AB 12VST Dinghy issues

[Aroadracer]

I recently bought a trawler that came with a 6 month old AB 12VST inflatable with a 50hp Yamaha 4 stroke outboard - still under warranty until early February. The previous owners bought it as a new boat show special. I’m having the following issues with it and wondering if this is normal since I haven’t owned one of these before.

1. The steering is very stiff. Once you get the wheel turning it will turn ok but it sticks where you stop turning. Small, smooth adjustments aren’t possible as the effort required to get it turning again overshoots where you want it to be. I have greased the grease zerts for the cable but no improvement.

2. The throttle is very awkward with neutral being back and slightly down and forward, up. It has the same tendency to stick like the steering and it is very sensitive. It takes a deft hand to keep from over throttling when moving forward from a stop. Smooth adjustments aren’t possible because it sticks where you set it.

3. It had a SE Sport 400 fin installed on the motor by the dealer. When I got it, I couldn’t go over 15mph safely. Any faster and it became extremely weight distribution sensitive. If you leaned slightly left the boat would roll to port and feel like it would capsize. The same thing happened if you leaned right - would roll to starboard. Very unnerving. I removed the fin and it was a different boat. Much more stable and runs to 30mph now. The only handling issue now is getting on plane quickly. The front wants to raise up too much even though it is trimmed all of the way down. The motor is installed in the second from top mounting position.

4. It has a 14 gallon fuel tank but the gage reads empty when it still has 7 or so gallons left in it (according to the previous owner).

The warranty is transferable but the selling dealer says I have to return it to them for warranty work (100 miles away and no trailer - or car).

Any help or insight would be appreciated!

 

[mvweebles]

I recently bought a trawler that came with a 6 month old AB 12VST inflatable with a 50hp Yamaha 4 stroke outboard - still under warranty until early February. The previous owners bought it as a new boat show special. I’m having the following issues with it and wondering if this is normal since I haven’t owned one of these before.

1. The steering is very stiff. Once you get the wheel turning it will turn ok but it sticks where you stop turning. Small, smooth adjustments aren’t possible as the effort required to get it turning again overshoots where you want it to be. I have greased the grease zerts for the cable but no improvement.

2. The throttle is very awkward with neutral being back and slightly down and forward, up. It has the same tendency to stick like the steering and it is very sensitive. It takes a deft hand to keep from over throttling when moving forward from a stop. Smooth adjustments aren’t possible because it sticks where you set it.

3. It had a SE Sport 400 fin installed on the motor by the dealer. When I got it, I couldn’t go over 15mph safely. Any faster and it became extremely weight distribution sensitive. If you leaned slightly left the boat would roll to port and feel like it would capsize. The same thing happened if you leaned right - would roll to starboard. Very unnerving. I removed the fin and it was a different boat. Much more stable and runs to 30mph now. The only handling issue now is getting on plane quickly. The front wants to raise up too much even though it is trimmed all of the way down. The motor is installed in the second from top mounting position.

4. It has a 14 gallon fuel tank but the gage reads empty when it still has 7 or so gallons left in it (according to the previous owner).

The warranty is transferable but the selling dealer says I have to return it to them for warranty work (100 miles away and no trailer - or car).

Any help or insight would be appreciated!

Was it setup in the first place by the dealer? Everything you mention sounds like install/config - lousy setup on the first place. Not sure you'd get much joy from them second time around even if they were close.

Will cost money. But you may want to check around for a decent OB mechanic. Someone who works on center console and such.

Best success

Peter

 

[Frosty]

Congrats on your new trawler!

Agree with @mvweebles on taking the whole thing to a competent rigger/mechanic vs. back to whomever set it up to begin with. I would wonder about them if that's the best they did the first time around.

**********
Just picking out the stiff throttle/shift though (assuming you have a console with a wheel and control ["shifter"] and are not doing this right on the motor), there is typically an adjustment for how stiff it is. Tighten it too much and it can be like yours (if that's the problem); too loose and it won't stay where you put it at all which is also annoying (throttle).

I would post something pointing to the adjustment, but it's different on different control box model numbers. E.g. Yamaha 703 vs. 704 or etc. But once you know which model you have it's not hard to look up. Typically it's a screw of some sort, sometimes under a little cover.

Stiffness (given that you have newish cables and motor, so it's not likely old corroded cables or a seized up tilt tube) should most likely be the friction adjustment right on the control box (shifter handle box).

