Are Zebras bad in the Great Lakes?

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rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,943
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Hello

I've been doing some maintenance and general repair work on my new-2-me Balboa 26'. One of the things I did was to take the motor off and bring it to the shop for a "physical".

One thing the mechanic noticed is the water intake lines were full of "small clam shells" and it would not "pee" as strongly as he would have liked. It is all fixed up now but... got me wondering

I've never dealt with Zebras but I've heard a lot about them. This boat had Michigan registration numbers so I'm wondering if Lake Michigan has a Zebra problem and that is what we found all up inside this motor.
 
S

soldier1964

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Jul 8, 2012
144
Helms 25 indiana
it more then likely was. they are there but you should flush out after use. if the motor stayed in the water without ever being cleaned then they would build up. Ive run my other boat, a 210 trihull, out there for the past five years without a problem. I havent used the boat in the last year and it hasnt any clogs from zebra mussels.
 
Blindnavigator

Blindnavigator

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Aug 9, 2011
35
Pearson 30 Chicago
They are in Lake Michigan, and can be a problem. Really hot water , plugging and filling the cooling passages with and an overnight soak in white vinegar may help keep it cleaned out.
Inboards benefit from a raw water strainer and closing the seacock after shutdown while the engine is still hot.
 
finding41

finding41

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Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
Congratulations. You have your own little zebra hotel in your cooling system. They shouldn't be up n the motor... That's ware they get cooked.
We have them in our lake. I make sure I don't leave the motor in the water. Or I'll have a zebra hotel. It seems o drain right out when I tilt it up... I hope!
Since you have your OB on the bench and it's new to you it's time to change the impeller and clean the system!
My OB is on the bench right now awaiting my attention to it's impeller and bottom lube that's in a box beside it. I just did the carb last Sun...
I know my boat was sailed on Lake Erie and it's full of zebras... I had a pretty good pee stream this past summer. I am interested to see whats been living in mine. I'll find out in a day or two...
 
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,943
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Yep.... new impeller and new gaskets for the lower unit.. compression is good and all the gears look good.
 
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