstery made for the back seat bottom and the movable jump seat that was in the boat. Both were cracked/torn bad enough to need replacement. I'll do some vinyl repair on the sundeck, but it only has a few small spots (less than 1/2" long) that need repair. Hopefully the repairs will match pretty well.

Planning to replace the carpet soon, but probably not getting that far this weekend.

I am planning to work on fluids this weekend. A semi-local dealer told me to use Dexron III ATF in the transmission and 30 weight non-Detergent oil in the vDrive unit. Can anyone confirm? Is 10w40 Mobil 1 a good choice for the engine? I'm in NC and that's what I run in my cars during the summer.

Is the Sherwood 9959K the correct water pump impeller for this boat? [url]http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=8374[/url]

Mobil 1 20w50 also has the ZDDP, but its the only Mobil 1 that does. I use it in my 93 Excel. All the other fluids should be correct, don't know about the impeller, I get mine from Discount Inboard Marine, but it is a Sherwood pump.

^ Cool...I'll be there tonight. Probably running into Roanoke Rapids tomorrow, but stop by if my 4Runner is there.

When you guys say Rotella 40wt do you mean SAE 40? I'm pretty sure they sell Rotella at Sam's Club, so I'll try to stop by there on the way out of town.

West Marine has the impeller pretty cheap. It was $22.99 there and $34.99 at Overtons. I think that's the right one for these 5.8 PCMs.

Sorry for the long post...I appreciate you guys taking the time to read and reply...

I got all the fluids changed over the weekend and put a new water pump impeller in it, but I'm hearing a "whine" from the vDrive unit that I didn't hear last year. It is hard to describe the sound, but it is loud and it sounds like a pair of bicycle brakes grabbing a wet rim. Here is as much relevant info as I can think of:

- The old water pump impeller looked to be in good shape however there were two old impeller fins jammed in the exit side of the water pump. I'd estimate there was about an 80% blockage. I can't believe the boat never overheated last year. I have concerns about other pieces of impeller going to the vDrive unit. The water basically follows this path: lake->raw water pump->vDrive unit->engine thermostat housing.

- After doing all the maintenance I backed the trailer in the water and cranked it on the trailer. After a couple of minutes the temps started to come up. The vDrive unit started whining at this time. I looked at the water strainer and it was still bone dry. I shut it down at 175 degrees (according to engine temp gauge) and pulled it back to the house.

- I took the raw water pump off and took it apart. I couldn't find any problems with it. It could not be installed upside down or backwards (I tried). After an hour of messing with it I filled the sink, stuck the bottom of the pump in the water, and turned it by hand. It seemed to be pumping in the right direction, so I put it back in the boat. I cranked it on the trailer again and this time the water strainer immediately started filling up.

- After getting it up to operating temps I took it for a cruise. The vDrive whine seems to happen when the boat is at idle and goes away when I start to give it some gas to get on plane.

- When I start cruising the temp gauge drops down to the 100 degree mark. This can't be right, can it? Maybe I need a thermostat or the temp gauge is failing?

What do I do if the vDrive fails? Does anyone rebuild them? I seem to remember these old vDrives being very expensive...Any estimates on the damage if it has to be replaced (I can do the labor myself.)

There are three screws that hold the pump together. If I try to install it "upside down" one of the screws that holds the pump together interferes with the bracket that the raw water pump bolts onto. There is a channel in the bracket that the screw fits in when it is right-side-up, but the channel doesn't extend all the way to the end of the bracket. That screw moves to the end of the bracket when it is upside down and it interferes. It literally wouldn't work on my boat. I tried.

I can say with a 100% guarantee that the water pump was installed the same way the second time I put it on. There is a screw on the outside of the housing that faces away from the engine. There is a patch of rust on the bottom of the part of the pump that holds the belt pulley. I made sure that both the screw and the rust were in the same spot that they were in when I took them off.

Maybe the impeller was binding for some weird reason. The more I think about it the more I worry about chunks of impeller being in that long hose from the RWP to the vDrive or, even worse, being in the vDrive unit itself.

LKG_ wrote: There are three screws that hold the pump together. If I try to install it "upside down" one of the screws that holds the pump together interferes with the bracket that the raw water pump bolts onto. There is a channel in the bracket that the screw fits in when it is right-side-up, but the channel doesn't extend all the way to the end of the bracket. That screw moves to the end of the bracket when it is upside down and it interferes. It literally wouldn't work on my boat. I tried.

Sounds like someone added longer screws to your pump at some point- they wouldnt have originally been long enough to stick through the case. You wouldnt have been the first to install that pump upside down and wonder why it wouldnt draw water!

No idea why it would draw water one time and not another. You had all your hoses connected?

Edit: Steve, sounds like the v-drive might be set up differently than the DD's? Interesting.