As most of you may know, The KLP has been plagued with operations issues since October of last year. She has spent the better part of 10 months in the shop for fuel related issues. Mercury has spent in excess of $30,000.00 in repairs since then.
As summer came and went she sat in the yard at Rohde River Boat sales and Service. As I passed her several times traveling back and forth from Annapolis to the Ocean I could only dream of the day they would say she is ready come and get her. The problem is they did call 4 times over the 10 months. Each time was met with failure. I began to lose hope that she would see the crystal blue water we all dream of when fishing the canyons.
After missing the two tournaments that I love ie. Tuna tournament out of the Fishing Center and the White Marlin Tournament. I decided to try a different repair facility. I picked her up and took her to Kevin Thorns Marine in Stockton Md.
As I droped her off it was like leaving your pet at a shelter or kennel. But this was my last hope without a long drawnout court battle and lawyers over new motors from Mercury. Kevin had the boat for three weeks before he could get her in.
Kevin and his team read all the history on the motors, 23 pages worth before they turned one screw. The only thing he could think of was to start at the beginning.
He went right to the tanks. I had the tanks scrubed and the fuel cleaned, also had the tanks vacumed and the fuel replaced in Oct. The tanks checked out good. Next he went to the fuel supply lines. Now I had asked the other service shop if they had checked all the fuel lines to see if these problems weren't somehow related. I asked them on more than one occausion. The fuel line coming from the tank to the port motor was collasping when a load was put on the motor thus shutting down the supply. This caused the motors to run very lean. The lines had become narrowed to the point of almost 2mm in areas. This most likley is caused by Ethanol in the fuel.
Kevin had about 4 hours in diagonosis before he had the issues figured out. One day later the KLP is back in her slip
(A4) at the OCMD Fishing Center and ready for action. I wanted to thank Thorns Marine for their work and knowledge on Mercury products. If anyone has Mercury outboards that experience any issues you need him. He can be reached at 410-957-4481.
Capt Tom i remember Rhode River Marina moons back....Camp Letts across the cove...Belhke family ran it back then...hell Broadwater's were built down the street....i doubt its the same peeps since the operation was bought out years ago....glad to hear your sled is fishing.......yup old names and quality on the bay has changed.
Tryin' to be the man, my dog think's I am. marine diesel service owner
Glad to Hear It,
I've had more strange look's over the year's from customer's that are having engine trouble, when I start removing the pick-up tube's. "What are you doing back there"? Well you tried it your way, now we'll try it mine. It's amazing at the number of problem's that are solved and you didn't even touch the engine. Capt. Tom common sense has gone out the window in this computer age. Glad to hear some shop's (beside's me) still practice good old fashioned trouble shooting. It's a forgotten art in itself. Frank
You had the ol KLP down in my neck of the woods! Kevin is as good as they come on most any outboard but especially on Merc's. Heck...how did you even find him tucked in between Stockton and Greenbackville, VA...get bit by a skeeter or two? I'm glad you're back up and running.
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