******
There are also adjustments one can make to the throttle and shift cables, but at the other end, inside the motor. Given everything else you've reported, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't set up properly to begin with. But that wouldn't usually make the throttle stiff. It's more about making sure neutral is where it is supposed to be, F and R get shifted into correctly, and that the throttle goes all the way through its range.

I'm not sure I understand the "down and up" of neutral vs. fwd. Presuming the control box is mounted level with the horizon....? Otherwise if the gears don't seem to be quite where they should be, it could be with what I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

But in a nutshell, if you are interested, the cables get attached to little levers inside the control box. That end is fixed (though the levers move). But then back inside the motor, the cables' length can be adjusted, and then once you get them right (there are a few tests you do, moving things back and forth at the control and then marking in the motor to get between the limits) there is a way to "lock"them in place (exact way varies by motor brand, but basically the same concept). Maybe a sloppy rigger would just slap them in.

 

[Grupet]

Sorry for your troubles, some pics of the tender and arrangement would really help. The cable runs in those boats can have some very tight turns.

Since its a relatively new boat, perhaps the rigger could have exceeded the bend limit during installation?

 

[ABfish]

I think the issue with the throttle and shifter is that it's mounted on the side of the console (as is my dinghy), and it's oriented in such a way the shifting into reverse requires pushing the shifter downward, rather than back.

In my case, reorienting or clocking the shifter is not possible due space constraints. The shifter mechanism must be "clocked" to the rear to allow enough mounting surface.

I find this shifter motion awkward as well but I have become accustomed to it.

 

[Gdavid]

1. The steering is very stiff. Once you get the wheel turning it will turn ok but it sticks where you stop turning. Small, smooth adjustments aren’t possible as the effort required to get it turning again overshoots where you want it to be. I have greased the grease zerts for the cable but no improvement.

Is the steering stiff in both directions? or is it easier to begin turning in one direction compared to the other. On cable steering systems, a common feature is a "no-feedback" lock that teleflex (and others) incorporate to prevent an outboard with a right-hand pitch prop to turn itself to starboard. Generally, when a cable steering system has this system, and the motor isn't running or is in neutral, it is less effort to "un-stick" the steering in the direction of port versus turning to starboard, this is a function of how the no-feedback mechanism works.

If you look up the topic on teleflex's website, they explain it better than I can.

 

[TBill36]

I have a 2-year-old 25 Yamaha with a side binnacle that sounds like it's mounted in a similar manner. Trying to accelerate smoothly off of idle is about impossible. About 2 or 3 degrees of lever movement gives enough acceleration to throw you back if you're not holding on. I've gotten pretty good at minute movements to minimize it and haven't pursued fixing it if there is a fix. Sounds like it might be inherent in the design.

 

[Eric T Henderson]

I recently bought a trawler that came with a 6 month old AB 12VST inflatable with a 50hp Yamaha 4 stroke outboard - still under warranty until early February. The previous owners bought it as a new boat show special. I’m having the following issues with it and wondering if this is normal since I haven’t owned one of these before.

1. The steering is very stiff. Once you get the wheel turning it will turn ok but it sticks where you stop turning. Small, smooth adjustments aren’t possible as the effort required to get it turning again overshoots where you want it to be. I have greased the grease zerts for the cable but no improvement.

2. The throttle is very awkward with neutral being back and slightly down and forward, up. It has the same tendency to stick like the steering and it is very sensitive. It takes a deft hand to keep from over throttling when moving forward from a stop. Smooth adjustments aren’t possible because it sticks where you set it.

3. It had a SE Sport 400 fin installed on the motor by the dealer. When I got it, I couldn’t go over 15mph safely. Any faster and it became extremely weight distribution sensitive. If you leaned slightly left the boat would roll to port and feel like it would capsize. The same thing happened if you leaned right - would roll to starboard. Very unnerving. I removed the fin and it was a different boat. Much more stable and runs to 30mph now. The only handling issue now is getting on plane quickly. The front wants to raise up too much even though it is trimmed all of the way down. The motor is installed in the second from top mounting position.

4. It has a 14 gallon fuel tank but the gage reads empty when it still has 7 or so gallons left in it (according to the previous owner).

The warranty is transferable but the selling dealer says I have to return it to them for warranty work (100 miles away and no trailer - or car).

Any help or insight would be appreciated!

The part where the boat becomes very weight distribution relative happened to me as well. That was because once you start off and start picking up speed you HAVE to trim up a little and that problem then goes away. Hope this helps some Captain.

 

[Aroadracer]

Thanks everyone for your input. I spoke with the selling dealer today and they seem eager to resolve these issues. I will report back later this month on the outcome. Good advice here but think I should give the dealer first shot at it.