First day out..........not a good start

[DYLBOSS]

So, just got my boat back from getting dewinterized. Mechanic said it was running pretty bad and there wasn't spark to a couple of the cylinders, so they put a new distributor cap on. That cleared up the spark issue. They said that it was still running poorly, so they ran it in their "pond" for about 30 minutes, and they said it cleared itself up. They also said that if it is running bad when I get it out on the water, it will likely need a good carb cleaning.

Well, put her in the water this past weekend and no go. Would start up fine, idle fine, run at headway speed fine. As soon as I went WOT it would dog down. In fact I couldn't even run half throttle. At just past headway speed, the engine would "surge", almost like it was starved for gas. So, you would feel this lunge forward and then back. Are these classic symptoms of carb jets being clogged on a boat motor? I'm familiar with motorcycle carbs, but this motor is a little more complex. I'm just hoping this isn't going to be a wild goose chase, and if I just pull the carbs and clean them, I might be good to go. Any thoughts or experiences with this behavior?

Thanks.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Re: First day out..........not a good start

This does sound like low fuel supply. Have the fuel filters been changed recently? I would probably start their if it runs ok other than the problem you described.

Dirt in the carb is also a possibility but you may want to ensure the gas gets to the carb before the carb rebuild.

 

[Bondo]

Re: First day out..........not a good start

So, just got my boat back from getting dewinterized. Mechanic said it was running pretty bad and there wasn't spark to a couple of the cylinders, so they put a new distributor cap on. That cleared up the spark issue. They said that it was still running poorly, so they ran it in their "pond" for about 30 minutes, and they said it cleared itself up. They also said that if it is running bad when I get it out on the water, it will likely need a good carb cleaning.

Well, put her in the water this past weekend and no go. Would start up fine, idle fine, run at headway speed fine. As soon as I went WOT it would dog down. In fact I couldn't even run half throttle. At just past headway speed, the engine would "surge", almost like it was starved for gas. So, you would feel this lunge forward and then back. Are these classic symptoms of carb jets being clogged on a boat motor? I'm familiar with motorcycle carbs, but this motor is a little more complex. I'm just hoping this isn't going to be a wild goose chase, and if I just pull the carbs and clean them, I might be good to go. Any thoughts or experiences with this behavior?

Thanks.

Ayuh,... Sounds like a fuel delivery issue, 'n the carb is probably the 1st place to look,...

I'd start with changin' the filters, 'n testin' the fuel pump....
If that don't do it,...
I'd throw a Kit into it, 'n go from there...

 

[DYLBOSS]

Re: First day out..........not a good start

Thanks for the quick replies. I just spoke to the service manager at my favorite service place, and he told me it would be about $180 for a complete cleaning and carb adjusting with new gasket. The part of me that values my time more than my money is creeping in here, but the part of me that is the DIYer is at conflict. I'm thinking the aggravation battle might be better off left to the pros on this one, rather than lose another weekend out on the water to my head buried in my motor. I'm guessing my wife will agree........

 

[kewlkatdady]

Re: First day out..........not a good start

I had a similar issue a few weeks back... a couple bottles of seafoam later, had a good day on the water yesterday.

 

[DYLBOSS]

Re: First day out..........not a good start

I had a similar issue a few weeks back... a couple bottles of seafoam later, had a good day on the water yesterday.

Yeah, I've heard good things about Seafoam. I'm planning to use that moving forward. I figure since I haven't had a carb cleaning done on the boat since i've owned it (4 seasons), it's probably due anyway.