New Owner, 2001 R21

[RonGinger]

Ok, now I am a real owner, for just over 24 hours. So far its all on the road.

I bought the boat inPpine Island FL, and am towing it home to Boothbay Maine. right now Im in VA, 704 miles to go.

Towing has been fine, Im using a friends Dodge 2500 with the cummins diesel, The trailer just follows along fine.

I have only spent a brief time really looking at the boat, but have a few questions.

Is there any published info on the 21? The factory website has a menu item for them, but no link to any data, Id love to get a brochure, and a owners manual if one exists.

My boat has the mast and boom. The boom has a sail track- did they offer a sail for this? Was it just a steadying sail?

The surveyor was unable to get any of the cabin electronics to power up. Is there a main battery switch somewhere?

I expect to be home and start cleaning the boat- lots of road bugs squished on it- Sunday. In the water as soon as possible, probably 2-3 days.

 

[captain's cat]

Congratulations on the new boat. I'm gonna be doing the same thing in about two weeks, towing a TC255 from Pensacola to the Northern Neck of VA. We also have a home in Maine, DownEast up near Machias.

Regarding your question on literature, manuals etc, you've come to the right place. Bring this thread up.

viewforum.php?f=7

Almost everything you need to know about Ranger Tugs. If it's not there, ask. Someone has it or can get it for you.

Happy Tugging

Charlie

 

[Wilkie]

Ron,

Congratulations!!! I just brought my 21EC Home (Swansea, MA) last May from Albany, NY.
When I get a chance will forward details on the boat as I had the same questions you have.

You could call my cell: 774-451-1009..

Wilkie

 

[abcandjrc]

Ours is a later boat, so perhaps someone will have more timely information which is more accurate.

Not certain whether you literally meant "electronics", or all the electrics, so I am going to assume nothing worked, including lights, stereo, etc. If some of those worked, like the lights, you might find that some electronics are controlled by an auxilliary panel on the area by the steering wheel.

On our boat there is a thermal breaker at the batteries. Pushing in on the red button disconnects the battery and I originally thought it was a reset and shut down everything when exploring the systems. There is a lever to re-latch the breaker to "on".

There is a rotating battery switch in the locker under the engine controls. There are 4 positions, only one of which "makes". You might try all 4 positions if you have such a switch.

Also note that on our boat, only the start battery is wired to the charger. If you haven't checked to see if the house battery is flat, you might even start there. The dealer may have assumed that the charger also kept it alive.

I hope this gives you a couple places to look without causing any false trails.

 

[RonGinger]

Thanks for the notes.

I made the rest of the trip without event, 3400 miles is a long way to go to get a boat, but I think it will be worth it. I bet I burned more diesel on the trip than the boat can use in 2 lifetimes.

I have seen the forum topic on factory reference, but nothing there on the 21. There is an R21 owners manual listed, but its really R21EC- all the drawings show the EC layout.

Today Ill start digging around inside (its raining) and trace some of the electrical stuff.

 

[captain's cat]

What year model is your tug? The HIN on the stern will tell you, if you list it here, we can decipher it for you if you need help..

Charlie

 

[RonGinger]

I got most of the electrical things sorted out, with a few fixes to make. My charger does charge both batteries, but the starter motor is wired direct to one battery, not to the switch. That seems dumb since you can only start on one battery, so Ill re-wire that.

I launched the boat and tried to start it. As the seller told me it was very hard to start, and only by de-compressing 2 cylinders , cranking, then opening the compression one at a time could i get it to run. Once running it seemed fairly smooth.

however, we heard an air leak and discovered very high crankcase pressure. We guessed (hoped) it was just a stuck ring, and tried some Sea Foam additive. I ran about 3 hours, still hard starting and blow-by.

We have finally decided its bad rings, maybe rust in the cylinders from storage. So today I pulled the engine and have it loaded in my car. Tomorrow it goes to Mack Boring (Yanmar distributor) for re-build.

Im not the happiest camper around, as Ill be out and extra $3.800 to get the re-build, plus some yard time and a lot of my time. Estimate is 2 1/2 weeks to repair, so it will be after Labor day before i get a real boat ride.

The good news is that in the couple hours run I did determine that I like the boats motion and feel, and I expect I'm going to really like this when its all running.

If we ever determine exactly what caused the problem I'll post it here. The PO did say he simply parked the boat with no specific prep for long term storage, then had medical issues and didn't get back to the boat for a couple years.

 

[RProffer]

I don't know which motor you have - a 3GM series or the 3YM30. I have not heard of anyone having to go through that to start their motor. You should have to just turn the key and it will start, just like a car. Unless it is really cold out, then you just turn on the glow plugs first. Sorry you have to get a rebuild so soon. But it is better to have a good running motor than to have it fail when out on the water.

 

[Auklet]

Ron --- Your question about the "steadying sail" is interesting. The hull of the Ranger 21 was originally inspired by the Bristol Bay Gillnetter, which was a sailboat. Many changes have been made to the hull over the years to make it handle better under power. Anyone who has sailed lot in rough water knows that they would rather be in a sailboat than in a small motor boat. This is because the boat is being controlled by steady wind not just the lumpy water. Since you have an older style boat the steadying sail makes sense. It was probably added to your boat by some old geezer like me, who understood its value. It is of little use on rivers and lakes, but if your boating includes a lot of open water, you should consider putting it back on.

 

[RonGinger]

The shop has my engine apart and has determined the trouble to be broken piston rings and scored cylinders. Apparently while stored the rings rusted to the cylinders, then when it was started the rings broke and scored the cylinders.

I will be getting a total re-build, so Ill have an essentially new engine.

The lesson is that any engine stored should at least have an oil change and if possible should be turned over a couple times per year.

I should have the engine back early next week, maybe back in the water for Labor Day.