n00bie

There is an event this weekend, and my Husband and I are concidering running our boats there. The thing is it, is in saltwater. Should we or shouldnt we. What can we do to assure that the boats will still run? There is supposed to be a "salt away" bath for when we pull the boats out of the water. Will this be ok?

Thanks in advance for any and all replies
Lauri

fun4ej

My Feedback: (1)

Yea, everything will be fine....it just will require a bit more maintenance. I run my TC31 in salt water every week and don't have any corrosion problems. After the day of running is done, I rinse the hull with fresh water. Flush my cooling system for 5-10 min with fresh water then give a couple sprays of wd40 through it, spray my hardware with Corrosion-X, pull my motor and spray it with either Corrosion-X or wd40. I also spray my flex shaft with wd40.

Some of the people I run with bring those weed sprayers filled with fresh water to the pond and spray their hulls down after every run.

You may find that your boat runs faster in saltwater due to the fact that saltwater provides more buoyancy than fresh water.

mopartybob

post run maintenance after runnin in salt water can be a tedious task and VERY unforgiving if done improperly....[:@],if you are comfortable with your skills in taking your boat apart and putting it back together, go for it....

misshydro

Noobie on my miss vegas thread,[8D] nitro almeds miss vegas running in salt water.[8D]He had alot of proublems in salt water.[:'(]Had proublems with his put starter getting rusted up.[:@] You got to make sure you rinse out your boat very good and like fun said use WD40 to every moving part that can rust up.Salt is very nasty to alum parts! It get alum more badly then steal.

RTRJESUS

When it comes to running your boat in saltwater. There are some issue you will have to pay more attention to, that you wouldn’t if you ran in fresh water. Saltwater is a corrosive. Especially to metal. Plastic it won’t bother but all metals it affects. Especially if it two types of metal, which is the case with most production boats. Some parts are cheaper to build with certain metals. Running my own boats in saltwater and in freshwater. I will express what I find important to pay attention to.

Because your engine is completely metal for the most part, it will get the most treatment when running in saltwater. Considering saltwater runs thru the head, and it is heated. This need to be flushed out with freshwater, just like a real boat engine is after it runs in saltwater. You can flush the engine with a make shift IV bottle type set up. Using a 2 liter with fuel line glued into the bottom so water can flow into the engine. After rinsing out the internal part of the engine, I now rinse off the entire boat with light spray of fresh water to remove the salt. I suggest during rinsing, you make sure the carb is closed and glow plug is in. Radio box is closed up. This just helps in not soaking vital parts. Do use a power sprayer, just a light rinse off. If the boat dried with saltwater on it, you will need to us mild dish soap and scrub off salt. I suggest soaping always.

You also need to remove the driveshaft from your boat. Never leave the driveshaft in your boat after running. EVER!!! Take it out clean it up and store in the boat or with the boat.

The radio box needs to be opened and clean out. I always not matter what. If I plan to store the boat and I am done playing. I always open the radio box, so it can dry. Leaving it open when stored. Removing the batteries. Sometimes you don’t see water in your box, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have moisture. Moisture is the biggest killer of all things electronic. I don’t suggest corrosion spray as a way to protect your electronics. It’s still a conductant of electronic parts. If you protect your radio box the best you can and store it open, you won’t have problems. Keep it dry...keep boating.

Back to our engine storage, you now have the engine flushed with fresh water, and you have rinsed off the motor exterior. It time to get all the water out of the engine. You can do this by removing the glow plug and turn the boat upside down, and pulling the start cord. Or however you can just turn the engine over. This will get the most water out. Watch them eyes!!! Now that the water is out, we need to remove the moisture. This can be done by soaking the engine in ARO "After Run Oil" just don’t apply a couple drops. Choke the engine with it. I open the carb full throttle, and pour it in, turning the engine over, so it eats it. When you choke the engine with oil. You will here it gurgle...LOL Give the engine some good pulls. Work the oil in. You can hold a paper towel over the glow plug hole to stop it from spitting at you. Oil in eyes sucks. Always wear safely glasses.

Protecting my boat before I launch in saltwater. I myself spray the boat with a light weight lube, like WD-40. WD is a water repellent. I spray the interior. Not the exterior. Yes it will burn off most of the engine, but it helps repel saltwater corrosion. For the radio box I place a paper towel the shaped of the bottom of the box, inside the radio box. I also use a small grease gun I got from a vendor to fill the push rod boots with grease, to stop water from entering the radio box thru the boots.

This is what works for me, and may not work for you. Just make sure you pickle the engine, remove the driveshaft, open the radio box, and remove all saltwater from the boat, you will be just fine.

n00bie

Thank you so much for the informative post there RTRJESUS. We pretty much do that every time we run just out at the lake. I did not know about removing the drive shaft after any running, so you recommend that for both fresh and salt water? Good to know.

Thanks for all the comments

Lauri


This opens up alot more running opportunities for me.... We have a lot of lakes here, and I love to go out to my bosses house. But I dont like to bother him every day so that I can run my boat (he lives on the lake). Most of the lakes do not allow motors of any kind, but I have a WHOLE SOUND full of salt water all around me!

RTRJESUS

In most cases you have a teflon liner in your boats drive tube, but most like myself have removed this to take on a bigger shaft. The steel flex cable will rust to the drive tube is left with salt water in it. I have seen straight shafts welded together because of leaving the shaft in after running.

I say when you cant run at the bosses, you can run in salt now anytime. Glad we could help out. As I have always said. What works for me, might not work for you. But it gives you a good place to start.

Have fun, Go fast

mopartybob

RTRJESUS,My complements on a coupla very thorough posts...[8D] You just about covered it all ....except the part of using compressed air to blow out the nooks and crannie's....

deep6

I am new and I have a Miss Vegas and would like to run it in salt water next to my Uncles 42 foot speed boat, will it work???????[sm=drowning.gif]

Jerry Dunlap

Yes, it will work. Go back and read post #5 carefully and then you decide if it's worth the time and effort.

JD

deep6

What would be by your opinion the bestway to get the miss vegas started on the first try[sm=confused.gif]

glennb2006

Same answer as you were given on the "miss vegas starting tips" thread!!

G

deep6

After running my Miss Vegas in salt water I always flush the engine but im not sure i am doing it correctly. Do you put the freash water through the clear hose thing or the black circle hole.

By the way do you happen to know how the water gets into the water cooling system.

Jerry Dunlap

Water gets into the cooling system through the water intake in the rudder. It's a good idea to take something like WD 40, insert the tube into the water exit on the side of the hull and blow out the cooling system with the WD 40. All external parts should be washed in fresh water and I'd suggest spraying WD 40 on the rudder assembly. Removing and regreasing the shaft is very important.

JD

andreasturb

Hi there,

I have a question regarding engine maintenance after running in salt water. I flushed the engine with fresh water and put after run oil in it. Later at home, I opened the engine and cleaned the crankcase, recoil starter, piston and connecting rod but did not dismantle the carburator. Today for some reason it wouldn't start. I am suspecting that the carburator is chocked with salt and isn't able to deliver the right mixture. Could that be the case, although I flushed everything with water and oil? Has anyone experienced such a problem?
wait for your answers, in the meantime I'll be busy cleaning my carb[:@]

Andreas

Jerry Dunlap

An easy check for carb fuel draw is to stick the WD 40 tube into the fuel nipple, open the carb fully, and spray the WD into the carb through the nipple.

JD