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  1. Rick Stephens

    Merc/GM 4.3 tops out at 4000 rpm

    Lou, your gauge reads much high. Unless you put high compression pistons in that motor, factory new and broke in won't top 150. As with Lou reading high, you could likely be reading low. Compression gauges are notoriously inaccurate. Usually what is important is that the cylinders are close...
  2. Rick Stephens

    Alpha 1 Gen2 Mercruiser leaking oil

    I once had to dunk a drive in a water trough to find a small leak.
  3. Rick Stephens

    Alpha 1 Gen2 Mercruiser leaking oil

    Testing with higher pressure forces the lips of the seals against the shaft. Faulty seals will often not show up with 10 or 15 ponds of test pressure.
  4. Rick Stephens

    Bayliner 305/350 swap

    That boat will run great on that '94 pull. The cam should be just fine as well. No gotcha's really. Go for it. Pull your exhaust manifolds, clean them up and inspect for cracks. If you don't see any cracks, then fill the cooling jackets of the mani's with acetone. That will quickly show if...
  5. Rick Stephens

    '09 5.0 TKS (Carb) not running

    Diagnosis is always a bear. Glad you got back running. Tough one.
  6. Rick Stephens

    Alpha 1 Gen2 Mercruiser leaking oil

    Did you drain the drive to pressure test? Run at low pressure, 3-5 lbs. Spray all the possible seals with soapy water. Really tough to pressure test the upper case with the cases split, so do whatever you can to test while still together. That location can be quad ring between cases, output...
  7. Rick Stephens

    Trying to reprop, but how can I tell if my engine gets to WOT?

    First, is the throttle opening the carburetor all the way? A: With the motor not running, take the flash arrestor off the carb, open the throttle all the way and look to see if throttle plate is opening all the way. You will have to manually open the choke plate to see. Did adjusting the...
  8. Rick Stephens

    Mercrusier 350 MAG MPI - RPM issue under a load

    Might run a compression check to make sure of baseline components. Double check firing order routing of spark wires.
  9. Rick Stephens

    Winterize

    My point is the captain is responsible, especially first time out for the season, to pop the engine cover and make sure the oil level is good, that it isn't spewing something, that the bilge pump and blower work, and that the boat isn't filling up with water. How friggin hard is that? Not...
  10. Rick Stephens

    Clanking/rattling sound after prop change

    Pull your plugs and post pictures. If you are in detonation you are either running lean and/or timing is off. You will injure your motor with the SS prop as well, just won't hear as much.
  11. Rick Stephens

    Winterize

    I'll stand by the statement. It is up to the captain of a vessel to educate themselves enough to check everything out before putting passengers and self at hazard. It is not that hard. No vessel should leave the dock without a checkover of all systems. With this stated example, there should be...
  12. Rick Stephens

    Winterize

    I think you are under the impression that you bear no responsibility at all to make sure your boat is safe and ready to operate in the spring. I think you are sadly mistaken. Ultimately, you are the operator, the *captain* of the vessel, and everything falls to you to make sure of it safe...
  13. Rick Stephens

    Merc 3.0 spits sputters dies when going into neutral

    From everything you said was happening, the lower shift cable is either not routed correctly, which adds a lot of tension, plenty enough to activate the shift interrupt. Or the shift linkage adjustments are not correct. It also can be aftermarket chinesium shift cable-itis. That is if an...
  14. Rick Stephens

    Pic of Milkshake spew all over my engine. Help please

    The other half of this conversation is that the 4.3L Vortec block is common as dirt. Chevy pumped out a lot of S-10s and 1/2 ton pickups n vans with that motor. If you are mechanical minded, an engine swap is not all bad.
  15. Rick Stephens

    Pic of Milkshake spew all over my engine. Help please

    Too much water to be the exhaust manifolds. Will not fill the engine with water while running. Most common place for a 4.3L to crack, where you can see it, is in the lifter gallery right above the lifters. Gotta pull the intake the see that. Plug your water lines out to the exhaust and pressure...
  16. Rick Stephens

    2007 3.0 Rattling/Timing

    Service interval should be annual, especially if there is any crud in the fuel at all. If the one on the pump is hard to service, install an inline marine canister fuel/water separator before the pump and delete the filter on the pump. IF your fuel is always clean and the canister filter...
  17. Rick Stephens

    5.0 Mercruiser MPI Question After Stalling On Me This Weekend

    With an MPI system, clean fuel is everything. As Scott mentioned, dump your fuel filter into a clear glass container and see what you get back out. Use the best fuel filter you can get consistently and you will have few troubles with that fuel system.
  18. Rick Stephens

    2007 3.0 Rattling/Timing

    Mixing bad fuel with good just makes more bad.
  19. Rick Stephens

    Merc 3.0 spits sputters dies when going into neutral

    Lower shift cable is the top suspect. The lower shift cable is a wear item. The inner cable wears out the outer housing and drags putting pressure on the shift interrupt switch. Lower shift cables need replacement on a periodic basis. Yours needs replacing.
  20. Rick Stephens

    5.0 Mercruiser Problems

    Next time you get the motor warm, I'd redo the compression test.
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