New 1996 Grady White Islander 268 with twin 200 V6 Mercs

[greauxpete]

Pfu.. thanks! will keep em coming..

 

[greauxpete]

Pulled the macerator pump.
It was locked up..
This was HELL..
I had to cut off the discharge hose even after I was able to break the seal on the hose. Unscrewing the pump was rough as well, since you are working blind even with the stair steps removed. I was able to get the pump mounted by screwing the bottom 2 rubber bumpers and sliding the pump on top of it, then screwing in the top screws (which are visible).





New and old pumps:

 

[family affair]

Was that the pump for the head? If so, I had assumed mine was in the holding tank. I'll need to look to see if mine is in the same spot.
I had a screw drop into the shower leading me to access the drain hose in that same area. Total PIA for sure!
The Islanders are feature packed boats but sometimes I think they tried to shove 10 lbs of $h!t into a 5 lb container making maintenance a bear!

 

[greauxpete]

Yes, that is the macerator pump (directly under the stairs)
Our Islander is configured to either pump out at a marina or switch on the macerator to pump overboard.

Our holding tank is located directly under the toilet.

 

[greauxpete]

Have the shower sump pump system functioning. Hose and pump were clogged with trash. Even after changing the hose the thru hull had a slug of trash that had to be cleared with a rod. It takes a while for the pump to "catch", but once it catches it pumps out the box and the float shuts off the pump consistently. Seems like it should have an over ride switch so it doesnt drain the battery in the event the pump runs without stopping due to a clogged line or pump impeller.

Before:


After:

 

[greauxpete]

I tested the macerator today after wiring it up. Works great. Filled the toilet up 3 times (with water) and pumped it out.

Installed a new washdown pump and wired it up as well.

We also sealed up both gas tanks and installed the fuel water separator canisters.

The only non- functional pump left is the fresh water pump. The new pump should arrive on Tuesday.

We should be ready for a sea trial next week. I will report back..

 

[greauxpete]

Seasick, with regard to your comment, I pumped almost all of the gas out with a fuel pump into a seperate gas can, then diluted the remaining gas with several gallons of water and blew out the tank with an air hose before using the shop vac to suck out the very little remaining gas and water mixture. There were no issues..

Alcohol will dissolve the varnish. That is what when Ethanol fuel was introduced, many folks had issues with the fuel components getting gummed up.
On a different note, using a shop vac in a gas tank is a terrible idea. You are lucky the vac it didn't blow up. Seriously, gas fumes will linger in a supposedly empty tank for just about forever and fumes are what explodes, not liquid gas. The shop vacs are not ignition protected.
There are some methods to prevent gas fumes from accumulating; pumping a lot of air through the tank is one. Putting dry ice in the tank is another. It will freeze the gasoline vapors. But no shop vac

 

[greauxpete]

Ran the boat under load last weekend for the first time. Max speed was 42 MPH and the boat jumped on step almost immediately. Idle RPM was low. Need to change the shift and throttle cables and do a link and synch then verify timing.

Grady sea trial videos:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

 

[family affair]

Congrats!
What rpm were you running at wot? I wonder if the throttles we're fully opened. 400 HP of 2 smokes should net in the neighborhood of 50 mph for that hull.
The sound of 2 strokes brings back a lot of fond memories... minus the fuel bill!

 

[greauxpete]

Familyaffair, Thanks man..

The throttles may not have been fully open. The tachs said we were running at 5500 rpm, but I'm taking that with a grain of salt, as one was erratic. (Will try to clean connections on the back of the tach before replacing)

I will do a proper link and synch after I order new throttle/shift cables, which appear to have slack.

Fuel burn was about 1.33 mpg.
Anyone have fuel burn numbers for the islander with twin 200 hp carbureted 2 strokes?

Anyone know the longest length of the throttle/shift cables in the 1996 Islander?

Thanks!

Steve

 

[family affair]

Grady might have some fuel burn info for reference, but you will need to call them or email them to get it.
Considering your high fuel consumption at cruise and low WOT speed, I wonder if you are over propped. Typically it was said a DI 2 stroke or FI 4 stroke would net about a 40% improvement in fuel economy over a carb'd 2 stroke. Twin f225's would provide 1.8-2.0 mpg at cruise. F150-F200 4 cylinders do around 2.2-2.4 mpg. Doing the math you are on the low end of f225's without the expected top end speed.

 

[greauxpete]

Progress report:

Rewired trailer lights and added LED lights and side markers.

Found a surplus teak marine cabin door on ebay that fit perfectly over the refrigerator cutout.

New Shift/Throttle cables are in. Will pull old and new cables this weekend.
Will follow with a Link and synch and will set timing on both motors. Also, ordered new rigging tubes/hoses. These will get installed while the cables are being reinstalled.

 

[greauxpete]

New throttle/shift cables installed.
Also installed new rigging tubes and flanges. Shift cables are adjusted, waiting to adjust throttle cables until we do a link and sync.

 

[greauxpete]

Shift and throttle cables are installed.
4 @ 24 ft long cables worked out..

Found TDC per manual using a dial indicator and made sure the pointer was at the reference "0.462".



Set max timing to 23 deg BTDC at cranking speed (with idle stabilizer box remove permanently as per master mechanic) and idle timing initially set at 4 deg ATDC. (Spec at idle is 0-9 deg ATDC, but will change slightly from initial timing after setting idle speed in gear, since idle speed in gear is set using the idle timing screw)

Set idle in fwd gear in water with prop turning to about 650 RPM. Manual requires in gear RPM between 625-725 RPM.

See below:
https://youtu.be/LO4W2I1YHrI

 

[Cadeco]

New throttle/shift cables installed.
Also installed new rigging tubes and flanges. Shift cables are adjusted, waiting to adjust throttle cables until we do a link and sync.

View attachment 24837

Looking at your photos i was able to see the "cover" on the stairs you were talking about, and those photos made me have another question: What for are those 2 inserts on the transom (port side)?

 

[greauxpete]

Those are the fill lines for the oil injection tanks. However, I removed the oil injection, so they will be removed and covered with a starboard plate soon (so no one tries to fill with gas..lol)

 

[greauxpete]

Almost done with the starboard fish box lids:

 

[greauxpete]

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Final layer:

 

[efx]

Everything looks great. Nice work and nice forklift! I hope you get years out of those Mercs.

 

[greauxpete]

Was able to fix the cock pit dome light.
The toggle switch was trashed. Replaced with a spare I had on hand.
The light bulb still worked...

Working on:

Replacing anodes (2 bolts sheared off in removal), so will be heli coiling..
Installing 3rd house batter with switch
Installing 3 bank charger
Installing gps
Installing transducer.
Resealing hard top screws
Still working on cosmetic finish on fishbox hatch