very expensive design mistake on my tige v-drive

[jwanck11]

All boats spew gas, including my 1977 Dixie Tri-hull.

Does your bilge pump work? I think it should have an automatic feature. Is that working?

[laserfish]

I do not believe that this is a design flaw, I think it was boater negligence. The boat was not meant to have that volume of water in the bilge. I periodically run my bilge pump during the day just to keep water from sloshing around and ruining my starter and alternator. As for the surfing issue, we have to remember that these boats have a weight limit posted that we regularly exceed by a great deal. We don't balance our boats, if fact we unbalance them intentionally. My boat was designed before surfing was even thought of, hence the designers never thought of water coming in the vent for the blower. As for the dreaded gas burp, remember that most cars have less than 25% of the length of fill hose of our boats. When the gas fills up to the hose, the rate of fill accelerates greatly, filling and overflowing before the nozzle can react. I think we all need to take some personal responsibility for some of the assumed defects before we blame the manufacturer. Are they perfect, no...but that is why we have new and improved models each year.
Lethal, sorry about your problem, but I don't blame Tige for not taking on that responsibility.

[chadster2]

Because he put it out there, we now know.. Thanks!
I'd be over the top too, fault or no fault.

[KonaKing]

I am sure when he is ready to post he will. Tige will then do something or nothing for him. They have done nothing for me with my gas issue spilling over and ruining my white trim under my rub rail. But again I have never asked them as of yet.

I am getting ready to.

My Andrew Reyes told me that it would be okay over time and I would not have to much more discoloring. Now it is all purple and the rail is shrinking and coming apart. I know TIGE well enough now that I know they will work with me to take care of it. They have a great team of support agents at the factory and there is no question that they will do what they can to help when needed.

I have the same problem. Rub rail is yellow now and it has run around to my drip lettering on the back and discolored that also. I thought it was just venting problem.

[jwanck11]

I have the same issue.

[SPBFAN]

I have the same problem. Rub rail is yellow now and it has run around to my drip lettering on the back and discolored that also. I thought it was just venting problem.

What concerns me more than the rail is that if it continues eventually the Gel-Coat and fiberglass underneath will start to get affected by it. I have only had gas spew over one time. It was when the tank was filled in January for the winter then come March when it warmed up outside I was walking by the boat one day and smelled gas, looked up and it was pouring out the cap. I have never had that problem since because I fill the tank hit the lake for an hour then go home and store it for the year. This happened two years ago when I first bought the boat. At that time I wanted to replace the rail but was told not to worry about it that it would not get any worse and it has gotten way worse. It is weird what is going on with it. I just need to call Harvey when I remember I know TIGE will help where they can they are great about helping out where possible. I just need to quit being lazy.

[tigesinaus]

does a hydro lock constitue a rebuild??

[talltigeguy]

Lethal,

Thanks for letting us know about what happened to your boat.

Your engine is a PCM, then I assume?

PCM certainly has a reputation for being one of the top marine engines out there. I am surprised that they would continue with a suboptimal design, if it caused problems for a lot of engines. So I would think it probably is a rare event.

Do you have a picture of what is wrong? I understand that the air intake for the engine is very close to the floor, so it can suck water in when the bilge gets full...is that what happened?

Anyone know where the air intake is on MP engines? I have had a huge amount of water in my boat and continued to run the engine without any problems.

I don't necessarily think this is Lethal's fault. All of us have taken water over the bow before and then kept driving, thus having all of that water rush to the back of the boat. Lethal has arrived at the conclusion that the lack of protection over the air intake caused his problem, combined with a hull shape that encourages a big splash directed right at the intake.

My 05 has an auto bilge feature, as do most of the newer boats.

[chpthril]

does a hydro lock constitue a rebuild??

It can lead to a bent rod, broken piston, or broke or bent wrist pin. This usually only occurs when water is taken in while the engine is running. If water is taken in while engine is off, it will sound like a dead battery/bad starter symptom as the engine will not spin over. Most of the time, a starter will not have enough torque to spin a hydro-locked engine and cause damage.

[SPBFAN]

It can lead to a bent rod, broken piston, or broke or bent wrist pin. This usually only occurs when water is taken in while the engine is running. If water is taken in while engine is off, it will sound like a dead battery/bad starter symptom as the engine will not spin over. Most of the time, a starter will not have enough torque to spin a hydro-locked engine and cause damage.

X2 water is not compressible.

[tigesinaus]

It can lead to a bent rod, broken piston, or broke or bent wrist pin. This usually only occurs when water is taken in while the engine is running. If water is taken in while engine is off, it will sound like a dead battery/bad starter symptom as the engine will not spin over. Most of the time, a starter will not have enough torque to spin a hydro-locked engine and cause damage.

well i hope for his sake the motor was off, cos a bent rod would mean a rebuild wouldnt it??

[Jason B]

I have run my bilge pump exactly NEVER. My bilge stays so dry I could store a spare set of clothes down there. Actually, the only time I've ever even seen my auto-pump kick on was once shortly after we bought it, we took a couple rollers over the bow in the learning process and on the way home we went around a sharp corner and it kicked on peeing out as we went around the corner. I pull the plug after every trip out of habit--never a drop.

[formandfunction]

The design flaw on a tige is the placment of the bildge pump.I can only pump water out when the boat is on the ramp or in the process of plaining out.New ones might be different but a bildge pump in front of the gas tank would work better.Add that to a motor that has a intake almost on the floor and I could see this happen.
I do know my friend ran through water in a parking lot about twenty and hydrolocked.He simply removed the plugs and spun the motor to remove the water.I don't know how fast your motor was spinning when it happened but its worth a shot.

[tigesinaus]

same here, the only water we pump out is ballast!!!

[chpthril]

I've never seen a boat with a snorkel/air intake duck like cars & trucks use Every boat I've seen and worked on has the flame arrester right on the carb/throttle body and most have a shroud over that would prevent a direct water spray from being sucked in. If this engine sucked water from the bilge, how deep was it over your feet?

It's typical for boat builders to have a bilge vent hose from the vent to the bilge floor, and from another vent, to the blower, and from the blower to the floor. This way, it draws fresh air through the hose, down into the bilge floor, and out the other hose through the blower and out the other vent. It would be possible to have water enter the vent(s) and run to the bilge, but I'm having a hard time visualizing the water being high enough to be sucked into the T/body or splashing directly onto the T/body. Perhaps a hose is split or fallen off, or the bilge pump is inop........Sorry, but these would fall under the "inspect before every trip" category.

Sorry to here that your boat has engine trouble, regardless of what happened. Please post pics of your transom, engine, and vents to give us an idea of how this happened, I am very curious.