Staff – Customer Service answers:

Wow… You sure did use up your 5 points heh well lets start tearing this apart
First off any good tech will tell you any additive (as you stated) is a waste of money, it doesn’t help and it isn’t going to do any magic tricks and make your transmission stop slipping
If the motor itself is running rough, i suggest you attempt to get the codes (any stored codes) off of the computer and do a simple tuneup (plugs, cap, wires), that alone might fix the “Running Rough” issue, also O2 sensors as well i can guarantee no one has planted new ones in there, also clean your EGR valve thats probably not sealing correctly either its really simple and change out your PCV valve as well its a little $3 part and with a high mileage car its worth it or give it a simple shake see if you can hear it rattle if you can’t change it

With the transmission slipping nothing is going to fix this but a rebuild, keep the transmission fluid full and light throttle between 2nd and 3rd as to not put strain on your planetary gear set which is probably the problem (worn teeth) although it could be a solenoid again get your codes ripped from your computer that might throw a sensor code from your trans i know through the little bit i know about trans hydraulics and mechanical ways lock your gears and leave others moving, a bad solenoid or something like that could be your problem, need to get that checked professionally though as I personally don’t know much about transmissions or differentials, anything else i pretty much know at least the basics of, but again this is just a precaution on my part so you don’t take your car in and demand that this is the problem ALWAYS listen to the tech i hate people who come in saying “My friend told me this was wrong” well that isn’t the problem idiot throw your money down the drain because you DEMAND the repair be done, sorry little rant there…

If you change your oil yourself, make sure your lubing all of your spots (U joints, Ball joints, Tie rod ends etc. Etc.) if you don’t have a grease gun go to your local autozone and buy one puff up the rubber boot to the point of swelling, just a little bit of a “Poof” don’t over do it you don’t want to be replacing that part soon.

As for your transmission flush, if the car wasn’t slipping from second to third you may have threw some crud out of your planetary gear set resluting in the slipping which why most tech’s suggest that you do a drain and fill if your trans fluid is black and yes it can destroy your trans i’ve had it happen 4 times now and already won 2 cases in court, one has already given me a summons to court, the other one i think isn’t going to but meh its life i’ll win anyway i have documentation signed by them but they insist just like they insisted on that flush that killed their car but meh oh well.

Another thing i just seen in your post as i’m being lazy and not adding it in is the fact that you got a new exhaust, if by any chance your car ran good with no stumble before you may need to have a mechanic mess with your timing and possibly change the programming on your computer to compensate for the loss of back pressure as your car is a 2005, which i suggest to anyone that 2004 and newer keep their old exhaust stock as your back pressure will affect with engine performance, i know you want to hear the roar of your engine but in all honesty you need to have your timing and possibly your computer flashed to compensate or re-install your old exhaust, if it doesn’t bother you by all means keep driving it, but if it is stumbling and acting weird ever since the exhaust has been put on you may want to look into it.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

You’re looking at an expensive and time consuming transformation. You’re probably looking in the $15,000-$20,000 range, depending on the engine, tranny, and the extent of the modifying that will need to be done to the structure of the car.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

I look at this different than most. I use a car battery for my boat it is a 16′ bass tracker. I use it to start the motor and run the trolling motor, bilge pump, aerators, and fish finder. I have no problem in running it all day. It will drain a car battery but it will also drain a marine battery. It will shorten the life of a car batter but it is warranty for 5 yrs. A marine battery is warranty for one year. My car battery usually last for 3 years doing this and I get a pro rated replacement which ends up in about 1/2 the cost of the battery. A car battery cost about half as much as a marine battery and I only get one year maybe 2 out of the marine battery. Now you do the math on it.
So go ahead and use the car battery, just charge it up each time and enjoy.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

