A few questions about my 2000 Legacy

[eyespyautomotive]

So I have about 25 hours on the boat so far and have noticed a few things i was hoping to get answers to and hopefully fix if need be in the offseason. No big issues, just little nags.

- at speed, the boat wants to pull to the right quite hard if you let go of the wheel, its not a bear to drive but if you let go of the wheel, watch out, youre going right. Is this normal or can i adjust something?

- in the bilge i see the blower fan and it works, but there is no hosing/ducting attached to it. Should there be? seems like there should be.

-The boat has a Kenwood radio and a subwoofer under the dash, is this a factory system? doesnt say "marine" on it. It works, and is fine when youre sitting taking a break, but is worthless at speed because of the alternator/motor noise interference. any thoughts on curing that? also seems like the sub only works when the boat is running?

-when going straight at certain speeds i get a "howl" that is kinda loud. If you turn left or right the howl disappears but will return when you straighten back out. Its some kind of resonance, but what? if youre pulling anybody or anything, doesnt do it.

- when going in reverse is gear box whine normal? Forward is quiet, it is full of fluid.

- lastly, i noticed at the bottom of the hinged windshield and around the walk thru to the bow there are snaps. Was there a canvas piece that snapped on there? to block wind from coming through would be my only guess.

Thanks for any info or help on any of these, much appreciated.

[crystal waters]

should be flexible plastic hose attached to blower motor that run to the stern of the boat and exhaust out of the rear vent covers you see there.
I would fix this NOW before operating your boat as you are not properly venting your motor and risk explosion.

canvas over the bow is to protect the upholstery etc from sun/ rain when palypen area not in use. Also used to act as a closed bow when you take a big wave over the front nose of the boat -----in this way the water doesnt come in the boat and soak everything. Mine is always on when not using playpen.

will let others more skilled answer your other questions

[eyespyautomotive]

The snaps dont go around the whole bow, just under the center part of the windshield and the 2 vertical walls of the pass thru area. So the snapped on piece would be like 14"w x 18" tall. But i do like the idea of a full bow cover when not in use. We get some water over the bow now and then.

Agreed on the blower ducting.

[crystal waters]

then suspect that is for wind only.
trust me--get a bow cover!!!!
wine in reverse normal

[KarolinaKid]

The snaps dont go around the whole bow, just under the center part of the windshield and the 2 vertical walls of the pass thru area. So the snapped on piece would be like 14"w x 18" tall. But i do like the idea of a full bow cover when not in use. We get some water over the bow now and then.

Agreed on the blower ducting.


There was a small square piece of finished vinyl with snaps that would cover that area when the window is closed that came with. It's just for wind block when you don't have the bow cover. I rarely use mine, but it's nice to have.

[TitanTn]

The stereo interference is likely from a ground issue. Establish a better ground for the radio and it should clear up. Not sure about the sub issue other than check to see how it's wired. It may be connected to the key being in the RUN position.

[DAFF]

The pull is more than likely a bent rudder. Fairly common on these boats.

[SquamInboards]

The pull is more than likely a bent rudder. Fairly common on these boats.

Or possibly a replacement rudder that needs to be "tuned"... can you snap some pics of the rudder?

TitanTN is on track with the ground issue, a whine can be caused also by the sub or other connected accessories being grounded separately from the radio. I used a ground block to ground the sub, radio, and ipod charger all to one place, then right to the battery. This gives you a nice place to get ground for any other accessories you might add in the future, since you can't exactly just ground anywhere to the chassis like a car. And you have only the main battery cable and one other wire going to the battery, rather than a whole bunch.
It does sound like your sub is wired to come on only with key-on power. There should be a wire coming from your head unit (I think it's blue) that provides the remote-on power signal to tell a sub or amp to turn on with the head unit. This isn't the main power to the amp but it's just a signal (+12v) that turns it on. It still would have a (fused) power wire and ground that should be a heavier gauge than most of the other wires. If you can use the wire from the head unit then the sub will just come on with the head unit as it's intended. Does that make sense?

[eyespyautomotive]

I appreciate all the replies. From everyone.

Squaminboards, Yes I totally understand the power on wire on the head unit. I will likely run a ground block as you mention and also look into re wiring the sub to run with the head unit. Once I pull the boat out in the fall I will probably look at this in depth.

As far as a bent rudder, I can say it doesnt "look" bent but I suppose I may not see if its bent by 1/8". Do you mean bent back or bent to either side? As far as tuning the rudder, how is that done? I am very mecahnically inclined so I can probably accomplish that. I do know the steering wheel is off center by maybe 30 degrees when going straight, so hopefully that can be adjusted.

Edit.. I did a search on "rudder tuning" and apparently the pull to the right is a desired trait for helping the boat track correctly. I need to look at the rudder when i get back up to the cabin and see if it is filed like a read about. From what i read the right trailing edge of the rudder is usually filed a little bit which makes it turn to the right. that keeps the boat from hunting on center and makes it feel like its on rails. A few posters mentioned they balanced the rudder out and hated how the boat felt.