2020 Wellcraft 162: Thoughts and issues, (motor height problem)

[rfriesen]

Update: See later posts for resolution of the problems with water coming over transom, some electrical problems. This is a big deal! Motor was mounted incorrectly at factory!!!! I had to resolve this, Dealer wouldn't even acknowledge this was a problem. They said I was not trimming properly.
The A/V plate was 1.5" below the keel, which left the lower anti-splash plate .5" above the keel....from the factory. The Anti-splash plate was below water on plane, no matter how you trim. This is WRONG.

I purchased a Wellcraft 162 Fisherman form my local dealer in May of 2020, this year. I was told Wellcraft would reach out to me with a survey or some other type of communications, have not yet heard from them.
It is equipped with the Mercury 60CT motor, Bimini, and the Gatorhide trailer.
Today the motor shows 31.4 hours. (I installed the VesselView module myself)

I like the way the boat handles, but for the steering at times, the motor is super quiet, reliable once I fixed some issues, efficient, and clean burning.

Overall, I love the boat.

When getting into details, there are some serious and some not so serious problems.
Will list them in order of importance.

1- Fuel leak (Poor parts)
The quick disconnect at the fuel tank leaked from the day I got the boat home on the trailer, until the dealer fixed it for me. The dealers test ride with us did not reveal a leak, that showed up when I got it home. It was replaced with a Yamaha QD, and this new one has been perfect. The original fitting design doesn't impress me at all. It was a fairly loose fit all along, even though the o-ring was in good shape. Any time the outside temp was above the fuel temp, or when the sun was beating down on it, the pressure in the tank just pumped fuel into the motor well and onto the pavement.....whether the tank fill vent was open or closed.

2- Throttle cable issue (Poor assembly)
The motor end of the throttle cable has two attachment points in the motor. One for the sheath, this one is stationary, and one for the throttle.
Over time I noticed the throttle was a little flaky.....seemed loose. When I removed the motor cowling to look for the issue, I found it right off.
The locking nut that holds the sheath of the cable to the motor mounted stud...was missing. The sheath fitting was riding against the starboard-side motor housing, this was the only thing that kept it in place. I believe the sheath mount could have come off completely given a little time and wear. The missing nut was down in the lower motor housing near the front of the motor, so it was likely installed loose at the factory and just fell off. It took a flexible grabber to extract it, but I got it out and re-installed the nut after removing the port-side lower cover to access it. In my opinion, this was left loose from the factory. There is a shoulder on the stud that you can tighten it against without impairing operation of the cable....just needed to be tight.

The previous two items could have been serious safety issues, and likely would have been if not for my curiosity.
How many new owners would have known to look for the throttle issue? I knew the dealer would take care of me, and they did with any issue I brought to them, but who wants to haul a new boat back and forth to the dealer the 6 times I discovered issues.......in the first 3 months of ownership?

3- Steering is not great, very stiff at times
Not impressed with the steering system. When under power, and in anything but flat glass water, it can give you a workout. I am in good shape, and stay that way, but a day on anything but calm water leaves my hands hurting from the death grip the steering requires. Maybe mine has a problem? It moves very freely when at stop, so long as the motor not raised. When it is raised it moves freely until you take the motor to its extreme left and right positions, the steering gets fairly stiff trying to start it back towards the center from its extreme positions. Any load at all is amplified by the steering system. Will be looking for a better system to replace it with, unless the dealer can determine there is a problem they can cure. I have not yet addressed the steering issue with the dealer. I will do that soon.

4- All around navigation light (Poor storage location, cheap construction)
This folding light, meant to be inserted in the Fuel tank cover when operating at night, is made of cheap aluminum and plastic. When stowed, it snaps into little fingers just above the deck at the aft end of the cockpit. Perfect place to get stepped on, especially in anything but calm water. At some point I must have stepped on the light end and broke the silly little gimbal build into it. It looks like something you could break by looking at it wrong.
Move the light location, and use a light of better construction!

5- Rub rail screws too long, injury hazard
This boat is advertised with a nice lip on the gunwale so you can grab it to pull the boat around in shallow water. This is a feature that helped sell me on the boat. The lip is formed by the deck/hull joint, and is also where the rub rail attaches with screws.
I think the rub rail was installed on a late Friday afternoon at the factory, because in several locations someone used self-tapping screws that were way too long and actually stuck out about 1/2".....right where you would grab the lip. They cut me a few times, one per screw as I discovered the first two, found the rest on a more careful inspection. The dealer gladly replaced them with proper length screws.

6- Rub rail end cap installation
On the stern of the boat, Port and Starboard of the motor, are two little end caps that finish off the ends of the rub rail. The port side cap became loose quickly after delivery. When I removed the screw that holds it, I realized why.
Apparently, on the same Friday afternoon at the plant, someone ran the mounting screw in too tight and stripped out the fiberglass hole. So, they drilled a second hole, in a location that made the cover look wonky when compared to the Starboard side cover, and proceeded to strip out that one as well.......only they didn't complete the stripping job......it held well enough to get through shipping and delivery. I filled both holes with White Marine-Tex and pre-drilled a proper hole, in the proper location, and secured the cover. One more item to note here: While Wellcraft advertises Stainless hardware on the boat, these two covers are cheap pot-metal with Chrome plating.....I doubt they will last without a lot of care.

