John Bacon

I would tend to believe your diagnostic is correct, alternator is going FUBAR. Take off the battery cables, positive and negative, slacken off the belt or serpentine belt, remove the alternator. Draw a diagram to show where the wires go, something like Murphy's Law will make you forget how to reinstall them correctly. Take said suspicious alternator to your local Canadian Tire, for NO Charge, they will put it on the test machine, give it a spin and tell you within a minute or less if it's still up to specs. I had to replace one on my '91 Jetta, $69, my long gone POS '94 Chev, $160, and they come with a good warranty, KEEP THE RECEIPT...Like Hop Singh says "No tikky, No laundry" Installation costs, a couple of dirty hands, bruised knuckles if you're a real cave man with no finesse, go find a buddy that can play with nuts...and bolts. And lastly, RTFI, it says, install ALL the wires on the alternator BEFORE replacing the battery cables, there's a reason for this. You may well fry the diodes if you don't, and that's not covered. Go forth and wrench...

Thanks again... maybe I can replace an Alternator myself after all. Unfortunately, the engine compartment of an Aerostar does not have a lot of room to work with.

Thanks for the tips. I was hoping that it was the battery (I assume that a battery is cheaper than an alternator and I can replace it myself); but the evidence is starting to lean more toward an alternator problem.

I was able to start the van after hooking up the charge for a couple of hours. Plus, the charger is now indicating that the battery is fully charge. This would seem to indicate that the battery is capable of holding a charge, it just isn't getting charged. If my logic is wrong, please let me know.

How much will I have to pay for a new alternator including installation?

I am having problems starting my 1996 Aerostar. When I did get it going, the volt meter had a very low reading. It did increase when I turned the air conditioner off but still remained below normal, even on the 401. The reading dropped to zero when I left it idling. It continued to run but I couldn't restart it once I turned it off. Thankfully I had the foresight not to turn it off until I had it parked at home ;-).

I am hoping that it is just the battery but I am concerned that it may be a faulty alternator.

If I had a properly functioning alternator would I get a normal reading on the volt meter regardless of the condition of the battery? Or, would a dead battery cause a low voltage reading even with a properly functioning alternator?

Getting more is good, because some of die before you get to use them usually..... One thing though to watch out for with a generous scooper is if you are the bait fetcher for a large party be careful. One time I was the bait guy and went and bought 9 dozen so I wouldn't be over the limit of 120.... This was for a party of 3 people fishing. Anyhow after fishing all day the three of us and using a LOT of minnows. I took the rest of the minnows home to salt them... I salted 110 minnows... So if I had of been stopped on the way back to the pier in the morning with the minnows I could have been charged if the CO was a in a bad mood.

I believe that the 40 minnow limit only applies to minnows that you have trapped yourself. There is not limit on how many minnow that you buy... it's a good idea to have a receipt.

I just bought new plugs. They didn;t have the NGK's so I wnt with the Champions, which is apparently the equivelent.

 

I also bought Evinrude-Johnson 'Carburetor and Choke cleaner' - they guy I bought it off (Leasure Marine) said it wouldn;t hurt to spray some of this product onto the carburetor while the motor is running.

 

Where exactly do I spray it (it has the extension straw)? I know the carb is at the rear of the motor. It has two smallish ports or holes. Should I spray some right into the holes?

 

And should I clean out the vales with something before I I put in the new plugs?

 

I also bought some sythetic blend motor oil designed for two strokes. Hopefully, this will keep it cleaner with fewer fumes.

I have never seen an outboard with the carburetors at the back before. They are usually at the front of the motor. Some motors have a plastic cover over the carbs; you may have to remove that. if you choke the motor the choke throttle plates will close the opening to the carburetor; that is where you will want to spray.

I have thought of using them myself. I do have some concerns. The cargo may hide the license plate and/or lights. This would be a legal and safety concern.

These is an article in this months Ontario Out of Doors. According to the article, the University of Guelph has found Columnaris disease in the carp that it has tested. This disease is a common problem in catfish ponds. It appearently can attack trout and salmon too.

If air is only 20% oxygen and causes corrosion on metal,and, other than a few fish poops and gull dumps in water, I think theres only 2 main elements in water, H2+O, therefore... no corrosion under water??

That must be why it is so much easier to breath underwater which is mostly oxygen (by weight) than in the open air; which is only about 20% oxygen

All kidding aside, comparing the total number of oxygen atoms doesn't any merit. The oxygen atoms in water are each bonded to two hydrogen atoms. The oxygen atoms in the air are each bonded to another oxygen atom. They will each react differently in a chemical reaction.

Corrosion will occur underwater; just not as quickly as it occurs when a wet piece of metal is exposed to air.

I am not sure about 4 strokes; but with 2 stokes the standard advice was to keep the motor submerged until you could restart it. If you couldn't get the motor started it was best to re-submerge the engine until you could get it to a mechanic. The corrosion occurs after the engine is exposed to air.

The main species in Baptiste Lake are pike and bass. Muskies can walleye are a bit more challenging. The Lake trout are quite hard to come by. I recommend that you try Dog Bay. That is the large bay just to the left of the resort. Try the mouths of of the west and north inlets of the main body of the bay. Great for pike and bass with a good shot at walleye too.

