It Comes in Threes, Right?

[Berleyguts]

Bad luck comes in threes, right?

I just can’t cop a break! I have not been able to fish for months due to (a) illness; (b) a lot of things on (weekends away, concerts, tradesmen at home etc., not to mention that look you get from your wife that silently says, “You’re not really thinking about going fishing, are you”?); or (c) motor trouble.

I had one (unsuccessful) trip out of Port Stephens after my trip to WA in May. The next trip, got to the ramp and the battery appeared to be flat. As it was 4.5 years old, I replaced it. Incident 1.

Next trip, again the motor wouldn’t start. Turned out to be the starter solenoid, replaced under warranty. Incident 2.

Now finally, after 3 weekends away in Sydney over 6 weeks, I had today off and the weather and sea looked like they were going to behave. I got to the ramp at Soldiers Point, logged on with Marine Rescue on my phone app, ready to leave the ramp at 5. I turn the key. Nothing. I try it again. Nothing. I double check everything, making sure the battery’s not isolated etc. I try it again. This time she starts straight away. I motor away from the ramp and push the throttle lever forward. The boat seems a little slow to get on the plane and I’m not sure if the motor’s revving properly. I trim the motor a bit and it picks up... but only to 25 knots (I usually get 28). Engine doesn’t sound quite right but I wasn’t sure. ?‍♂️ 

My intention was to head for Broughton Island but I stopped in a nearby bay first to drop a couple of crab traps. I cut the motor and dropped the first trap, then started the motor again to reposition for the second trap. I then found I was getting hardly any revs and could not go more than about 2 knots (according to my GPS)! I guess it was a good thing I stopped to drop the traps because if this happened offshore, I would have been in trouble. I pulled in the trap and began the slow journey back to the ramp. After seeing a few fish on the sounder, I then decided I might as well troll a lure and switched to the Minn Kota for power. No luck with fish, though! Incident 3.

I just dropped the rig at the dealer for the mechanic to take a look. I’m sure it will be repaired under warranty. The mechanic was talking to the other mechanic and said, “I think it’s the TPS”... whatever that is.

I have been extolling the virtues of the ETECs but I think now I’ll bite my tongue... at least until this sorted! ?

Anyway, that’s the 3rd bad luck event, so next time, all should go swimmingly, right? ? Oh, hang on... I scraped my wife’s car in Sydney CBD yesterday... that makes 4! ??

[masterfisho7]

Mate they say it happens in threes it happens to all of us at some time but it will get better

[browncrab]

Throttle Position Sensor

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, browncrab said:

Throttle Position Sensor

Ahhh... thanks!

[Scratchie]

Agh baz! I already have a mate I call B1. I think this puts you in the B2 category! ?

Theres no fish at Broughton anyway. Was there on Friday in nearly 2m swell, perfect for snapper and only managed 4 just legal with best probably 45cm. Worst effort in ages! Water still super cold and no bait anywhere! 

At least you’ll get the boat sorted now and you saved today on fuel. I also just seen the ocean and it looks pretty choppy! 

 Cheers scratchie!!! 

[Rah]

Unlucky Baz.

Here's hoping that's your lot

 

 

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, Scratchie said:

Agh baz! I already have a mate I call B1. I think this puts you in the B2 category! ?

Theres no fish at Broughton anyway. Was there on Friday in nearly 2m swell, perfect for snapper and only managed 4 just legal with best probably 45cm. Worst effort in ages! Water still super cold and no bait anywhere! 

At least you’ll get the boat sorted now and you saved today on fuel. I also just seen the ocean and it looks pretty choppy! 

 Cheers scratchie!!! 

Yeah... I don’t think that makes me feel any better!

[Scratchie]

17 hours ago, Berleyguts said:

Yeah... I don’t think that makes me feel any better!

Sorry baz! I hope that’s all the bad luck you have now! 

If you are looking for a fishing bud on Mondays just let me know, I have every Monday off! ?

[kingie chaser]

A tough run of bad luck mate, hope #3 is it for you.

Best time of the year coming up so I hope it gets sorted for you & chin up

[antonywardle]

I find that very occasionally, my ETEC does a similar thing. I think it decides to go in to limp mode. What I do is to turn the engine off, then turn it on, wait for the red lights to go out then start it and its all good

 

 

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, antonywardle said:

I find that very occasionally, my ETEC does a similar thing. I think it decides to go in to limp mode. What I do is to turn the engine off, then turn it on, wait for the red lights to go out then start it and its all good

 

 

I started it and the red lights came back on!

