1989 Celebrity randomly losing power? Help!

[Chadbud]

Hi! Wanted to ask for input on a confusing case here.

The boat is a 1989 Celebrity 208 SE with the 5.7l 350 mercruiser in it. Alpha one mercruiser outdrive.

The issue: the boat will randomly lose power (mph and rpms will drop in unison). If I don’t stop the boat and shut it off then the engine will bog and stall eventually. If I cut the engine, wait a few minutes, and then start again.. the issue will disappear until randomly occurring again (usually a minute or two).

This is what has been replaced or checked:
-Carb is rebuilt
-New water separator filter and carb filter
-Prop hub replaced
-Propeller replaced

Nothing has worked so far. Boat is always ran on 90+ Octane. I’m thinking it’s a bad fuel pump or maybe a bad engine coupler? The boats in the shop right now but it’s been 2 weeks and they still havent fixed it.

What do y’all think? I’m losing the whole summer of boating for the family! I appreciate any input! Thank you so much!

 

[TunaFish389]

When did this start? Was anything changed when issue started? What is your fuel psi when issue happens, should be 3-7psi?

 

[Chadbud]

When did this start? Was anything changed when issue started? What is your fuel psi when issue happens, should be 3-7psi?

This started about a month after I had purchased the boat in April. I took it out on the allegheny River about 3 times and then to a local lake 2 times and it started happening. When it first began it wasn’t that bad, it would happen once or twice the whole day. But most recently it’s now happening consistently over and over. I’m going to ask mechanic to do a fuel pressure test today.

could it be the fuel pump? Or a part inside the gas tank? Is there a filter in the gas tank?

 

[Bondo]

could it be the fuel pump? Or a part inside the gas tank? Is there a filter in the gas tank?

Ayuh,...... Yes,.... Yes,...... 'n possibly,......

Run it on a remote tank of clean fresh gas hooked to the fuel filter, to eliminate the boat's tank,......

If it still does it, I'd suspect the fuel pump, or carb,.....

 

[Chadbud]

Update: Marina reports that they did a carb rebuild and then sea trialed it on the river.. same issue reoccurred. I called for a check in and they said the mechanic was going to rebuild the carb again as he believes he didn’t “jet it right” or use “the correct rebuild kit”? It’s a rochester Quadra jet carb. Anyway, he did it again and sea trialed it again. Marina reports that the issue is fixed and the boat is ready for pick up. They also report that the mechanic fixed an electrical issue I asked to be looked at in the cuddy. He said the wires in the switch panel were burnt out and he replaced the connections.

Heres my new issue (assuming the boat is actually problem free now): They want 1600$ on the bill. I told them a carb rebuild should never exceed 400$ as I could have just purchased a brand new carb and bolted it in for around 300$. They report between testing boat on water and rebuilding the carb twice, the mechanic put in 7 hours of work. They also say the mechanic spend 5 hours of labor to fix the electrical issue.

They say their mechanics work is 95$ an hour and they put in a total of 12 hours. Parts for the rebuild kit and electrical parts was 60$

I strongly feel like I’m getting screwed here. I’m happy to hear the problems are supposedly fixed but 1600$??

Not to mention I left the boat with them around July 7th.. they report they didn’t even look at the boat until August 15th.. and now it’s presumably ready to pick up on August 28th.

Whats y’all take on this? I told them I’m only comfortable paying 800$ and I feel like that’s still being generous.

I know the work mechanics are pressured into. But a carb rebuild and 5 hours of electrical work? That should be around 700 bucks am I wrong?