If time is not a factor use the 2 amp charge. But if the battery is totally ran down from a previous fishing trip, the battery, even if left overnight will not fully charge using the 2 amp setting. But it is always best to use the trickle charge setting if you can do so. It will put a more complete charge in your battery and your battery will have a longer life time. I fish daily and run my batteries down completely each day. Then I am forced to use the higher settings on my chargers, but when you run a battery totally down and fast charge it in order to be able to use it the next day it as I do, the batteries just do not last very long. You can only run one down completely and recharge it only so many times. I have never had a battery last over 14 months in the last 16 years. But now I am going to go with 2 batteries so that I can trickle charge for 24 hours on each battery before using it instead of 9-12 hours.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

I would use a hose clamp

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Minn Kota has got to be the best as far as for pound for pound, I know the older moto guides are a pain to operate, the newer ones look about the same with a little power button on the right hand side of the foot pedal, the minn kota has about and inch and a half round nob to step on and is really dependable, most guys that have motor guides carry a spare with them. I have an 18 foot ranger and a maxx74 on it and don’t have any problems with the wind, I did put a 40 all-terrain on it for a bit due to the fact the old trolling motor that came on it finally went bad, that was an old johnson/evinrude. As soon as I got the money for the maxx74 I purchased one and absoultely love it, no more getting blown down a lake. Some times you can find a deal on ebay on them or bass pro, cabella’s has a bargin cave and you may get a great deal their online also. Minn kota makes saltwater motors also. Good luck

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Completely disassemble the motor . Cut the shaft. Shorten the wires. Reassemble the motor . It’s not a difficult job to take it apart . If it’s a steel shaft , it may be beyond the ability of a common hack saw , and require a machine shop . Mark the wires before you take it apart, so you know what goes where when it’s time to reassemble. Seal the bottom head with silicon before it goes back in the water

Staff – Customer Service answers:

I am afraid you left out a key point about the canoe. We really need to know if it is a flat back or pointed canoe to really point you towards the right mount. I have a friend that uses this on his flat back canoe –> http://goo.gl/gIJ3p

@ksbigbass

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Your outboard has an alternator to keep the battery charged while the main engine is running. The sonar will draw almost no current, but the stereo…depends on how much power it uses, and how long you spend anchored up in “party cove” with the tunes blasting vs running up & down the lake (which will recharge the battery). Also, the output of your outboard; some older motors have only 4- or 6-amp alternators, but modern V-4 & V-6′s output 35 or more amps.

You can always experiment by playing the stereo in the driveway and measure the battery voltage with a voltmeter and crank the motor every so often. Then you’ll know how long it takes the radio to drain the battery to the point of not starting the motor.

The trick to rope-starting a very large outboard is to remove half the spark plugs (makes it twice as easy to start), crank it and let it idle up to operating temp — a warm motor should start with just a fraction of a crankshaft rotation. Shut it off, reinstall the plugs and away you go.

You can use a marine deepcycle battery (or a dual-use cranking/deepcycle) for cranking (as long as it has enough cranking amps for your motor), and it will give you better service than a cranking battery. Don’t use an automotive battery — they aren’t made to take the abuse of the boating environment.

12V batteries self-discharge over time, and storage at less than full charge is the main cause of premature battery failure, so you should either get a bench charger and recharge the battery every couple or three weeks between uses, or else an onboard charger with a “float” or “maintain” mode (*not* a 1- or 2-amp “trickle-charger”) that can stay plugged in 24/7 — the onboard charger is the ideal way to maintain a battery.

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if by “transom support” you mean a “transom saver” to hold the motor while trailering, yes by all means use one. You can wait on it, however — if you have enough clearance to trailer with the motor vertical, that’s best. Otherwise, you have to secure it in the tilted up position — the power tilt is *NOT* sufficient to hold it for trailering, and neither is the “tilt lock” mechanism.

If you mean your transom is soft, there’s nothing you can do but replace the entire transom — fastening a support to rotten wood is really no support at all.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

I read an article some time ago that compared the price of the solar panels and the power saving over the life of the panels. It financially balanced out. But the obvious advantages are to the environment.

