Phil Barnes
New member
Well shoot, there we were, approaching Dodd Narrows south of Nanaimo on the way to Desolation Sound and the Broughtons. We had left the San Juans the afternoon before, run to Montague Harbor overnight and left early that morning to catch slack tide at Dodd.
About one mile south of Dodd Narrows the 2011 injected 90 with only 480 hours on it coughed once. I went to neutral and it recovered quickly. On we went and it was running fine. I thought I may have had an air bubble in the fuel line perhaps. 15 minutes later it just quit all at once. Nothing happened when the key was turned. Trim and Tilt didn't work either. Batteries were fine based on volt meter. Fuel was new and stabilized. We had run a few hours the day before with no issues and had run over an hour that morning. Since services in the Gulf Islands are limited I decided to go on to Nanaimo. Wind was low and currents were in our favor. I really didn't expect anything major as the engine had low hours and is serviced annually.
The 9.9 HP kicker started right up and we went through Dodd Narrows at slack tide without a hitch. We got to Nanaimo the Friday before Canada Day. Bad timing on my part. I called every shop in town and they all said to call back on Tuesday and maybe....just maybe...they could squeeze us in about two weeks! I check with Comox and Cambell River....same story.
I called the shop we use on the mainland in WA and sent some photos. A friend happened to be at the dock in Nanaimo. He is a marine tech and had a quick look as I had the hood off and was sorting out what had happened. He took one look and said, "you are due a new motor!".
The upper thermostat cover (a cast part) had cracked allowing water to enter the motor housing. Since the housing is drained by two very small holes with flapper valves, it was coming in faster than it could get out so it filled most of the motor housing, about 2/3 full. You could see the debris and water mark on the inside of the hood. This flooded the electronics. Water also entered the crankcase through the dipstick apparently as the oil looked like off color mayonnaise.
I thought about buying a new engine in Canada, but nothing was going to happen fast there. The exchange rate was good but there questions on warranty in the U.S. as I learned that Hondas sold in Canada are not warranted in the U.S. and vice versa. Something to think about.
I finally decided to go back to Orcas Island on the 9.9 hp kicker. Tides and currents were studied carefully. The first leg was to Montaque Harbor. My wife ran the throttle and gear shift when needed and I steered using the bar linking the 9.9 to the 90. With good team work we managed to dock, get fuel and dock when back in the islands. My kicker is on port side which makes it hard to run from the stern due to the placement of the handle on the 9.9 hitting the side of the boat. Much easier to run from the stern if mounted on the starboard side. It would also be easier to run if I had a TrollMaster installed which gives throttle control at the helm with gear shift control at the motor. That may be on next years project list.
The second day we ran across Boundary Pass, again with careful planning of tides and currents and a very close watch for big ship traffic in the Pass. We cleared customs with a phone call (Nexus) and continued to Orcas Island. The currents picked up near Jones Island we went around the other side of the island than planned as we were going sideways about as fast as we were going forward. Once protected by the island we had an easy run to Deer Harbor.
I ordered a new Honda on the mainland. Another choice. Go to the mainland where the trailer was and bring it over on the ferry (about $300) or run across Rosario Strait and through Deception Pass to where we normally launch in Coronet Bay. I chose that route. Tides and current planning again. Weather was great for all of this which made it doable. Low wind and no fog. I went through Deception Pass at slack on the 9.9 with very low traffic so no issues.
We use Ports and Passes for tides and currents plus the Canadian Hydrographic Service Current Atlas, which really helps with the bigger picture of what is happening with currents.
After the new engine was installed, we drove around the San Juans for a couple days getting break in hours so we could do the first service. A tough job but it had to be done! Then we loaded up again and headed north. We had a wonderful trip and spent 29 days on the boat exploring Desolation Sound and the Broughtons.
Will my boats have two engines...either twins or main and a kicker? Yes. The kicker was very valuable to us and we traveled for about 15 hours with it. It gave us safety and options. The 9.9 hp burned less than 1 gallon per hour by my estimates at 3/4 throttle. We ran about 5.5 knots without any current against us. I would wind it up to full throttle and then slow it down to where it sounded "right" for sustained running and fuel economy.
Major mechanical issues with modern engines, especially when well maintained and used lightly, are rare. But they do happen as we came to find out first hand.
Our new engine is a Honda 100 HP. It works well and seems like more than "just 10 hp more than the 90 HP". A Yamaha 115 would have also been a good choice or two 50 HP units.
I went with the single Honda as it was suggested to me that I submit a claim to insurance. Sticking with the same or similar engine seemed like a good idea so as to not complicate the insurance process.
The insurance did pay for a new motor. I will write a second post about that shortly. I was pleasantly shocked as I really did not think there would be any consideration.
In the meantime, you might check those thermostats and thermostat housings to assure no salt build up and no cracks. When disassembled ours did not have any significant salt build up as the engine is flushed thoroughly and often. It appears to have been a bad casting.
That said, the new Hondas are redesigned. The thermostat housing is in a different location and they are using a plastic thermostat cover. Why? I have no idea but something triggered a design change.
Quite a process but all is well that ends well. We had a great trip on a new motor that came at essentially no cost to us.
