My 2017 R5 Mods and Maintenance

[bruceb58]

Fortunately, In the R5, you can lay in the bilge to get at this and since I am not over 200# like I used to be, it's not too bad working on this.

There are two styles of water pumps for the Mercruiser 4.5L and 6.2L. My 2017 has the earlier one. Depending on yur serial number, you have to make sure you buy the correct impeller kit.



Removing the serpentine belt is easy by putting a breaker bar on the bolt for the tensioner pulley. After that, you just remove the 4 bolts to take off the assembly.



Remove the 2 bolts to take off the plate and then you are at the impeller.


Here is the part number for my impeller kit.


Use a pair of long nose pliers and remove the impeller. The old one wasn't too bad but since it was a new boat to me, I decided to not take any chances. I will be replacing every two years. Make sure you remove and reinstall the new wear plate. It is under the impeller in the housing.

[AsLan7]

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Great info for the site B58....Hopefully others will benefit from this.
Thanks for documenting.
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[stp]

Great information and pictures. Thanks for posting these mods up.

[bruceb58]

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Great info for the site B58....Hopefully others will benefit from this.
Thanks for documenting.
.

Thanks....not done yet.

One thing that was a bit perplexing was how far out of alignment the engine-gimbal bearing was. The drive came off very reluctantly and I had to lower the engine close to an inch to get everything in alignment. I wonder if Cobalt even aligned it at the factory correctly in the first place.

[bruceb58]

Great information and pictures. Thanks for posting these mods up.

You are welcome.

Next mod is a Cell phone charger/holder. $250 option on new Cobalts. I am using the exact same charger Cobalt uses. Our vintage of the R5 doesn't have a nice fiberglass area to the right of the upholstered console so it will have to be drilled into the fabric area. Since the area is somewhat narrow, all 4 screws wouldn't be able to screw through into the fiberglass below so I will be putting an aluminum plate down first. It was something I always wish I had on my previous boat rather than just sitting the phone on the dash and having it fall on the deck all the time.

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Scanstrut-R ... W6EALw_wcB

[higginspa1371]

I will be waiting for the update. Thanks b58

[Big Block Power]

That charger is cheap. I'll have to look at a spot where I could mount one.

[bruceb58]

Installed my new Scanstrut Phone mount/charger today. As mentioned in a previous post, this is an option on new Cobalts. On the R5, I had to make a plate that attached to the dash since the best place was too narrow to allow all 4 mounting screw to engage with the dash. The plate is just 1/4" aluminum which I tapped 4 #8 screws into and drilled two 1/4: mounting screws to go through the dash with nuts on the back. An additional 1/4" hole was drilled for the power cord. I will be wiring it in parallel with the 12V lighter outlet once my crimp connectors come in.

[Elkhunter2372]

Great information and pictures. Thanks for posting these mods up.

You are welcome.

Next mod is a Cell phone charger/holder. $250 option on new Cobalts. I am using the exact same charger Cobalt uses. Our vintage of the R5 doesn't have a nice fiberglass area to the right of the upholstered console so it will have to be drilled into the fabric area. Since the area is somewhat narrow, all 4 screws wouldn't be able to screw through into the fiberglass below so I will be putting an aluminum plate down first. It was something I always wish I had on my previous boat rather than just sitting the phone on the dash and having it fall on the deck all the time.

https://www.thegpsstore.com/Scanstrut-R ... W6EALw_wcB

I'm looking at doing the same thing Bruce and I was looking at that same model but also they have a model that has the pedestal mount. I haven't pulled the trigger on ordering one yet because I'm just not sure where to put it on my R3. I thought there was enough room to the right and above my Zero Off to put the one like you linked but I haven't been brave enough to get serious about poking around in the fabric eyebrow area. I thought maybe the pedestal mount would require less room for the base mount?

[bruceb58]

I'm looking at doing the same thing Bruce and I was looking at that same model but also they have a model that has the pedestal mount. I haven't pulled the trigger on ordering one yet because I'm just not sure where to put it on my R3. I thought there was enough room to the right and above my Zero Off to put the one like you linked but I haven't been brave enough to get serious about poking around in the fabric eyebrow area. I thought maybe the pedestal mount would require less room for the base mount?

The fabric on mine is just a thin layer of the vinyl glued onto the fiberglass of the dash. Personally, I think this is way cleaner than a pedestal mount. Here it is https://www.boatoutfitters.com/rokk-wir ... 1ZEALw_wcB

The big advantage of the pedestal mount is you can turn it sideways especially if you were using maps but that is what the Garmin is for.

Also, what I did takes a little bit of fab time and I have an industrial metal place close by to buy metal. Was going to weld up something but my TIG welder doesn't like to work too well in my garage since there is too much voltage drop from the main panel.

[FirstStar]

I wonder if people who have the charger have problems with the phone overheating? When my Iphone gets direct sunlight in the summer it tends to overheat.

[bruceb58]

I wonder if people who have the charger have problems with the phone overheating? When my Iphone gets direct sunlight in the summer it tends to overheat.

It's possible. Even my phone just sitting on the dash will overheat if its a hot day. I would just throw something on top of it so that the sun doesn't beat on it if I am just sitting around.

[bruceb58]

Not a huge deal. You should take off your props annually to lube the splines. This boat was put into service 3 years ago and I have a feeling props were never removed by the previous owner. Took awhile with Kroil penetrating liquid to allow them to free up. Front prop was REALLY stuck.

I also noticed some grinding, Was a lot of calcium buildup on the tapered prop bushings on these Solas props. I cleaned everything up, torqued the prop nuts to spec. I have a prop wrench I bought to keep on the boat but also some prop tools to be able to use a torque wrench to properl torque the nuts.



Kinda hard to clock props when the front is a 4 blade and rear is a 3. BTW, there is a lot of debate on if prop clocking even matters at the RPMs most people run at.

[bruceb58]

Next up...adding some more LED light strips for the engine compartment from the standard 1 that is there. Plugs from the factory already located on port and starboard sides.

Also...replace the buckle on the storage cover that goes around the tower.I will sew on a new buckle with my commercial sewing machine.

[bruceb58]

So..put a couple of these in. The one on the starboard side had to go in under the lip which means screws showing in the channel that the engine hatch goes into...no big deal. I actually like the one that shines down a LOT so I ordered another one for the port side to shine down. When I get the last one in, I will show what it looks like at night.

These are nice lights that are pretty inexpensive. The stock Cobalt(SeaMaster) one is a lot smaller and 3 times more expensive.

https://www.oznium.com/linear-lights/ul ... -light-bar