lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

[Bondo]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Ayuh,... Pound some ridges back into the edges to hold the shape......

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

If the risers are that hot then you might have melted an exhaust shutter and it made its way down the pipe and is blocking the exhaust flow. Hence the sound like the motor is laboring. Thats the first place to look as the risers have to come off anyway to check for corrosion.


Also see if you can turn the distributor by hand. If it is loose it will retard the timing andmake the motor labor as well as give you a shutting off issue.

Ok...so here is what i have done and what i have found:

• i replaced the water shutter in the exhaust pipe as the rubber was
  • split at the one end letting water back up into the exhaust.
  • I replaced the block/manifold gasket and riser/manifold gasket.
  • I also cleaned out the risers and manifolds...they didnt seem to backed up...only minor debris.
  • I dont seem to be gettig anymore white smoke from the riser, but it is still hot to the touch after running for a while...both sides are kind of hot you cant keep your hands on there for more than 3 -5 seconds.
  • I when replacing the spark plugs i noticed the gap on one plug was almost closed..i couldnt even get a gap tool in there.
  • I also changed my fuel filter...i put the fuel in a bottle and noticed a small amount of water in there..it wasnt even enough to circle the bottom of the gatorade bottle (thats all i had)
  • I started to do a compression test, but ran out of time/light. My 2 readings were on the starboard side of the engine, the same side the exhaust riser was leaking steam.. 8- 121psi and 6-115... I have to finish that up...im not sure if my carb was all the way open and how much that matters....I also am going to do a wet test afterwards to see if compression increases
  • I have also noticed now that i have white smoke/steam coming from the valve breathers
  
  Thoughts?
  anyone, anyone...beuller...beuller?
  
  Here are pis of my risers and manifolds and where the corrosion was on the pipe.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Have you checked your raw water pump?

no only because i am not sure how to test it...
I can see water moving through the hoses that connect the 2 risers.
i am getting lots of belt dust...would that be the reason why?

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

When doing my comprehension test I noticed that one of my hoses (Therm to water pump) had a wire coiled around the inner wall of it...it kind of looked like it was copper...is that supposed to be n there? None of the other hoses had anything like that.
And the water flowing through that hose and the therm to starbd exhaust manifolds was very hot...much hotter than the water flowing through the port side hoses...not sure if that means anything either.

Here are the results of my compression test:
Cylinder- dry/wet
1- 129/133 2-123/134
3-122/133 4-125/131
5-128/136 6-128/132
7-123/128 8-118/136

I keep reading posts where engines are getting 150+psi...are these numbers good?

 

[NHGuy]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Belt dust is weird, are your pulleys rusty, belts loose, or out of alignment? You might take off the belts and see how the accessories spin. And is the dust near the front of the engine? Do the belt vee grooves look abraded or glazed? There is rubber in the back of the engine in the coupler I believe too.
That spark plug should not have a closed down gap. But they are so cheap that you should just change 'em anyway. How about the cap & rotor? Any corrosion? Are your wires old? How about the ignition sensor that goes under the cap? Look at it closely, a contact to the electronic board can break but still be so close that it allows the engine to run-just won't rev way up in some cases. That sounds a little like your complaint.
Compression that's relatively equal is good, at least you don't have a bad hole.
The wire in the water hose is to assist with grounding the temp sensor, it's OK, leave it be.
Finish the ignition tune up, check the timing, check your belts and dunk it. Might be fine. I hope it is!

 

[6meter]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Your compression will work.

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Belt dust is weird, are your pulleys rusty, belts loose, or out of alignment? You might take off the belts and see how the accessories spin. And is the dust near the front of the engine? Do the belt vee grooves look abraded or glazed? There is rubber in the back of the engine in the coupler I believe too.
That spark plug should not have a closed down gap. But they are so cheap that you should just change 'em anyway. How about the cap & rotor? Any corrosion? Are your wires old? How about the ignition sensor that goes under the cap? Look at it closely, a contact to the electronic board can break but still be so close that it allows the engine to run-just won't rev way up in some cases. That sounds a little like your complaint.
Compression that's relatively equal is good, at least you don't have a bad hole.
The wire in the water hose is to assist with grounding the temp sensor, it's OK, leave it be.
Finish the ignition tune up, check the timing, check your belts and dunk it. Might be fine. I hope it is!

