BOAT = Break out another thousand...

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September 21, 2026
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
Starting to have a hard time getting into reverse
September 14 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
Let's start out with what happened. Earlier this summer, during my cruising the BC Coast, I started having some issues shifting C-Traveler into reverse. She was not shifting smoothly, and would grind the gears, but eventually I would get reverse. This was an intermittent problem and continued on a couple more shorter cruises over summer. Eventually I decided to replace the shift and throttle cables. While this seemed to make the remote control (throttle) easier to move, it still did not resolve the shift issue, which seemed to be getting worse. Going into reverse would involve grinding gears until the shift completed. Doing a little more digging and trouble shooting under the engine cowling, I found the shift rod bracket, on the front of the engine under the power head, loose. Google and YouTube has been my friend with all this. Some research there mentioned the possibility of the single hold down screw coming loose. That in fact was my issue. After removing the air intake and inline fuel filter, I was able to barely access that screw to tighten it up. That seemed to fix the problem. For a short time....Read more
TravelerHate to leave a “like” for a problem but at least you know we are following along 😄
1wReply
TravelerWe fell your pain. But on bigger boats it’s more like “ bring out another $ 10,000”
6dReply
2 likes
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
No reverse at all
September 18 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 66 °F
It was a beautiful day on Lake Mendota, to take C-Traveler out, test reverse, enjoy a day on the lake, and get some ice cream at the UW Memorial Union. Somewhat shallow ramp due to lower water levels and sand that has washed in to the ramp. So I had to use max reverse to get the boat off the trailer. All worked well. A few stops on the lake to insure the motor was engaging reverse correctly. Got to the other side of the lake, in a shallow weedy area, so after going through there, while still moving forward slowly, I reversed to clear the weeds off the prop. Gear grinding. Unable to get into reverse at all! Shut the main down and ran back to the ramp on the kicker, skipping my ice cream. Yeah, the day was ruined right there! Babcock ice cream can't be beat! Wanted to check the kicker out anyway as I had just replaced the shift and throttle cables on it. And I knew I would need reverse to maneuver at the ramp. Back at the ramp, floated the boat onto the trailer, and then used the main with a little power to powerload the rest of the way on the trailer. On our way home...ready for the next problem...Read more
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BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
The wheels on the trailer go round and....
September 18 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 66 °F
I have oil bath wheel bearings on the trailer, and have had very good experience with them. No leakage from the inner wheel seal. However, I do get some seepage from the center fill hole on the clear plastic cap. These are Kodiak aftermarket oil bath add ons. I suspect the leakage happens when water intrudes into the hubs through that same fill hole seal, when dunking the trailer. Even though I routinely take 15 minutes or so prepping the boat to launch on short trips, or an hour or more to launch when on long trips. So the hubs do get a chance to cool down some. The Tenney Locks boat ramp I use on Lake Mendota is 21 miles from my house. I always check the oil level in the hubs before, after, and on long trips, during, travel. Oil was full on all the hubs, and didn't show signs of much water intrusion. About 5 miles away from the ramp, while towing on one of our smaller highways through Madison, a box truck driver pulled beside me to get my attention. I rolled down my window, and while rolling 45mph down the road, he hollered and motioned that my wheel had come off! Well crap. I pulled off at the next exit, and sure enough, my right front trailer wheel and hub were gone. I never felt a thing. No pull or tug from the boat behind me, or anything that would get my attention something was happening back there. I do have a TPMS, but did not have it on for this in town trip. The spindle still had the hub rotor hanging on it, clamped between the two brake pads. The caliper and brakes were still there. But the tire, wheel and hub where gone. Now I did go back three times over the next two days to search for it. It was a brand new tire, without even 500 miles on it. And TPMS sensors are not cheap either... Never found it. I think it's probably in some bush and trees along side the road, if it came off just before the truck driver motioned me. Slowly drove the rest of the way home. By the time I got home, the rotor had fallen off somewhere, but the brakes were still on. I'm amazed that the rotor broke away from the rest of the hub, and that the only damage to the caliper was the main bracket had one of its "ears" missing and the flange that holds the caliper bracket was slightly bent. The next few days was spent cleaning up the spindle, after getting the inner and outer bearing rings off that set on the spindle. I also had to mostly cut the castle nut off. Chased the threads with a new 1-14 die, ordered and installed new hub, rim, tire and TPMS transmitter, along with Timken bearings and races for all four hubs. When I pulled the other hubs to replace the bearings, I found that two of them did have a little bit of water in with the oil. But the bearings in those hubs looked like brand new. No pitting, rust, corrosion or excessive wear. I have about 60,000 miles on this trailer now. To this day, I still do not know what caused the bearing to fail on that right front hub. I was, and maybe still a little concerned about the spindle, and have spoken with a local marine repair and trailer manufacturer here in town. He said they would not repair or replace the spindle, but rather just replace the whole torsion axle. Since doing all the repair work myself, I have put over 100 highway miles on the trailer, and everything appears to be working as it should. Hub temps are staying cool, and no leakage from the new inner seal. So, I think for now this issue is resolved, and time to get back to the motor issue.Read more
TravelerSorry to have read your missing the Tennessee trip
6dReply
2 likes
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
Cable slipped out of bracket
September 25 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
Ok, back to the reverse issue. Once home and after doing what I could with the wheel deal, I started trouble shooting to see why I didn't have reverse. It didn't take long to see that the shift cable had came out of the bracket just inside the cowling. There is a little clip on that bracket that clamps down over the cable sheath. Now, I'm pretty sure I put that clip over the cable when I installed the new cables. But that bracket and clip is just inside the cowling. With all the other cables and hoses that come thru the rubber bushing where it all enters the cowling, it's hard to get that cable out of the bracket. So the fact it came out on it's own puzzled me a bit. In any case, I closed the clip, and also zip tied the cable into that bracket so it couldn't come out again.
All seemed to work well again on the trailer running the motor with the muffs and shifting in and out of reverse. Out to Lake Kegonsa then a few days later, to try it all out on the water again. At first, everything seemed to work like it should. No problem going into reverse. Stopped to anchor for a while, and then pulled anchor to head back. Damn, if I didn't have problems shifting into reverse again. Sometimes it would grind gears, and sometimes it would engage just fine. Loaded back up and headed home. Again, I looked everything over to try and figure out what was going on. I checked the linkage at the lower shift rod bracket again, the one under the power head, to see if it may have possibly come loose again. I grabbed the shift linkage and had a lot of vertical free play. 1/4 to 1/2". Ok, this has to be my problem. Off to the internet to search out the linkage slop. The results of that search pretty much indicated all that free play there at the linkage bracket would cause the grinding of gears or lack of reverse. And to get to that bracket to replace it or any of its parts, would require removing the power head. Not something I wanted to do.Read more
2 likes
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
C-Traveler goes into the shop
October 1 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 63 °F
Back home from Lake Kegonsa, I finally decided this issue was more than I could deal with, and started looking for a service facility. I knew the one in town would not get me in until November at the earliest. The next closest facility I could find that was an authorized Yamaha service center was Rock River Marina about 20 miles south of me. I called them and spoke with Vern, I think was their parts manager and service writer. He said I could bring the boat in first thing in the morning, Saturday, and he could take five minutes to look at it. So I did. We spent some more time discussing what the problem was and steps I had already taken. Then he had me shift gears a few times while he examined the linkage. He finally said he'd need to have his tech look at it, and I could leave the boat. Since it would be Monday morning before a tech would be available, I elected to bring the boat back home as I wanted to look into the remote control one more time, and take a few things off the boat. Vern said not to cancel my trip to Tennessee just yet, and that they could maybe squeeze me in between winterizations as they didn't have many more on their schedule. I did pull the remote control and opened it up. Everything was working as it should there. Monday morning I took the boat back in, and was informed they had a bunch more winterizations show up over the weekend... I left the boat, and Vern said to check in with him the next Friday to see where they were at. I decided to call on Thursday, and learned they probably wouldn't get the boat in until the middle of the following week, and that they were down a mechanic. And also if it did end up needing the head pulled, they would not be able to get to that until possibly November. I decided to just bring the boat home and reschedule it later. At this point it was a fact I was not going to make a Tennessee River trip anyway, and I might as well start my annual winterization maintenance and cleaning.Read more
