New ’83 2001 - Questions

I decided to move this thread to the engine forum

I think it's possible that you could tighten your belt and all your problems will be gone... if not, then check your battery and check your charging system (alternator/regulator).

Here's a picture of my old external regulator:

Check the voltage at the battery with a volt meter while running, should be 12.6 to 13.6.
Also to check alt, keep idle above 1500 if the engine dies the alt is bad. The engine will run on the alt if its good even with a bad battery, however it will die if the idle gets below the 1500 rpm.

Thanks for the help guys. Anyone have a pick of the external regulator. I figured that it was the part attached to the back of the alternator.

First I will try tightening the belt, second I will try to clean the individual parts as described above.

Are there any advantages to using the newer internal style over the external other than availability?

Cheers

billgatesceo, that looks like the one I took off of my '78 Commander. Mine had an external regulator. The alternator and regulator were motorola. The regulator was mounted on the plate at the rear of the intake with the solenoid. I replaced mine with a new internally regulated alternator from SKIDIM. It came with a simple wiring diagram for the upgrade. I was able to disconect the old regulator.

That looks to be the regulator built onto the back of the alternator(my opinion). My 78 has an external regulator mounted on the back of the motor above the bell housing - actually mounted to a plate behind the carb and the plate being bolted to the rear of the intake.

I would try tightening the belt first before I pulled it off. Then check to see if you are getting more volts.

Congratulations on the new member of the family. Here is a great site I found for engine questions. Our engines have some queertrons that make them a bit different in some aspects,but these guys can be a huge help in tuning and troubleshooting.

Dallas
Corral (Great engine info)

I just looked at the model/make of the alternator. No wonder...It's made my Motorola. Don't they make cellphones. J/K...I did notice that the belt may be loose. I can spin the alternator by hand easily. I'm guessing that I should not be able to do this.

Should I have the mod move this to the "engine" section?

your charging system is not in proper order. You should have at least 13.5-14.0 volts the engine isn't running smoothly because there isn't enough juice to fire the plugs sufficently. Get the alt rebuilt or replaced before you dig into any other engine work to correct rough idle or poor performance.

If it dies at idle the idle speed is likely set too low. It should idle at about 650 to 700 rpm.

billgatesceo,
    That "astro-turf" was installed from the factory to minimze vibration and to protect the muffler and the bottom of the hull from rubbing together and wearing a hole in one or the other. I would recommend putting something back in there to serve the same purpose, possibly foam or rubber, something that doesn't catch all the scum from the bottom of the boat like the carpet does.
That was the cheapest for the factory to use since there was an abundtant supply of scrap pieces.

Yeah I figured it should probably be above 12V. The guage (not very accurate) was only reading 12V. I will hook up my DMM to check it accurately. So how long is the hose to the muffler. I really can't tell since there is some nasty astro-turf crap wrapped around it.

Thanks....I will check the alternator today. So it should be at or above 12V right?

Is there any quick fix to bandage up a crack in the rubber exhause hose coming off the exhaust manifolds. There is a split along one of the ribs that spews water. I need a quick fix before I can get some new hose in there. I guessing that I need to replace the whole hose all the way to the transom.

So the sale and hunt is over. Last night I sold my '77 Skier, and today I picked up an '83 Ski. Boy, was today crazy. We get there and check it over...better condition than my '77 (the hull at least). The carpet was worse, but I like working on stuff anywayz. We hooked the fake-a-lake up, and it fired right up the first time. I was like, good, I'll take it. Stringers, floor, was good, and everything else seemed fine.

So we get to the lake today for the first outing, down the boat ramp into the water...freakin battery was too dead to start. So we pull it out, find some cables, charge it for about 5 minutes. Starts right up, let it idle for about 5 seconds. Disconnect cables, try to start it once more, it fires...off down the ramp we go. Get into the water, you guessed it...battery too dead to start.

So we wait for my buddy's dad to bring some more cables, since the other guy left. We fire it up on the ramp...dunked it in the water...let it warm up and took off. I had to do a drive-by the dock so my buddy could hop in the boat, b/c it seemed that it would die if I put it in idle. So we both get a set in..never took it out of gear, that was fun trying to catch the boat after your set, and head back to the dock. Once there, I got brave and tried to take it out of gear....died...didn't start back up. So we got the rope out and pulled her up on the trailer.. Mind you there is a bar overlooking the ramp and lake. Oh well, we saw a guy in a tige that couldn't get it on the trailer earlier, so not so bad.

Question:
1) Battery is probably bad, and that is why it wouldn't idle very low without dying. The voltage guage read right at 12V while under power.

2) Or, idle set too low.

3) Or, alternater is weak.

Overall, I am very happy. Eventhough it doesn't run out-the-box like my old one did, I think with a little tinkering, it will be just fine. The room in this thing is like twice the size of the Skier. Any thought would be helpful.

Thanks,
Brandon