Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

[UNCC Grad]

I have a 1989 17' bowrider with 3.0 Mercruiser. I had my boat in the shop to replace a shift cable recently and when I took it out for a test run, I forgot to put the plug in. I tried to plane off and the bow went straight in the air and wouldn't plane and when it came down it sputtered and choked out. By the time I realized what had happened, water was 3/4 the way up the oil pan, just below the bottom of the starter. I had to get a tow back to the ramp and put the motor on the trailer to drain the water out.

I pulled the plugs, sprayed WD40 in the cylinders, cranked it over and repeated several times. The carbs are getting fuel but the motor won't even fire with a shot of starter fluid in the carb. The oil on the dipstick looks good after the crank has turned several times so I don;t think I have water in the crankcase.

Last night I checked for spark and had it going to the coil and to the spark plugs. I squirted a shot of starting fluid in each cylinder, cleaned all the plugs and reinstalled. It fired up and ran well for about 20 seconds and then cut out as I tried to give it more fuel.

I'm guessing the next steps are to replace the fuel filters and rebuild the carb? Just guessing but it seems like there is water in the carb or intake manifold. I tried getting to the inline filter but goofed up the brass fitting and all it wants to do is strip with vise grips

 

[Don S]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Did you have water in the cylinders?????? Water would have had to been over the carb for that to happen. Same with the fuel system, the fuel tank vent or carb would have had to been underwater to get water in the fuel. The system is closed.
I think if you pull your distributor cap you will find a lot of moisture inside. Get it dried out and it will probably start.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

A small pipe wrench can be very affective at times or a bigger set of vice grips, all though using the proper wrench would have probably been best......
Anyway, change the filters.....
I doubt if the carb suddenly went bad from this incident, however water in your fuel fromm sitting alll winter might......
There are some more tests for the fuel system........​

 

[Windykid]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

If the oil looks good, then check your fuel preasure first before rebuilding carbs. Check for water in fuel, bad old gas.

 

[UNCC Grad]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Did you have water in the cylinders??????
I think if you pull your distributor cap you will find a lot of moisture inside. Get it dried out and it will probably start.

Nope, no water in there but I fogged just to be sure. I'll check the distributor tonight. I was thinking moisture would not allow spark at all. I'm still unsure as to why it ran on starting fluid in the cylinders but won't with fuel from the carb?

A small pipe wrench can be very affective at times or a bigger set of vice grips, all though using the proper wrench would have probably been best......
Anyway, change the filters.....
I doubt if the carb suddenly went bad from this incident, however water in your fuel fromm sitting alll winter might......
There are some more tests for the fuel system........​

LOL, someone had buggered it up before me and I tried to use an open end wrench and it rounded up on me. This was fresh 93 Octane and the tank was almost empty.

 

[Windykid]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

When you open the throttle is any gas being sprayed into the bore?

Is it dribbling or spray injecting?

Do you smell fuel?

 

[UNCC Grad]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

When you open the throttle is any gas being sprayed into the bore?

Is it dribbling or spray injecting?

Do you smell fuel?

I can hear gas being sprayed and there is a definite smell of fuel. The thing is before this happened it started and idled great.

 

[Don S]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

This was fresh 93 Octane and the tank was almost empty

.

Doesn't matter what kind of fuel you put in the tank if the tank had water in it to begin with. And if you let it set empty all winter, you may have water from condenstaion built up.

 

[UNCC Grad]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

I put a can of seafoam in the tank over the winter and the tank was about half full.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Water will sink to the bottom......
When you went bow up I'll bet a bunch of nasty went right in there & filled the filter.......
Change the water separating fuel filter......
Using a small separate fuel tank to bypass the primary tank might help just to get it running & allieviate your carb concerns.........​

 

[Windykid]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

If you can fog the motor and it runs fine, trouble shoot the fuel sytem.

Check pressure at carb and work back. Lines, filter, pump.

Was the fuel pump under water?

 

[UNCC Grad]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Haut, don't recall ever seeing a water separator but you can bet I'll check for it. Good call on the remote tank, I'll try it out. can I just stick the hose in a regular gas can or do I need to use a fitting and marine tank?

The fuel pump could have been under water, but I'll never know for sure. It sits higher than the starter and the water was just to the bottom of it.

If the remote tank works out, I can eliminate the carb, then move onto the fuel pump. I just don't want to throw parts at it. Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep 'em coming

 

[Don S]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

It doesn't matter if the fuel pump was under water, it's a sealed unit and water can't get in.
Go pull your distributor cap and check for moisture. 99.9% of the time that is the problem.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

I would do what Don suggests first.....
It is free & will take five minutes......
With moisture in the cap, you will get spark, just not where you want it, when you want it.....​

 

[UNCC Grad]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Ahh, that answers my question. I was wondering how it would run when fogged but I guess the spark timing would be all messed up and not allow it to hit in the first place. I'll post an update on my findings. Thanks a ton guys.

I'm just glad my motor isn't toast!

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

I saw a drain plug receptacle thing recently that had a 1 way check valve built into it. Water could drain when you pulled the plug, but if you forgot the plug the check ball would seat.
Why wouldn't boat builders put these in boats?

 

[bjcsc]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Had a similar situation once, but not with the plug, with my flush valve that I left open like a dumba.. The faster I went the faster it pumped the water in... For me, it turned out to be some part of my alternator circuitry that supplies power to the fuel pump when the engine is running. My symptoms were a little different. It would eventually start(after a good bit of cranking), but would stop after a short time (once the fuel that the starting circuit allowed the pump to deliver was exhausted). I do not know if you have a similar setup or not (but Don S. probably knows)...My solution was a new alternator...

 

[tystick]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

maybe not right away ....but you will be installing a new starter in the future

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

Haut, don't recall ever seeing a water separator but you can bet I'll check for it. Good call on the remote tank, I'll try it out. can I just stick the hose in a regular gas can or do I need to use a fitting and marine tank

I would just use a regular gas can & stick the hose in it.....
Use real fuel line though.....
& use common sense with regard to open flame & such......
Of course this would only be on the trailer.....
Don't do it if you are gonna put the boat in the water........ ​

 

[UNCC Grad]

Re: Forgot my plug and now motor won't start!

UPDATE!

I took off the distributor cap and sprayed the points cap and condenser liberally with WD40 and wiped clean. It started right up after a few turns of the crank and the oil on the dipstick looks free of water. It looks as if I dodged a bullet this time.

Don S, it looks like I fell into the 99.9 percentile....thanks to all of you guys for the help!