A 14' tinny with a 15hp should be under 1,000 lbs. But remember the 1,000 lb limit probably includes weight inside the vehicle, such as yourself, as well. You should consider droping down to an 8 hp and either a 12' or a light weight 14'. That will give you some extra room for your gear and a fishing buddy.

I used to have a lot of success trolling cow bells (an 18" or so wire with willow leaf blades) and a worm harness for rainbows. Suprisingly, they seemed to hit best around 1:00pm on a bright sunny day.

Baptiste Lake Marina also rents boats. They are on Baptiste Lake Road south which goes right by Diamond Lake.

There is some good bass fishing on Baptiste; but you will probably catch more pike than bass. There are also walleye, muskies, lake trout, and ling in Baptiste.

I always step on mine to flatten them into a disk about an inch thick; they have never refused them. I doubt that they will complain about a few dents.

I always step on mine to flatten them into a disk about an inch thick; they have never refused them. I doubt that they will complain about a few dents.

I wouldn't be so quick to write off the atlantic program just yet. There are some positive changes on the way.

First off, there are many different strains of atlantic salmon. Only one strain, the lehav, has been stocked into Lake Ontario so far. A new strain may change the success rate.

There were two strains of Chinook stocked in Lake Ontario. I don't recall the sources of the two strains; but only one of them was successful. Had only the unsuccessful strain been stocked; then the Chinook program may not have been anymore successful than the Atlantic program has been so far.

Also, the original eggs collected in the late sixties were not intended to become the brood stock for the program. As a result proper procedures to snsure that there is sufficient genetic diversity for a broodstock were not followed. In addition, a brood stock needs to fish from wild eggs introduced every tens years or so to avoid the brood stock from becoming domesticated. The atlantic salmon brood stock has only had one infusion of wild eggs; that was in 1972. The net result is that we have a brood stock that consists of a bunch of domesticated inbreds.

The re-introduction of turkies into Ontario has been a great success. Do you think it would have enjoyed that level of success if they had used a bunch of inbred farm turkies? That is essentially what has been done with the atlantics so far.

The goods news is that there are a couple of new strains on the way. There are plans to bring the sebago lake and restigouche strains of atlantics to Ontario. For the first time Ontario will have proper brood stocks. The Sebago Lake strain is a landlocked strain which should prevent them from heading for salt water; there are some who believe that the current atlantic are doing just that. I don't know too much about the restigouche strain exept that they are very big; this strain could keep those accustomed to 30+lb Chinooks satisfied.

Unfortunately, it takes time to set up a brood stock. Eggs are collected and must be raised to adults that will produce the eggs for the fished to be stocked. Don't be surprised if you start seeing more and bigger atlantics in the years to come.

Metro East has been given the go ahead to raise Coho salmon at Ringwood hatchery this fall. The MNR had suspended stocking in Lake Ontario; this would have been the last year for Canadian stocked Coho's if stocking had not been resumed. This will not impact the number of Chinook stocked into Lake Ontario.

Assuming that you have an alternator on your main motor and you are using the motor on a regular basis; your cranking battery should keep its charge for the summer. It will need to be charge periocially over the winter and if you haven't used your motor for seveal months during the season.

If you battery doesn't say that is maintenance free then it probably isn't.

If it is a regular wet cell battery; there should be two plastic caps that can be pried off with a screw driver. Each cap will cover three holes where water can be added. You should be able to see metal plates if you look down the holes; make sure that the water covers these plates.

How many holes does it have to add water? Each cell needs a hole to add water; a twelve volt battery will have six cells and six places to add water. If you have a maintenance free battery you may not be able to determine how many cells it has.

I have caught rocks, snails, lures, and an anchor. Twice, I have caught flies; they land on the spool and get trapped when the line wraps around them after I begin realling in.

As for things that I have seen: a mink on shore jumped into the water swam right up to the boat as if it was going to climb into the boat; we stared at each other while I began reaching for a paddle ... after a few seconds it turned around and swam back to shore.

I have a corporate function to attend tomorrow at the Briars resort located near Jackon's point and the mouth of the Black River. I plan to bring the inflatable kayak and do a little fishing after the event.

What is the fishing like there? What species can I expect to catch the day before bass season opens ??

I have read that the Ontario (and in fact world record) rock bass was a 3 pounder from the York River.

I fish Baptiste Lake (which drains into the York River) regularily. The biggest I have caught was about 11" though.

The area has been logged from before it became a park and continuously since it became one.

As a point of interest; the park was actually created as a logging reserve. The logging companies were worried that development would swallow up available logging areas in southern Ontario and worked with the government to create the park to prevent development so that they would have an area that they could log for the foreseeable future. The camping and fishing oppurtunites were just a fringe benefit from the create of the park.

I think that well managed logging is more beneficial than harmfull to the park. As previously mentioned, a new growth forest will actually support more wildlife than an old growth one.

As for keeping the park all natural; than means no campsites, no hiking trials or portages...

Is this the show that was at the Metro East Centre in Pickering a few years ago?

I she is not holding a fishing rod, then you should be within the law. That doesn't mean that a CO won't her a hard time.