The pulleys look pretty good...i think the water pump one has a little abrasion but not much at all.
The dust is near the front of the engine by the belt itself.
The cap looks good and is on there tight.
Not sure about the rotor.
The thunderbolt coil looks good too, but had a little corrosion (white) where one of the wires connects. It would arch just fine if i disconnected the plug/wire that goes to the cap.
the wires look pretty good...they are a few seasons old, but the engine was not used much last season and was properly stored for a year.
And that wire was bunched up in the middle of the hose not touching anything but rubber on either side...so i removed it...guess i should put somethnig back in its place?
Ill have to inspect under the cap to see whats going on there.
Here is a picture of the engine when i bought it, midway through last season.
You can see that everything was kept very well and the wires look very new. I know just because it looks good doesnt mean much.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Yeah, you are right it sure was pretty, now why won't it pull 4600 RPM?
Since you have a serpentine belt you can find the tensioner and put a bar on there to release the tension, then check for free spinning alternator, power steering, water and idler pulleys. Also look at them from the side and make sure they are aligned. I thought you had the old style v belts when I posted before.
How do the other spark plugs look?
Oh by the way, the sputter & poof on shutoff may be from dieseling. That can happen when your timing is off & the engine is really hot.

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Yeah, you are right it sure was pretty, now why won't it pull 4600 RPM?
Since you have a serpentine belt you can find the tensioner and put a bar on there to release the tension, then check for free spinning alternator, power steering, water and idler pulleys. Also look at them from the side and make sure they are aligned. I thought you had the old style v belts when I posted before.
How do the other spark plugs look?

The plugs looked OK other than the one having a very small gap...
I replaced the plugs as well.
I will have to look at the pulleys tomorrow

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Ok...so here is what i have done and what i have found:

• i replaced the water shutter in the exhaust pipe as the rubber was
  • split at the one end letting water back up into the exhaust.
  • I replaced the block/manifold gasket and riser/manifold gasket.
  • I also cleaned out the risers and manifolds...they didnt seem to backed up...only minor debris.
  • I dont seem to be gettig anymore white smoke from the riser, but it is still hot to the touch after running for a while...both sides are kind of hot you cant keep your hands on there for more than 3 -5 seconds.
  • I when replacing the spark plugs i noticed the gap on one plug was almost closed..i couldnt even get a gap tool in there.
  • I also changed my fuel filter...i put the fuel in a bottle and noticed a small amount of water in there..it wasnt even enough to circle the bottom of the gatorade bottle (thats all i had)
  • I started to do a compression test, but ran out of time/light. My 2 readings were on the starboard side of the engine, the same side the exhaust riser was leaking steam.. 8- 121psi and 6-115... I have to finish that up...im not sure if my carb was all the way open and how much that matters....I also am going to do a wet test afterwards to see if compression increases
  • I have also noticed now that i have white smoke/steam coming from the valve breathers
  
  Thoughts?
  anyone, anyone...beuller...beuller?
  
  Here are pis of my risers and manifolds and where the corrosion was on the pipe.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• 
  
  There are two water shutters Did you replace them both? Were there any missing pieces? Did you see if the distributor is loose?

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

I only replaced the water shutter nor the side I saw the white smoke/steam coming out of.
The distributor is not loose either... The thunderbolt ignition has a little corrosion on it but not much.

Should the water in the hoses from water pump to the thermostat be hotter on the starboard side than on the port side?

 

[sethjon]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Points are great. Adjust em right and they are fine. Some old school stuff is still pretty damn good.

 

[reimelss]

Re: lacking power all of a sudden...here are the syptoms

Any other ideas?
-I still hear a beer can sound at idle, I can't pin point where its coming from
-a little bit of a knock at like 1500 rpms but it goes away as rpms increase and is not that loud.
-Engine revs fine in neutral, just no power and can't get on plane
-Water in the hoses from water pump (circ) to the thermostat is hot on the starboard side
-Exhaust on strbd side is hot...i can hold my hand on for about 2 seconds...i can hold my hand on for a good 10-15 seconds onthe port side exhaust
-oil level seems to be a bit high...about .25-.5 inch above full line.
-little bit of white smoke coming our of valve breathers

Any help would be great.
thanks