could a loose carbuerator cause this?

[spacerust]

okay i have a 73 johnson and recently had someone clean the carbs. i took it out and it was fine leaving the dock. when i got out to do some fishing and decided to move to another spot i turned her on and idled fine. when i put the idle down she died. took me awhile to get her going but what worked was i idled high, shift it quick to wot and she ran. this happened twice and each time it took about 10 to 15 minutes before i could get her to go with the quick shifting. so i headed in. i came online to iboats and it was suggested that either link and sync or adjust the idle (too low). i ordered a service manual and started to read. well today i was out and hooked up a tach to the control box so i could get a read on the idle rpms. i noticed a rattling where the carb was. when i touched it, it moved like it was loose. i took off the silencer cover and one of the bolts on the carb was lying on the bottom and the other 3 were very loose as well. could this have caused my problem? i really don't know where to starte to troubleshoot my problem. any suggestions?

 

[Dhadley]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

Did it run right after you tightened the carb back down?

 

[AEROCOOK]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

Yes. A loose carb would allow air to pass between the carb and the engine resulting in a lean condition and certainly many other running problems as well. Before touching anything else, tighten the carbs and try it out.

 

[crxess]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

Very likely.Loose carb means sucking air around instead of through the carb. Poor fuel flow and to much air flow.

Secure and test before going further.

 

[spacerust]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

ok, before i continue i will take her out to the bay and give her a test run. thanks and i will keep you posted.

 

[Al-53]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

Funny this post came up today....I was out fishing and boat started up fine...ran a ways with it and shut it off....fished a bit...went to start it..nothing...kept at it and she started but was ruff....brought it in and trailered it and home I went...

Now when I got home I checked the engine to see what was causing it....By chance I rested my hand on the carb and she rocked a bit...the 2 carb to manifold nuts were lose..backed off some

I had to remove the starter to tighten the nuts...I should of put 2 new star lock washers on when I rebuilt it...well I secured it today..

yes the lose carb did create poor performance and hard starting after runining and shutting down...

Al

 

[spacerust]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

i took her out today after i tightened the carbs yesterday. at first she did the same thing-died when i put her into gear. i tried adjusting the idle adjustment screw and that didn't really seem to do anything. then i was trying to figure this out and noticed a little wheel on the top throttle cable on the motor side. i messed with this and noticed the idle picking up. i don't have a tach installed yet so i adjusted it until it was low but steady. i was able to put her in gear and take off like normal. do determine that this solved my problem i drove a few miles down and turned her off. restarted her and she was fine. no problems. since i didn't have a tach i turned on my gps and at WOT i was going approx 24 miles an hour. now i'm sure i need to adjust but what do i need to do? she is an 18' flats boat with a 90hp johnson with a 13 x 19 ss prop. the motor i had before was a mercury 150 with 9x13 ss prop and granted motor was bigger and she went faster. i opted for a smaller motor because i felt the 150 was too heavy and tall. i was thinking i could lower the pitch to gain some rpms. any suggestions? i was thinking possibly with 15 pitch? or are there others adjustments i can make. normally it is just me and at the most two other people. today it was just me and my son.

 

[AEROCOOK]

Re: could a loose carbuerator cause this?

24 mph seems slow. Playing with the adjustments on the motor may have thrown things out of wack. I would do a complete link and synk and then a decarb.