That is our story from "Life on the Water" for the summer of 2018.
Can't wait to get back north again next summer!
About one mile south of Dodd Narrows the 2011 injected 90 with only 480 hours on it coughed once. I went to neutral and it recovered quickly. On we went and it was running fine. I thought I may have had an air bubble in the fuel line perhaps. 15 minutes later it just quit all at once. Nothing happened when the key was turned. Trim and Tilt didn't work either. Batteries were fine based on volt meter. Fuel was new and stabilized. We had run a few hours the day before with no issues and had run over an hour that morning. Since services in the Gulf Islands are limited I decided to go on to Nanaimo. Wind was low and currents were in our favor. I really didn't expect anything major as the engine had low hours and is serviced annually.
The 9.9 HP kicker started right up and we went through Dodd Narrows at slack tide without a hitch. We got to Nanaimo the Friday before Canada Day. Bad timing on my part. I called every shop in town and they all said to call back on Tuesday and maybe....just maybe...they could squeeze us in about two weeks! I check with Comox and Cambell River....same story.
I called the shop we use on the mainland in WA and sent some photos. A friend happened to be at the dock in Nanaimo. He is a marine tech and had a quick look as I had the hood off and was sorting out what had happened. He took one look and said, "you are due a new motor!".
The upper thermostat cover (a cast part) had cracked allowing water to enter the motor housing. Since the housing is drained by two very small holes with flapper valves, it was coming in faster than it could get out so it filled most of the motor housing, about 2/3 full. You could see the debris and water mark on the inside of the hood. This flooded the electronics. Water also entered the crankcase through the dipstick apparently as the oil looked like off color mayonnaise.
I thought about buying a new engine in Canada, but nothing was going to happen fast there. The exchange rate was good but there questions on warranty in the U.S. as I learned that Hondas sold in Canada are not warranted in the U.S. and vice versa. Something to think about.
I finally decided to go back to Orcas Island on the 9.9 hp kicker. Tides and currents were studied carefully. The first leg was to Montaque Harbor. My wife ran the throttle and gear shift when needed and I steered using the bar linking the 9.9 to the 90. With good team work we managed to dock, get fuel and dock when back in the islands. My kicker is on port side which makes it hard to run from the stern due to the placement of the handle on the 9.9 hitting the side of the boat. Much easier to run from the stern if mounted on the starboard side. It would also be easier to run if I had a TrollMaster installed which gives throttle control at the helm with gear shift control at the motor. That may be on next years project list.
The second day we ran across Boundary Pass, again with careful planning of tides and currents and a very close watch for big ship traffic in the Pass. We cleared customs with a phone call (Nexus) and continued to Orcas Island. The currents picked up near Jones Island we went around the other side of the island than planned as we were going sideways about as fast as we were going forward. Once protected by the island we had an easy run to Deer Harbor.
I ordered a new Honda on the mainland. Another choice. Go to the mainland where the trailer was and bring it over on the ferry (about $300) or run across Rosario Strait and through Deception Pass to where we normally launch in Coronet Bay. I chose that route. Tides and current planning again. Weather was great for all of this which made it doable. Low wind and no fog. I went through Deception Pass at slack on the 9.9 with very low traffic so no issues.
We use Ports and Passes for tides and currents plus the Canadian Hydrographic Service Current Atlas, which really helps with the bigger picture of what is happening with currents.
After the new engine was installed, we drove around the San Juans for a couple days getting break in hours so we could do the first service. A tough job but it had to be done! Then we loaded up again and headed north. We had a wonderful trip and spent 29 days on the boat exploring Desolation Sound and the Broughtons.
Will my boats have two engines...either twins or main and a kicker? Yes. The kicker was very valuable to us and we traveled for about 15 hours with it. It gave us safety and options. The 9.9 hp burned less than 1 gallon per hour by my estimates at 3/4 throttle. We ran about 5.5 knots without any current against us. I would wind it up to full throttle and then slow it down to where it sounded "right" for sustained running and fuel economy.
Major mechanical issues with modern engines, especially when well maintained and used lightly, are rare. But they do happen as we came to find out first hand.
Our new engine is a Honda 100 HP. It works well and seems like more than "just 10 hp more than the 90 HP". A Yamaha 115 would have also been a good choice or two 50 HP units.
I went with the single Honda as it was suggested to me that I submit a claim to insurance. Sticking with the same or similar engine seemed like a good idea so as to not complicate the insurance process.
The insurance did pay for a new motor. I will write a second post about that shortly. I was pleasantly shocked as I really did not think there would be any consideration.
In the meantime, you might check those thermostats and thermostat housings to assure no salt build up and no cracks. When disassembled ours did not have any significant salt build up as the engine is flushed thoroughly and often. It appears to have been a bad casting.
That said, the new Hondas are redesigned. The thermostat housing is in a different location and they are using a plastic thermostat cover. Why? I have no idea but something triggered a design change.
Quite a process but all is well that ends well. We had a great trip on a new motor that came at essentially no cost to us.
That is our story from "Life on the Water" for the summer of 2018.
Can't wait to get back north again next summer!
