Nissan 6 HP 4 cycles

[maikelc]

This is embarassing. Thought I was doing everything right.
Laid boat up on hard a year ago after the trip to the Bahamas. Flushed and drained motor, ran it dry. Left it in place but wrapped lower unit. Took out plug squirted in oil and put back plug. Now I'm getting ready to relaunch.
Here's problem; motor turns, but with difficulty. Is it just that the oil i put in is turgid [I think that's the right word.]? Should I drain oil, put in some diesel or kerosene, turn it over by hand to flush thickened oil see if that loosens things up.
The motor is only three seasons old so I don't need to take it apart...unless what's making it hard to turn is rust, in which case I assume there's some risk of scoring moving parts and causing unecessary wear. Anyone been there? Have advice. Thanks Maikel

[carl291]

I don't think you did a bad thing at all, are you trying to turn the engine over with the sparkplug in?? If so, remove plug and spin the engine and let the oil squirt out the plug hole. Put a few squirts of Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinder , let it soak for a short period and again spin engine letting that exit the plug hole and you should be fine.

[maikelc]

Had plug out when i tried to start it. Didn't put in enough oil for it to squirt out plug hole. Motor turns, but not freely/fast enough to start. MM oil is good idea.

[c_amos]

also do not forget to clean the oil off of the spark plug. The oil will not allow the motor to fire if left on the insulator.

[pbryant]

I've been using the Tohatsu 0utboard 6 HP long shaft for two years now in the S.F Bay and Half Moon Bay areas. It'll push Ad Astra, Ariel #75 at 3 knots dead into a 25 knot wind. More than adequate power and astounding fuel efficiency. One caution: the pull-to-start cord has a plastic T shaped handle. Inside that plastic is a V shaped metal insert through which the pull cord is run with a half-hitch stopper knot on the bitter end. The hole in the metal insert is stamped and has a sharp edge. The condition of the pull cord at the bitter end is invisible since it's tucked away inside the handle. Mine cut through the pull cord after a few dozen pulls -- leaving me holding the T handle whilst the pull cord went "zing!" and wrapped itself back inside the engine. Very inconvenient. I replaced the T handle with a piece of wooden dowel with a hole drilled in the middle so I can now see and inspect the bitter end of the pull cord. That configuration has lasted several hundred pulls with no signs of wear.

When installing the engine in the engine port, if the engine is offset to the starboard side and you tilt it just a little as it goes in, you will snap off the gear select lever, which is just a piece of plastic press fitted to a short metal shaft. I installed vice grips on the gear select shaft (which will rotate out of the way if pressed upward) and that has worked fine for two years.

I leave the engine in the water - after calculating that a new engine is cheaper than either back surgery or contraptions like a lifting davit. The drive shaft has survived two years of immersion in salt water!

If you find the engine deflects water into the engine compartment while under way due to it tilting in the water flow, attach anchor chain around the drive shaft that's fastened to the engine port. If the engine climbs up the mounting board, install a piece of aluminum bar stock across the outer forward top of the engine port to prevent the mounting plate from climbing. Those mods made peace between me and the engine.

[ariel417]

I just purchased a tohatsu 20" sailmaster. Fingers crossed! Ill report back when I have used it a few times. It seemed to be the best deal, and it will charge batteries while running. I see the 20" version of the sailmaster was not offered in the nissan badge. If they are the same engine, I wonder why it is available in one brand and not the other?

To those that already own this engine, how good is the charging system using basic necessities? Example, vhf, gps, led cabin lights, anchor light.

[pbryant]

> To those that already own this engine, how good is the charging system using basic necessities? Example, vhf, gps, led cabin lights, anchor light.

Beware: the output is unregulated half-wave (uni-polarity) AC. If you look at the output of a typical outboard generator on an oscilloscope, it's half wave pulses that peak around 18 volts. Unless that model is more sophisticated than most - the generator is intended to power incandescent running lights on a skiff that's underway at night - not sensitive electronics like radios and GPS receivers. Incandescent bulbs are rather insensitive to the non-uniform current, and their filaments stay hot when the voltage dips to zero for tens of milliseconds at a time (which is why they work as well on AC as DC current).

LED lights that are rated to handle 24 volts or more (most these days have regulators to allow dual 12/24 volt power) will probably tolerate the spiky voltage, but you won't like the flicker you'll get at low RPMs, without a battery to smooth the voltage. For powering ONLY LED lights (not electronics) you could use an electrolytic capacitor in place of a battery to stop the flickering, but to be effective at low RPMs, it would have to be huge.

While it can be used for short duration and occasional charging of a battery that is large enough to absorb and smooth out the pulses (multiply the generator's rated output current by 10 - you need a battery of at least that many amp hours), be VERY careful that no situation can ever exist where the battery becomes disconnected so it is no longer regulating the voltage spikes and the generator is powering sensitive electronic systems directly. If it ever does - you may have a very expensive smoke generator, or at least a mysterious source of failing electronics. Transistors don't like transient voltage spikes. Also, you will only get the rated output current when the engine is running at top RPM (in neutral) and making a sound that will likely drive you nuts.

I'd also suggest installing a fuse at the battery terminal rated for the full output current of the generator on the lead from the generator. The generator should have a fuse inside the engine, but if the wiring becomes shorted along the run downstream between that fuse and the battery, there's nothing to limit the battery output current.

If you want to verify what I'm saying and you don't have an oscilloscope: get an 8 ohm speaker you don't care about ruining, connect a 100 ohm 1 watt resistor in series with either speaker terminal (to limit the current), and then connect the generator output to the speaker through the series resistor. Start the engine and listen. If it's DC, the speaker cone will just move one way or the other once and not produce any sound. Instead, what you'll probably hear will sound like a playing card running through the pokes of a bicycle, with the pitch varying with engine RPM.

