Back many years ago, the guy at the helm of this Ranger brought more Ambassadeur baitcasters back from the dead for me than I ever could count. Then, for an equally long or probably longer time, he has been breathing new life into my old outboards. And through it all, he has been as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar. To put it another way, this is the coolest-headed guy on the planet Earth I've ever known--and, yes, I believe that with every fiber of my being. He simply never loses self-control, no matter how testy a task may get.
I can say that 'cause, on many occasions, I've stood right there watching him operate--firsthand. Instead of flying off the handle and going into a complete meltdown (as I've been known to do) when something doesn't go right, he more times than not simply will say something like, "Hey, things like that happen"--and that, my friends, is the gospel truth. I heard that very statement, as a matter of fact, while he was having extreme difficulty removing the "testy" flywheel on my outboard a few days ago.
So, whom am I talking about here? It's none other than my long-time friend, Wayne Hayes, who has been working on my old outboard in the days since Wednesday, April 26th, when I was on my way back to West Neck Marina from an enjoyable day in Albright's. I was cruising along about 4000 rpm, just shy of the markers at the mouth of West Nest Creek, when my 2002 Yamaha VMax 150 suddenly bogged down. Nothing I tried during the next several minutes would get me back on step, so I had to settle for idling to the dock, then calling my friend. Moments later, when everything was strapped down, I was en route to his house for a look-see at the problem.
Ever since, Wayne has been all about the business of trying to figure out what is wrong with my Yamaha. He initially was faced with the reality the problem could be fuel- and/or electrical-related. Unfortunately, he hasn't had the luxury of being able to hook a computer to this motor, as you can newer ones, and have it tell him where the problem was. No sir, this is old-school, process-of-elimination diagnostics. In other words, you work on one part, go test it on the water, then evaluate how much, if any, improvement there is in the operation. You keep repeating this procedure until--hopefully--you find the culprit(s).
The first major improvement came Saturday, April 29th, after Wayne spent most of the day cleaning up all three carburetors. Our test run at day's end revealed the Yamaha, in general, would work flawlessly up to about 3500 rpm. Between 4000 and 5000 rpm, however, there would be hiccups. It would go back to bogging down but not to the extreme I had experienced when the problem first appeared. We could let off the gas slightly when it bogged Saturday, and the motor quickly would accelerate again to a higher rpm.
Despite this improvement on the fuel side, Wayne still felt that electrical issues might be at play, too. One item he hadn't checked yet was the Yamaha's stator. He already had pulled the flywheel once to install a different "trigger," and now it looked as if he might have to do it again. He decided, however, to put that thought on hold until he could check out the fuel pumps. As luck would have it, one of those pumps proved to be defective, and he replaced both of them this past Monday, May 1st. The subsequent test run proved to be even better than the one following cleanup of the carburetors, but some minor hesitation still persisted.
Satisfied that a little more cleaning of the carburetors will completely resolve this issue, Wayne gave me his stamp of approval to run the boat as is if I want to until he goes back to work on it the first part of this next week.
The beauty in having a mechanic like Wayne working on your boat is knowing that he will treat it as his own; he won't be satisfied until the job is done right. I've had some experience with that "other kind" of mechanic a few times over the years. One of those guys completely dismantled an outboard without my approval when all I had taken it in for was routine maintenance. I got tired of getting the run-around and decided to show up at the shop unexpectedly and have a look for myself. Parts were strewn everywhere. I vowed then: Never again!
The way I see it: There's no strain with Wayne. That's why I've had him as my mechanic ever since that episode occurred, and I don't plan to make any changes. Who, in their right mind, leaves a proven winner?
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