1986 Bayliner Capri won't start after running great all weekend

[jmok1978]

Inherited an old bayliner from my dad, it's been sitting for 16 years with him running it a few times a year, mainly him running it with the outdrive in a giant tub of water, a few times at the lake here and there. He recently replaced a few things and was confident it was lake ready. I got it out and it ran like junk, I rebuilt the carb, it was nasty! Still ran like junk. Replaced the sparkplugs and presto! Ran real good, burned through an entire tank of gas over the weekend zipping all over the place with no problems other than a couple backfires. Went to beach it today and cut the engine a little to far from shore, went to restart it to get it a bit closer and it wouldn't start. It turns over, plugs are getting spark. I tried to start it with starter fluid, nope. Battery seems good, gas is good, spark, air what could be wrong?
Volvo aq131a

 

[captmello]

those motors have a timing belt that may be old and finally lost a few teeth...shouldn't be hard to look at that.

 

[jmok1978]

I will check the timing belt tonight.

This morning I was able to get it started after about 5 minutes of trying. Barely came to life at a very pitiful idle. I gave it some gas in neutral and it came back to life. Drove 10 miles back to the ramp, on take off I had 2 sharp cracking backfires, it ran great got it up to 35mph which is saying a lot for this old boat.

About two miles from the dock I got a couple sharp cracking backfires again and the engine seemed to lose a little bit of power, it sort of surged back and forth a couple times and I wondered if I would make it to the ramp. I did.

After getting it to the ramp and on the trailer I killed it and it restarted with no issue. Obviously something is up, just not sure what. I will check back in after checking the timing belt.

 

[kenny nunez]

Since you said the carburetor was dirty there may be some problems with the fuel tank. Remove the suction tube from the tank, there may be a small screen in the tube, it unscrews from the fitting and should be removed. Is there a good fuel water separating filter between the tank and fuel pump? Also replace the rubber fuel hose. Inspect the anti siphoning valve at the fuel tank also.

 

[jmok1978]

Since you said the carburetor was dirty there may be some problems with the fuel tank. Remove the suction tube from the tank, there may be a small screen in the tube, it unscrews from the fitting and should be removed. Is there a good fuel water separating filter between the tank and fuel pump? Also replace the rubber fuel hose. Inspect the anti siphoning valve at the fuel tank also.

Is the suction tube the one that goes from the gas tank to the vent hole next to the gas cap? I have 3 hoses, big hose that goes from the gas cap to the tank, a second smaller hose that goes from the gas tank to the vent hole next to the gas cap and a third hose same size as the second that goes from the fuel tank to the fuel pump. No gas filters to be found!

 

[kenny nunez]

The one between the tank and fuel pump should have a marine filter.
Sierra# 18-7848-1 filter kit.

 

[jmok1978]

I got a water separator filter coming and some new plug wires, current ones have double the resistance listed on the cables.

If that doesn't fix it I will check the timing. Trouble is I gotta remove a crap ton of stuff to get to the timing belt. I have a hard time thinking it's the timing when I had the thing running at 35mph most the weekend. Who knows. I'll check back after I test the water pump and cables.

 

[kenny nunez]

I would leave the timing belt alone. When they are causing a problem the engine will not run at all. You may have to clean out the carburetor again. Get a extra spin on fuel filter so you will have a spare.

 

[jmok1978]

I would leave the timing belt alone. When they are causing a problem the engine will not run at all. You may have to clean out the carburetor again. Get a extra spin on fuel filter so you will have a spare.

Good call on the spare, I missed that. I'll get an extra and report this weekend. Thanks Kenny.

 

[captmello]

I got a water separator filter coming and some new plug wires, current ones have double the resistance listed on the cables.

If that doesn't fix it I will check the timing. Trouble is I gotta remove a crap ton of stuff to get to the timing belt. I have a hard time thinking it's the timing when I had the thing running at 35mph most the weekend. Who knows. I'll check back after I test the water pump and cables.

I agree, just remember that belt could be 35 years old. if you plan to keep the boat, I'd consider changing it.
Kenny knows his stuff, follow his lead. the backfiring you're getting could be lean miss, which says fuel issue, but could also be a timing issue. if it were me, I'd be going through everything. do a compression test as well. I believe you have a points style distributor,. might consider converting to an electronic ignition. good luck!

 

[kenny nunez]

2Xs on the Capt. about the timing belt. Hopefully it will last long enough until the engine is running right.
For all practical purposes try to get the genuine Volvo service and parts manual.
Sierra will probably send you a catalog also that has the Volvo #s.

Sierra# 18-5292 is the electronic ignition conversion kit.
18-7099 carburetor kit.
18-4029 timing belt.

 

[jmok1978]

Got the fuel filter separator installed this weekend. Got it out on the water and it ran okay back to my beach, I had two backfires on the way home.

Next morning she starts up fine, idle it out of the no wake zone no problem, give it the throttle it backfires and dies. Anytime I tried giving it gas it died. I thought maybe it had something to do with fuel not getting to the carb so I by passed the new filter to see if maybe the new filter was the issue. Nope.

What I finally determined is fuel is not getting into the carb barrel when I accelerate. When the engine dies I found the carb bowl full of gas so the pump is working. It has to be either the accelerator pump or a circuit between the bowl and the barrel. If I give it gas and have a helper squirt a bit of starter fluid into the carb it spins up just fine.

I redirected the fuel pump into a mix of gas and berryman's fuel cleaner thinking maybe if a circuit was clogged I could unclog it. No dice.

I am going to break the carb down again, thoroughly clean it and then file the accelerator pump housing as well as where it meets the carb, wondering if there might be a vacuum leak, and try again next weekend. I have a Sierra carb kit in the mail, the last kit I used was a generic cheapo from amazon.

 

[jmok1978]

Ok, I just started taking the carb a part. Started with the accelerator pump and what do you know, i installed the pump plunger in wrong! This prevented the plunger from pushing the spring in when hitting the gas.

So the next question is: how did I put 40 miles on this the week before with it running really really good with the accelerator pump installed wrong? Spooky.

 

[kenny nunez]

There is something that will help the engine start quicker.
Look at the starter solenoid and on the out board side there is a un used male spade connected. Make up a wire from the spade to the + or Bat side of the coil. This provides 12 volts to the coil when cranking. The genuine Volvo wire harness has it built in at the ignition switch. Bayliner used a generic harness.
At least you now know how to work on the carburetor.

 

[jmok1978]

There is something that will help the engine start quicker.
Look at the starter solenoid and on the out board side there is a un used male spade connected. Make up a wire from the spade to the + or Bat side of the coil. This provides 12 volts to the coil when cranking. The genuine Volvo wire harness has it built in at the ignition switch. Bayliner used a generic harness.
At least you now know how to work on the carburetor.

I have no problem with it starting now, starts up no problem, it will idle forever. Give it the gas and it dies. I'm assuming it's the result of me assembling the accelerator pump on the carb incorrectly.

 

[kenny nunez]

there was a lot of Bayliners sold here and the dealer did not do any warranty work so quite a few ended up at my shop. I started getting complaints about hard to start sometimes. They would crank and crank and the engine would start when the key was released from start position. The added wire solved the problem.

 

[jmok1978]

I'll keep that in mind going forward, thanks!