Bigcatpt

Now that sucks! Or blows! All my fluid levels are fine and no oil in the bilge.

According to my mechanic we could hook it up to a computer but he claims it would not show anything once I have turned the key off. If we ran a computer check while it was beeping it would show something.

I was on a week long boating trip last week. Part way through the week we were cruising along and got a loud and constant BEEP and the engine went into guarding mode and would not go above idle speed. At idle speed there was no BEEP. If I tried to accelerate the beep came back and engine would hesitate and go back to idle. I shut the boat off and restarted it without issue and it then functioned normal for about 1 more minute and then repeated the loud and constant BEEP and back into guardian mode. I let it sit for about 5 minutes while I checked fluid levels, checked to make sure nothing was blocking the water intake, checked the trans cooler (I think that is what it is called) for any debris,and checked battery voltage. Everything was normal. All gauges normal. Normal Temp and oil pressure. I started it up again and it ran normal for the next 2 days. Then it happened one more time exactly like before. I shut it off and restarted and it worked fine for the next 2 days. Sometime intermittent problems are the hardest to diagnose. Any suggestions where to start? It is a 2003 Avalanche with the Mercruiser 350 MPI tow sports motor. Thanks!

Guy doesn't really know what he has. "switchblade exhaust system". That is a new one. Switchblade = cool but check the ram arms. I think they are getting hard to find. Sideswipe = deal breaker And everything Troy said....he nailed it.

The grade of fuel that you buy does not make any difference to how fast it breaks down and goes bad if it has ethanol in it. This is one of the big myths about fuel. Most research shows you are just throwing away money if you are putting higher grade fuel in your car or boat above what the engine specifications call for.

The Avy is going to give you the most room. Be careful on the Typhoon. It is one foot bigger than the Avy....but the early 2000 models had the dreaded hull cut outs in the rear that are bad for the surf wave. I know I am outnumbered here...but I really liked the walk-thru on my 2003 Avy. I could still get a great surf wave on that side with the right sac configuration. And it was really convenient to fish out of that side. LOL Was that my out loud voice? Am I even allowed to say that four letter "F" word on this site. Admin please don't ban me! LMAO!

Fishing on my boat? No problem! I even have a fishfinder mount hidden for when I really want to get serious. I have some old army canvas that I cut out to lay on the seats and floor and back engine compartments. Trying to figure out how to mount a bow mount electric trolling motor that is completely removable. But my boat is an 03 so she is not new. But I do take really good care of her. In all seriousness you can't really do much to hurt these boats by fishing in them. Be a little careful and clean up stuff and you are good to go. There is not much in there that a pressure washer would not clean right up. Now If i had a much newer surf boat I would probably not do this.

Have the motor, transmission, and V-drive checked out by a merc mechanic and engine compression tested. Spider cracking around tower and stress points is fairly normal in that age boat. Plan in your budget to upgrade to perfect pass (marriage saver) and full ballast system upgrade. The Avy is a great boat that throws a great surf wave with correct ballast system. Take her for a test drive and make sure she checks out well and is water worthy.

Rhino, My 2003 Avy has the 2nd fuel tank. I did not do the conversion. I believe it was the previous owner or maybe even done at the factory. It looks like to me that they just converted the center ballast tank into a fuel tank. Added some fill hose and vent line, fuel line to the manual switch in the engine compartment, and then a sending unit to the dash. I have two fuel fills. Both of them on the starboard side. One just forward of the steering console. One about even with the seat backs of the rear seat. Inside the engine compartment there is a manual switch to choose front (34 gallon) or rear (30 gallon) tanks. At the helm I have a toggle switch on the switch panel which controls which fuel tank sending unit registers on the dash display. I hope that helps. I can send pics if it would help. I can't imagine having any other set up on my boat. 34 gallons is just not enough for a long day of boating and especially not at Lake Powell! I LOVE it! For normal single day boating trips I always make sure that both tanks are full for ballast reasons. I always use fuel out of the front tank first for ballast reasons. While gas doesn't weigh quite as much as H2O, I would rather have the fuel capacity any day. Good luck!

We had 92% here in Salt Lake City. Pretty cool!

This looks awesome! After 2 people slipped on my teak deck last week at Lake Powell I was thinking about doing this as well. I love what the color does. What did you do to prep the wood? Does it feel like it is going to stick really well? Also curious to see how well it holds up over the next year or so. Thanks for sharing!

Throw that 150# sac on the swim deck. Strap it to your grab bar back there. It does wonders. Just curious... are you surfing shallow water? Less than 10 feet? And tape up your surf side vent.

Was there enough water in the bilge that the lowest pulley was touching water so the belt spinning was throwing water? That would cause the belt to slip on the water pump and maybe not circulate enough water to cool the engine. Did the bilge pump ever kick on and empty the bilge in between when it was overheating and when it was working fine? Make sure your bilge is dry and try again. If you still get water spraying you have a hole/leak somewhere.

As a general rule lengthening out the wave will give it less push..... not more push....but more rideable real estate....if it has enough push to keep you going. Tall and big will give you tons of push. The challenge is to find the right blend of height and length and volume that still gives you plenty of push.

Dang that blog has got a lot of mileage! At one point when it had a visitor counter it was over 20,000 visits! Cool!