7- Loads of water coming back into motor well when at speed
Wow. That's a lot of water! An amazing amount of water deflects, I assume, off the lower unit and up over and into the motor well. I understand this is not a safety issue, good luck sinking this boat, but damn....that's a lot of water! Maybe add some sort of deflector?

8- Aft drink holders(pure crap, just don't install them at all, they only hurt your rep)
The stupid little Black plastic, fold-able, drink holders are a joke. I broke the first one before I bought the boat. When I first visited the dealer to look at the boat, I broke one of these trying to unfold it. Then, when the next customer looked at the boat, he broke the other. When I bought the boat, the dealer assured me the replacements were on the way to them, but I told them to give them to the next buyer as spares, spares they will need. I have no use for broken stuff on my boat, and I knew I would be breaking any replacements. There are just silly crap. Please just skip the drink holders, and skip drilling the mounting holes in the boat......boats don't need useless holes.

Bob

[LMK]

Bob that is a great and through report, well done. It will no doubt help those who own or are interested in that model.
Is the steering cable now? Consider going to hydraulic if it is: easy upgrade.

[rfriesen]

Thank you, sir! That was the goal.
Not sure what you are asking about the steering. It is still a problem.
Was hoping it would get better with use, but I think the dealer will need to take a look for me.
I believe the overall drag of a telescoping cable system like this just adds too much drag, amplifying any resistance from waves/turns.
Though....this is just my opinion.
Might go hydraulic. Whats the rough cost to do that?
I am very handy and can do it myself.

Bob

[CptBill]

You'll find that hydraulic has some of those same issues at speed though maybe not as pronounced, my 270 coastal with twin yamaha 250's kind of has like a gyro effect at higher speeds.

[rfriesen]

Attention!
The weeks since my original post have shed light on a real problem with this boat!
At 37 hours on a new boat and motor, the same one in my original post, I have had my steering cable seize up several times!
This is not occurring during operation, but after the boat sitting for 24 hours or more.
I was able to shrink the issue with loads of anti-seize on both sides of the shaft and running the steering from lock to lock a few dozen times. I repeated this several different days because the cable is non-removeable and I kept returning to frozen steering..... until I got the anti-seize worked into the ares of the shaft I couldnt access.

The problem is the tons of water coming back over the transom at speed!
It is washing all grease joints and the steering shaft totally clear of lubes!
Thats why it took 14 pumps to get the pivot tube on the motor mount to show grease exiting the top.....and why each pump spewed out water until the grease started!

This is a HUGE problem on this boat!
If you own a 162, and you notice water coming back into the motor well at speed, and you are not putting anti-seize on the engine steering end of the cable at least once for each use of the boat, you will suffer a steering lockup like me. You also need to fill all the grease points on the motor/mount after every use! I do, now.

If you have a 162 and you are not experiencing this, I would appreciate info on what motor you have,
My dealer tells me the motor must be removed on this model, to remove and replace the cable, because there is not enough room on the starboard side to get the cable out, or in, without ruining it. Good luck greasing the starboard end......will share my trick if anyone needs it.

[LMK]

I apologize for not responding - I missed the question you asked me somehow. I have installed 2 hydraulic steering systems in the past. Both were Sea Star systems. Both were center console boats. 1 bay & 1 deep V. They made a lot of difference on both. Neither was particularity hard. In both cases complete kits were purchased. A bay star kit was used on the bay boat. A sea star kit was used on the center console. Both boats had mechanical cable steering which had failed.

[rfriesen]

No problem. Giving the dealer a chance to work on this issue before I consider replacement.
Question: Do the systems you installed have any exposed components? Rams?
The water issue make me hope for a system without a ram that can corrode.
I will do some research. Thank you for the reply!

[Jeff Laird]

Just a thought. Are you using Marine grease?

[rfriesen]

Good thought and fair question!
Yes, sir!
Quicksilver 2-4-c with PTFE! I am using that at all the points with zirk fittings.

Of course, Anti-seize seems to work better on the steering shaft at the motor end.
The grease was washing off quickly, and it still seized up even with liberal grease. The anti-seize, once I got enough worked in and with VERY regular use, seems to keep it from seizing up.
I now apply it every time wash the boat, which is after every use. I also crank the steering all the way to port so the shaft stays retracted in storage, and because the seizing normally occurred during storage when I was centering the steering. I think the shaft, or the sleeve, or both became corroded from the lack of lube, and I wanted to get those two points mis-aligned in storage.

[rfriesen]

I believe I have identified the issue with water coming over the transom.
The outboard is mounted too low. The anti-ventillation plate was 1.5" below the bottom of the keel, which meant the anti-spash plate(s) above it were barely above the keel.

I moved the motor up two holes, 1.5" total, and now the anti-ventillation plate is even with the keel. Didnt use a lift or hoist. If you have a 162 Fisherman with the factory supplied trailer, you have everything you need but the following:
11/16 deep well socket, 11/16 wrench, 3/4 socket, socket wrench with an extension, a 6' length of line, marine sealant, and a little confidence and mechanical inclination. I figured it out as I went, and it took me about 2 hours.

I expect this will cure the water splashing over the transom, and therefore negate the lubrication and steering lockup problems. It should also buy me improved speed and better fuel economy, as well as ease of getting on plane. Hell, I was dragging a lot of motor through the water and for no good reason. The motor was expending at least a small amount of energy just keep all that water flowing forward and over the transom. I believe it may lighten up the steering effort as well.

Will do a test ride this weekend and report back.