I believe the panels only last between 8-10 years.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

An electric motor weighs less and takes up less room. Your boat is small enough that a large electric might get you in. However, I tried that on a small aluminum 12′ boat and when I encountered a moderate head wind and a few weeds, I stopped dead in the water. You could use the same battery since you only plan on using it if your main engine fails. How about just taking along a cell phone and a few phone numbers of nearby marinas. Also just flagging down a passing boat for a tow works pretty good here in the Midwest where I live. You would spend more on a back up then you will in tows.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

If you have lost electrolyte, go to an auto parts store and buy a quart of battery acid to re-fill the cells. Sears and some auto parts stores have a red colored filler bulb to top off the cells without spilling. You can also use it to top-off cells with distilled water when ever the need is necessary.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Hi Kris. As fate would have it, we have the exact boating arrangement you are talking about. There are several options, it all really comes down to how much performance you can afford. Our little boat has a 30 pound thrust motor and a 65 amp hour deep cycle marine battery. I am charging it with a 55 watt panel. First off, there is lots of misinformation about batteries. A deep cycle battery is designed to handle discharges and recharges, but that doesn’t mean that they are good for them. If the sun is shining and you’re trolling, by all means use the panel as well. The motor will probably use anywhere from 5 to 20 amps, the panel only puts out 3. Even if you stop running the motor for a bit, the 3 amps can feed back into the battery while you are stationary. The only battery type that developes a, “Memory,” from cycling like this is the old Nickle Cadmium we used in cordless tools and toys for years. A lead acid does not have these issues. You can call the tech support guys at Trojan, Interstate or Exide and they will tell you the same thing. Better yet, stop at the library and check out, “The Complete Battery Book,” by Richard Perez and read the chapters on lead acid batteries. Our entire home is powered by solar, wind and batteries, has been for almost 10 years, and we’ve already made all the mistakes.

As far as using a car battery, you can for a year or so, but it will fail after that. Car batteries have thin, light weight pourous plates designed only to give out heavy amperage for short bursts, enough to start the motor, then recharge all the time while you drive. To deeply discharge these types of batteries is to subject them to abuse for which they were not designed. Good deep cycle batteries have solid lead plates, and they are heavy.

A 55 watt panel like ours is about 18 inches wide and 40 inches long, and might cost about $200. At 3 amps maximum current, you can leave it hooked to a deep cycle lead acid battery all the time. The rule of thumb is if your panels maximum amperage is less than 2% of the battery’s amp hour capacity, then no charge controller is needed, the panel can never overcharge the battery. All you need between the panel and battery is a diode, one with enough current capacity to handle the panels amp rating. Most panels come with them already installed in the junction box today, check to see if yours has one, or several inside already. The bad news is it will probably not keep up with daily use either. Ours doesn’t, but it takes a good bite out of our charging needs. So now if we use our boat several hours a day, even if it’s sunny, at least once a week, I take out the battery and hook it to a regular automotive charger overnight to bring it back up to full.

If you decide on a larger panel, and the panels amps exceed 2% of the battery’s amp hour rating, then you will need a charge controller between the panel and battery in case the battery fills up on a sunny day and you’re not using the boat. You can also use several panels together, as long as they are all about the same voltage. Look on the back of the panel, if they all have an, “Open Circuit Voltage,” around 16 – 19 volts, you can wire them in parallel and into a 12 volt charge controller. As far as never having to charge the battery, you might be asking a lot from your panel. A 30 pound motor, the smallest I’ve seen, still uses 10 – 20 amps at full power. If you want to use solar only, you’ll need something like 10 – 15 amps worth, or about 200 watts, a costly and fairly large array, maybe $800, and it might take up all your boat space. Another option is to charge the boat battery while you drive, if you tow your boat. You can run a line from your battery back to the trailer hitch, and use a separate trailer light harness, different from the one you have now that hooks your boat battery to the car battery. Just plug it in after you start the motor, and the boat will charge from the car alternator while you drive home.

If you want some real horsepower, skip the marine battery and opt for two Trojan T-105 batteries. They are made for golf carts. They are really heavy and well made, only 6 volts, that’s why you’ll need two, and they have a capacity of 220 amp hours. Two hooked in series will give you 12 volts at 220 amp hours. Now you can drive a 175 watt panel into them without a charge controller if you like, just make sure to water the cells at least once a month, they will go through distilled water pretty regularly. We plan on upgrading our little boat with T-105′s this year just to carry additional loads, like lights, freshwater pump and fish finder so we can troll after dark too, but we’ll probably stick with the one small panel for space, and just recharge a couple times a week at home.