1 like
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
Powerhead Removal
October 5 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
I'm almost 99% sure my problem is at that shift rod bracket under the power head. No shops available anytime soon. As much as I would rather not do the job of pulling the power head, I am capable and have all the tools. Well except for a hoist high enough to clear the top of the power head. After watching a youtube video on removing the power head several times, I began the process of disconnecting all the wires, cables and hoses that were attached between the power head and midsection or boat. I was concerned about any power head bolts seizing up on this 16 year old motor, but they all came out with ease. Called a few rental places, but no one had a lift (reasonably priced) that would reach the height I needed. At the suggestion of a friend, I ended up using our big maple tree in our front yard, along with a tow strap and come along wince to lift the power head off the midsection. Got the power head off, pulled the boat back out of the way, and then used my little tractor to move the power head into the garage to store it. Found that the shift rod bracket was indeed the problem. Retainer clip had come off, the bushing had settled out of the bracket hole the shift rod went through, and the positioning pin between the bracket and midsection had fallen out when the screw was loose earlier. Also the ball and spring that ratchet into the shift rod detents had also come out of its socket. All parts are now on order and hopefully will be here by the end of next week.Read more
3 likes
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
Oil pump removal
October 6 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
With having just over 2,525 hours on the motor and only being able to access the oil pump with the power head removed, I decided I might as well replace the oil pump at this time. I forgot to mention earlier, that I have been in discussion with Andy Jr. at Shipyard Island Marina on Washington Island, in Door County, Wi. Andy and "SIM" are pretty well known in the Yamaha field, and "SIM" is where the Permatrims are ordered and shipped from within the USA. I've stayed at the marina a few times, so know Andy personally. He is outgoing and an expert on the Yamaha engines. Shipyard Island Marina has been a heavy service facility for a long time, and is where the USCG will tow disabled yachts that need repair. He agreed with my assessment to replace the oil pump now. Also, there is a collar on the output shaft that the oil pump surrounds. The oil pump's seals will wear a groove in that collar over time. So it is highly recommended to replace that collar as well. As you can see in the photos, my collar did have some deep grooves in it. I was able to remove it with heat from a torch. I also have a new collar and oil pump on order. The exhaust walls in the mid section look ok, so no work needs to be done there. Can't remember if I already mentioned it in an earlier blog, but I had changed the lower unit lube, and then pulled the lower unit off until I get the power head reinstalled. Earlier I had replaced the shift rod seal at the front of the water pump, as it had been leaking water into the lube. No water this time when I changed the lube, so I was happy with that! I will add another footprint once I get my parts and start reinstalling stuff. Oh, and lastly, I managed to drop the cowling and cracked it. (It was either fall off the step ladder, or drop the cowling...) I am already working on thatRead more
2 likes
BOAT = Break out another thousand...Traveler
Cowling Repair and Midsection Removal
October 6 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
I got a notice all my parts have been shipped and on their way. Except I just decided to tear into the midsection as long as I have the power head off. So, just made another parts order, mostly for gaskets and a few other parts while I have access to everything. First, I finished repairing my cowling that I dropped earlier. A little fiberglass repair and some paint, and it looks like new. Yesterday I removed the midsection of the outboard from the boat. So I pretty much have the entire engine removed from C-Traveler now. The only outboard thing left on the boat is the trim unit, steering and mounting plate. All the internal parts in the midsection, which is primarily the exhaust and the oil strainer, look good. I am replacing the oil strainer as long as I have access to it. Also replacing a few seals, and of course the gaskets between the various casings. Now hope I can get all these parts sometime next week so I can get all this back together and then on the water to test everything, by the end of the month.Read more
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