97fordrunner
Seaman
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2014
- Messages
- 71
well this is my first post about this boat specifically and its my first I/O boat. Its a 19' Larson Tri-Hull with a Merc 888 , I don't really have many questions because almost every problem i'm having has been asked in this awesome forum before so I have been doing a lot of reading. My first problem is I have no idea what actual year the Hull is I have the serial number but haven't been able to find a source for the year info or even the model.
Story begins last fall when I found the boat on craigslist and the guy agreed to trade it for my Snap-on classic tool box that i wasn't using. I got the boat not running with the upper thermostat housing rotted off and mostly missing- I found one on E-bay and got that but by that time in the year it was late fall and to cold to work outside so i covered it up for the winter and started back on it this spring.
I rebuilt the carb because it was really nasty and the PO said it had been sitting for at least 6 years or so and he had gotten the boat from a long time family friend who bought it new so trusted his info (could be trouble doing that). I got the engine to run but it only runs at about 1/2 throttle and above and runs rough. I verified the correct firing order for the 888 and it is set to the 351W order. And thats where I stand right now- The points and wires and cap all look dang near brand new , i broke a plug when trying to remove it to read it after I ran it for awhile so i'm going to just replace them all for good measure.
The problems I know I have are
- blown bellows on one side, already have gaskets and a bellows ordered to repair that.
- soot all over the transom on the rear of the boat- I am gonna have to pull the outdrive to inspect the o-rings- not familiar with what else might cause that.
- Also after running it for approx 10 min total I noticed the engine oil level had gone up a lot and smells of fuel- which I noticed the plugs were very wet.
-Wiring is a nightmare at the dash, Fuel gauge surprisingly works, Oil PSI is showing 70-80 PSI when running so hoping thats right but no Tach, no water temp that I know of anyways and so many loose wires and dead ends it makes my head hurt.
-Also it has a missing hydraulic hose from the trim motor that I need to find the other end port to figure out which exact line I need to order.
-some fiberglass is breaking around the rear chrome rail of the sun deck
Few questions I do have:
Could an engine running very very rich cause that much fuel to enter the crankcase? or is it more likely that the the fuel pump diaphragm is leaking?
My fear is this the guy wanted to dump the boat and i'm hoping its just because of the laundry list of minor headaches i'm finding- none seem to major and I have no reason to suspect any sort of engine or manifold failure just odds and ends and adjustment issues I think.
Anyways here are some pictures, the interior is mint just dirty- original owners had their name stitched into all the seat backs but it is a unusal name so I just tell people its a special edition lol
Story begins last fall when I found the boat on craigslist and the guy agreed to trade it for my Snap-on classic tool box that i wasn't using. I got the boat not running with the upper thermostat housing rotted off and mostly missing- I found one on E-bay and got that but by that time in the year it was late fall and to cold to work outside so i covered it up for the winter and started back on it this spring.
I rebuilt the carb because it was really nasty and the PO said it had been sitting for at least 6 years or so and he had gotten the boat from a long time family friend who bought it new so trusted his info (could be trouble doing that). I got the engine to run but it only runs at about 1/2 throttle and above and runs rough. I verified the correct firing order for the 888 and it is set to the 351W order. And thats where I stand right now- The points and wires and cap all look dang near brand new , i broke a plug when trying to remove it to read it after I ran it for awhile so i'm going to just replace them all for good measure.
The problems I know I have are
- blown bellows on one side, already have gaskets and a bellows ordered to repair that.
- soot all over the transom on the rear of the boat- I am gonna have to pull the outdrive to inspect the o-rings- not familiar with what else might cause that.
- Also after running it for approx 10 min total I noticed the engine oil level had gone up a lot and smells of fuel- which I noticed the plugs were very wet.
-Wiring is a nightmare at the dash, Fuel gauge surprisingly works, Oil PSI is showing 70-80 PSI when running so hoping thats right but no Tach, no water temp that I know of anyways and so many loose wires and dead ends it makes my head hurt.
-Also it has a missing hydraulic hose from the trim motor that I need to find the other end port to figure out which exact line I need to order.
-some fiberglass is breaking around the rear chrome rail of the sun deck
Few questions I do have:
Could an engine running very very rich cause that much fuel to enter the crankcase? or is it more likely that the the fuel pump diaphragm is leaking?
My fear is this the guy wanted to dump the boat and i'm hoping its just because of the laundry list of minor headaches i'm finding- none seem to major and I have no reason to suspect any sort of engine or manifold failure just odds and ends and adjustment issues I think.
Anyways here are some pictures, the interior is mint just dirty- original owners had their name stitched into all the seat backs but it is a unusal name so I just tell people its a special edition lol