[maikelc]

Have the same motor in Louise Michel. Took out an old Gray Marine inboard that came with boat. What a nasty job that was. Haven't regretted it once. Have about a thousand hours on the engine, including an eight month trip to Bahamas -Norfolk to Miami, down the ICW, eight hours a day, day after day, that little motor ran like a top.
I have the charging system but haven't used it. Instead we use a 80W solar panel mounted on a raised stern pulpit, with a 15A contoller and two 90AH deep cycle batteries. Powers cabin lights [ some incandescent, some led], running lights when needed, VHF [not always on], GPS. Run laptop, battery chargers [AA, cordless drill etc] and FM radio via a small inverter. Anchor light is a rechargeable lantern hung on boom.
Doubt you'd be able to power all the items you list, about what I have, from engine charger without running it just to recharge batteries but you have to do the math...add up all the items times hours of use, figure in the formulas for inefficiencies, rate of discharge etc.

[ariel417]

So what is the unregulated charger good for? I could get a charge controller or just use the system as an occasional battery charger. I could isolate 2 batteries with a solenoid that is only engaged to the house system when I want it to be while monitoring the charge. I don't plan on motoring much, it is a sailboat. I still feel I did well even if I don't ever if rarely use the charge feature, because I got the high thrust prop and that has made up or broke even in cost. What would you do with the charging system? I can not find out how much oil goes in this thing anywhere. The owners manual covers what type but not the amount. How much oil goes in the engine? How much and what kind of oil goes in the lower end? Its not even stamped or written on the engine anywhere.

[Caferacer59]

Is there any reason not to install the (semi permanent) steering lock on this motor? As mentioned in my intro I am new to sailing. Last week I was out practicing docking when the motor slipped loose thus causing a few hair raising moments for me at my new marina. With the exception of losing the ability to use it for maneuvering tight quarters I think it would be fine. And in the remote chance of losing the rudder it does unbolt easy enough. I used the search function and did not turn up anything salient to my inquiry. Thanks.

[maikelc]

I installed a strut from the lazarette wall to the front of the motor. The strut bolted to the motor handle with a wing nut so it could be quickly detached [in close quarters, especially going in reverse, we 'steered, by turning the motor]. The other end of the strut was simply clamped to a flange to allow for adjustments.
PS.The wing bolt on the back of the motor is there to adjust friction not clamp the motor in place.

[pbryant]

Is there any reason not to install the (semi permanent) steering lock on this motor? As mentioned in my intro I am new to sailing. Last week I was out practicing docking when the motor slipped loose thus causing a few hair raising moments for me at my new marina. With the exception of losing the ability to use it for maneuvering tight quarters I think it would be fine. And in the remote chance of losing the rudder it does unbolt easy enough. I used the search function and did not turn up anything salient to my inquiry. Thanks.

The only practical way to steer while moving astern is to steer with the engine. The ability to spin the engine around in its port to assist in steering is a great advantage over the inboard version of Ariels. None of the Alberg designed boats were designed to show finesse and grace while backing up. And while the Ariel - with her modified full keel - has a tighter turning radius than a battle ship while moving forward; in the close quarters of a marina, you may need to hasten her turns by twisting the engine. You want some resistance/friction to the engine's uncommanded turning in the port, but not so much friction that you can't turn the engine at all. When the eventuality arises that you need a really tight turn, it will be an emergency, and any delays may result in a collision.

Ariels have a great deal of yaw stability, i.e., resistance to turning. That is a wonderful feature in sharp ocean swells where they track like a train on rails, but not so good in a tight marina.

The biggest problem, at least with my Nissan Sailpro, is it's tilting while underway. The long shaft dragging in the water causes it to tilt way back, and to such an extent that the pull-to-start handle is buried out of reach, you can't shift into reverse gear from neutral, and the shaft angle contributes to shipping water into the boat. I found no way to correct this -- until I resorted to installing a piece of anchor chain across the shaft to prevent the behavior. Apparently Nissan thinks an engine that's marketed for use on sailboats still needs to tilt freely to prevent damage from a grounding -- as if it were installed on a dingie. The tilt "feature" is worthless on an Ariel, and I presume all other sailboats where the propeller isn't lower in the water than the boat's keel.

The only situation I can envision where the tilt feature would be helpful is when running over a crab pot line where it slips under the keel and then gets stuck on the forward surface of the engine shaft. And the engine still can't tilt back far enough to free the line. I have a knife on a pole ready for that situation. It's also good for fending off pirates ;-)

[Rico]

The friction on my nissan o/b never really worked well... I eliminated the issue completely by installing a couple of tiny dinghy cam cleats with fairleads on small blocks of teak and I then epoxied this onto the bulkhead - One each on each side of the motor. I ran small 1/8" or 3/16" lines with a stopper knot through the holes on the o/b 'handle' and into these cams via the fairlead. It worked like a charm...

This Secured the motor straight as an arrow, but it could also be released completely in a fraction of a second when needed. The lines came off tthe motor for starage right away as they were only help by the stopper knot - I highly recomment this route.

I'll look for some pictures to post... I'm pretty sure I took some at some point... I must have!

[Bill]

Rico: Photos, photos, please . . .

[Caferacer59]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses. I think I will throw a few wing nuts on the engine locking bolts, that should allow enabling of the motor in a pinch. (Written from a slightly larger ship heading south and skippered by a mouse named Mickey) hmm. Taking one for the team.