There is a great periodical that covers the nuts and bolts of hardware like this, it’s called Home Power Magazine, I’ll include link below. Good luck trolling, and take care, Rudydo

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Yes u can use it just get u a deep cycle battery auto or marine

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Honestly…I put my husbands stuff on craigslist. “YOU WANT IT,COME GET IT!” LOL I toss his old shirts while he’s at the store and honestly…he’s never asked about it b/c he just forgets. Lol Have someone take the boat while he’s a work or something…once it’s gone, it’s GONE…lol And start getting all of his crap piled up and just give it to good will. Tell him you honestly just can’t take it anymore. You don’t want it to end in divorce but, most people who are married to a hoarder, which YOU my friend ARE, divorce them b/c they didn’t realize how serious the problem was. My father in law is a hoarder and I can’t STAND going to his place…it’s horrible. Best of luck!!!

Staff – Customer Service answers:

$6k sounds a pretty good price assuming clear titles, good compression on the motor, and a roadworthy trailer.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Can’t be less than nine years old because evinrude hasn’t made trolling motors since 2001.

9-year-old trolling motor won’t be worth more than $45 no matter how large and perfectly it runs.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

“electric trolling motor” is for the most part a misnomer — they are mostly used for positioning the boat while casting.

You’re looking for a 6 to 15 hp outboard. Unless your main powerplant uses fuel/oil premix, only a 4-stroke motor of that size will be able to draw from the main gas tank.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

Every boat I have owned has had a 1 1/2″ thick transom if used for an outboard, regardless of the size of the outboard. Check out a chunk of “LDL” from your local homebuilding supply. You can get them in different widths from 8″ to 24″.

Staff – Customer Service answers:

I don’t know what you mean by running an electric motor like a diesel engine.

When you mix batteries of the same type but differing capacities the system will only be as good as the weakest unit or cell, although all batteries should fully charge from the single charge point. This ability is often used in RV’s and boats so the house batteries are separated from the starting batteries except when charging. If you have two completely different battery types then a charger may have great trouble charging both batteries correctly, because the voltage spikes and resistance levels the modern smart charger uses to monitor the state of charge may occur at a completely odd moments or just not make sense – a standard wet lead acid battery has a huge resistance compared to an absorbent glass mat type, and they are both quite different to gel types and so on. All require unique charging regimes to get the most out of the batteries.

You will have to do individual capacity tests now on your batteries to determine which units are good or otherwise. Any auto electrician should be able to do this, or you could put a load on a fully charged battery, say two or three spotlights or similar with a multi meter to check the current, and another one to check the voltage – which you don’t want to drop below 10.7V under load. The precise numbers will be available if you Google the manufacturer/brand of battery you are playing with, and print out the specifications and factory charge requirements for that battery. Capacity will be current (in amperes) x time (in hours) i.e. 10 amp draw for 10 hours gives a result of 100 amp/hour capacity. It will last much less than one hour if you want to draw 100 amps!! This method is crude but surprisingly accurate in the real world. You will note that the manufacturer will supply differing capacities depending on the rate of discharge, this is because resistive and chemical losses decrease the capacity of a battery the faster you try and extract the stored energy. It’s possible your other battery has failed, or all of them. I would not combine different types of battery in the one circuit.

You can draw over 80% from an AGM battery with relative impunity, but taking more than 50% from a deep cycle battery will start to damage it. A standard car battery is damaged a lot more. There are a lot of claims that standard batteries last for years when getting flattened to 0% regularly. They can’t – sulfation starts below 10.5 V and rapidly destroys them. I sell batteries here and there, and I have never met one yet that died a natural death, they are all murdered!! Look at this :- http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/agm.htm

I have some interesting links, Collyn Rivers founded electronics magazines in Australia, and has published several very good books, he is considered a foremost expert in practical low voltage systems.