I got a call from the dealer this morning. It was the throttle position sensor and there are a few other little issues - all covered by warranty. He told me yesterday there have been a few ETEC warranty issues lately. Maybe that no service for 3 years or 300 hours has come back to bite them.

I’m sure it will all be sorted soon!

[Berleyguts]

4 hours ago, Scratchie said:

Sorry baz! I hope that’s all the bad luck you have now! 

If you are looking for a fishing bud on Mondays just let me know, I have every Monday off! ?

Will do. My days off vary. We were in Sydney for the weekend and I was surprised that my wife suggested I fish on Monday... that’s a rare occurrence! ? Very frustrating that when I do get a leave pass, the weathers shite or I have boat trouble! ?

[big Neil]

Not good Baz. Let's hope that it's not the start of the second lot of three. If I were to critically analyse what I read on here, it seems that things have been poor for quite some time and have not yet turned the corner. We definitely need some warmer water to get the fish active again. Hopefully, it won't be too long coming. Hope the motor gets fixed and stays fixed mate... there's a lot of catching up to be done. bn

[Fab1]

On 10/22/2018 at 9:32 AM, Berleyguts said:

Bad luck comes in threes, right?

I just can’t cop a break! I have not been able to fish for months due to (a) illness; (b) a lot of things on (weekends away, concerts, tradesmen at home etc., not to mention that look you get from your wife that silently says, “You’re not really thinking about going fishing, are you”?); or (c) motor trouble.

I had one (unsuccessful) trip out of Port Stephens after my trip to WA in May. The next trip, got to the ramp and the battery appeared to be flat. As it was 4.5 years old, I replaced it. Incident 1.

Next trip, again the motor wouldn’t start. Turned out to be the starter solenoid, replaced under warranty. Incident 2.

Now finally, after 3 weekends away in Sydney over 6 weeks, I had today off and the weather and sea looked like they were going to behave. I got to the ramp at Soldiers Point, logged on with Marine Rescue on my phone app, ready to leave the ramp at 5. I turn the key. Nothing. I try it again. Nothing. I double check everything, making sure the battery’s not isolated etc. I try it again. This time she starts straight away. I motor away from the ramp and push the throttle lever forward. The boat seems a little slow to get on the plane and I’m not sure if the motor’s revving properly. I trim the motor a bit and it picks up... but only to 25 knots (I usually get 28). Engine doesn’t sound quite right but I wasn’t sure. ?‍♂️ 

My intention was to head for Broughton Island but I stopped in a nearby bay first to drop a couple of crab traps. I cut the motor and dropped the first trap, then started the motor again to reposition for the second trap. I then found I was getting hardly any revs and could not go more than about 2 knots (according to my GPS)! I guess it was a good thing I stopped to drop the traps because if this happened offshore, I would have been in trouble. I pulled in the trap and began the slow journey back to the ramp. After seeing a few fish on the sounder, I then decided I might as well troll a lure and switched to the Minn Kota for power. No luck with fish, though! Incident 3.

I just dropped the rig at the dealer for the mechanic to take a look. I’m sure it will be repaired under warranty. The mechanic was talking to the other mechanic and said, “I think it’s the TPS”... whatever that is.

I have been extolling the virtues of the ETECs but I think now I’ll bite my tongue... at least until this sorted! ?

Anyway, that’s the 3rd bad luck event, so next time, all should go swimmingly, right? ? Oh, hang on... I scraped my wife’s car in Sydney CBD yesterday... that makes 4! ??

Geez mate,all that was left for you to do was bump your head and stub your toe.Hopefully that's the end of bad luck for a little while.

[back cruncher]

Hi all...ive had a tps go on one of my motorbikes,also a mate had the same problem.

Baz,i lather under the hood of my boat engine with wd40 every 2nd trip.i buy 5liters of wd40 and use a spray bottle to apply the wd40,i give a good drenching.

I was up broughton on friday myself,was my worst day fishing in years.

 

[kingfishbig]

1 hour ago, back cruncher said:

Hi all...ive had a tps go on one of my motorbikes,also a mate had the same problem.

Baz,i lather under the hood of my boat engine with wd40 every 2nd trip.i buy 5liters of wd40 and use a spray bottle to apply the wd40,i give a good drenching.

I was up broughton on friday myself,was my worst day fishing in years.

