1987 Scepter

[OilFieldMan]

So it has finally warmed up to start doing some work on the Scepter. Who ever installed the new tank in 2008 left the rocor parker filter below a hatch that require the hatch to be removed and the hatch would have to be resealed with 3M 4000. Also in doing so they put a big kink in the fuel hose too.

I used the same route but re-located the fuel filter to the Port Aft Hatch. At the same time I re-located the oil tank to this side as well.

Original setup


Relocated routing. During this I also found that a couple of unions were used to make the hoses longer. Removed these and installed solid length fuel hose.

Also since it was warm enough I did the first layer of glass on the pad for the sea-cock.



Also a I need some more help from some scepter owners. If you look in the last picture you see the cheesy light duty plastic hose, I've changed the cheap and cheesy thru-hull to stainless and can't figure out how the heck to get to the back side of it to tighten the nut on the backside and install the new hose

[OilFieldMan]

I managed to get the all of the thru hulls for bilge pumps mounted and hose clamped.



I have two rule 2000 bilge pumps, one is on Auto from an Ultra Switch. I've also installed a Rule Tournament series bait well pump with a port for the wash down. This has been attached to a 1" Seacock with a piece of plywood to pad the seacock in. This was thoroughly gooped with 5200. Also a Jabsco pressure switched washdown pump was installed. I didn't like the bulkhead fittings offered through West Marine and Jamestown so I used a hardware store faucet and mounting it on teh Starboard aft corner hatch.





I also purchased some plastic goodies from SeaSnell

[OilFieldMan]

Been fishing the boat a bit, with a little luck. And a lot of bad luck.

If anyone ever runs into a boat that has the fuel/water separator below deck be prepared for water damage to the fuel system. Looking at minimally fuel pump on my etec. Possibly injectors the mechanic hasn't given the complete diagnosis yet.

[Bushwacker]

If you think the injectors may have had water in them, you might want to consider sending all your injectors to the Injector Man in Naples, Fl. for a spray pattern check and possible cleaning. http://www.etecownersgroup.com/post/...ervice-6054423 At only $44 ea., it might be cheap insurance on a motor of that vintage, even if the dealer says they're ok.

I've spoken to owner Dale and he seems very knowledgeable. Said he's always been a Merc/Yamaha fan, but he was so impressed with the engineering and spray pattern of the E-TEC injectors that when his old Merc crapped out on his own boat, he repowered it with a new 175 E-TEC!

BTW, the injectors MUST be installed in the same cylinder they came out of, because each injector has unique flow coefficients that are loaded into in the EMM. New injectors come with a bar code the dealer can scan to obtain the coefficients to be loaded into the Engine Management Module.

[Wildman]

The boat is in the best hands it could be around here. With the amount of water that's been through the fuel pump, its basically dead. Once the pump has been swapped and it runs reliably again the injectors can be checked out. The big question is how did the water get IN there? and is the water salt or fresh?

[Bushwacker]

I have heard that water can get past a Racor if enough gets in there. Do you have the factory spin-on water separating filter with water sensor on the motor that's been standard on the E-TEC's for several years? If not, BRP makes a kit for adding it. My '07 model just had the small in-line filter, but at about $100 for the spin-on kit, I figured it was cheap insurance so added it to my motor. The wiring & connector for the water sensor is already there in the wiring harness, so it's a simple install.

[OilFieldMan]

Well got the boat back, only needed a fuel pump. The injectors were good. I'll look into sending them down south this winter. Already lost a week of fishing this summer and working offshore I miss half the season already.

I drained the fuel tank and used a clear hose. Couldn't find any water in the 30 gallons drained. The fuel that was in the filter was like orange juice colored. After further thought I'm pretty sure that the racor was original with 647 hours on it. Now that its in a convient spot I plan on checking after each trip for water. And monitoring the fuel that way.

I have three gauges that don't work. Trim, fuel, and hours. I did some digging and found that they don't have power. If I add power the fuel pegs out. But if I disconnect the power to the fuel and independently power the hour meter the fuel gauge pegs out again. I also removed the sending unit and manually function the sending unit. The guage moved a 1/4 inch.

[gofastsandman]

You have gremlins. I hate gremlins.

[OilFieldMan]

but I didn't feed them after midnight?

[gofastsandman]

Any gauge that pegs is right. You have a ground beef I think. I hate gremlins.

Clean the grounds.

Cheers,
US