 

Drenching it with WD-40 might not be a good idea. For a start certain linkages are meant to be greased and being primarily a solvent it will dissolve the grease. It can attack rubber being petroleum based (natural ones and some synthetic). In the case of INOX (petroleum based like WD-40) they warn you about getting it on rubber cowl seals. I use a lanolin spray (fairly sparingly).

Edited October 23, 2018 by kingfishbig

[Scratchie]

1 hour ago, back cruncher said:

Hi all...ive had a tps go on one of my motorbikes,also a mate had the same problem.

Baz,i lather under the hood of my boat engine with wd40 every 2nd trip.i buy 5liters of wd40 and use a spray bottle to apply the wd40,i give a good drenching.

I was up broughton on friday myself,was my worst day fishing in years.

 

Were you in a black and white boat? 

[Berleyguts]

3 hours ago, big Neil said:

Not good Baz. Let's hope that it's not the start of the second lot of three. If I were to critically analyse what I read on here, it seems that things have been poor for quite some time and have not yet turned the corner. We definitely need some warmer water to get the fish active again. Hopefully, it won't be too long coming. Hope the motor gets fixed and stays fixed mate... there's a lot of catching up to be done. bn

No. Just that I haven’t had many opportunities to get out for months.

[Berleyguts]

50 minutes ago, kingfishbig said:

Drenching it with WD-40 might not be a good idea. For a start certain linkages are meant to be greased and being primarily a solvent it will dissolve the grease. It can attack rubber being petroleum based (natural ones and some synthetic). In the case of INNOX (petroleum based like WD-40) they warn you about getting it on rubber cowl seals. I use a lanolin spray (fairly sparingly).

Yes, my mechanic told me to use only Lanox (lanolin spray). He asked if I had sprayed it with Inox or WD40 and to be honest, I couldn’t recall. There was some degradation of the cowl seals (which may have contributed to water under the cowling and the TPS issue), which he thought may have been from use of Inox... but he’s replacing them  under warranty. Only Lanox for me from now on.

[back cruncher]

Hi all...yes,that was me scratchie.there were a few boats up there,which was you ?

im not to sure i buy the argument that wd40 degades rubber,well not engine rubbers anyway.diff seals prop seals ect ect are in an oil based environment.im sure all engines would have rubbers suited to oil environments.i do agree wd40 is a good degreaser.the grease around my linkages seems to hang on.wd ,inox ect are better than nothing.

[Scratchie]

1 hour ago, back cruncher said:

Hi all...yes,that was me scratchie.there were a few boats up there,which was you ?

I was in the 20ft Edgewater that was drifting behind you! Then you went to north rock and we came around as well. Very quiet day ?

[kingfishbig]

1 hour ago, back cruncher said:

Hi all...yes,that was me scratchie.there were a few boats up there,which was you ?

im not to sure i buy the argument that wd40 degades rubber,well not engine rubbers anyway.diff seals prop seals ect ect are in an oil based environment.im sure all engines would have rubbers suited to oil environments.i do agree wd40 is a good degreaser.the grease around my linkages seems to hang on.wd ,inox ect are better than nothing.

The fuel lines will be resistant to petroleum based products, but the cowl seals and water lines may be a different story. So why take the risk when it's just as easy to use something gentler?

[dunc333]

hi mate you said battery flat then good ,sounds weird.when that happens with a ecm run motor regardless of brand motor  it is bad for ecm (computer module) when good amp  flow to ecm is intermittent .i hope you get out there soon .and find the problem regards dunc333

[GoingFishing]

Tough luck baz....hope you get your issues sorted.

Out of interest how long is a battery supposed to last i would have thought 4.5 yrs is a about right.

I had my etec serviced yearly even in the "3 year no service period" and id recommend all etec owners do the same.

Edited October 23, 2018 by GoingFishing

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, dunc333 said:

hi mate you said battery flat then good ,sounds weird.when that happens with a ecm run motor regardless of brand motor  it is bad for ecm (computer module) when good amp  flow to ecm is intermittent .i hope you get out there soon .and find the problem regards dunc333

Thanks Dunc.

When the battery was flat, I just replaced it as it was about 4.5 years old. I suspect it drained because I’d just had an accessories socket installed and I didn’t isolate the battery when storing the boat. The next time I tried to take it out, it wouldn’t start but this time it was the starter solenoid. Replaced under warranty. I think the mechanic said something like this or other issues may have “tricked” the computer into misreading the throttle position (?). Anyway, it’s just waiting on parts and I’m sure it will be sorted soon.