cjflanagan
Petty Officer 2nd Class
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2003
- Messages
- 168
Some folks like to sail, some folks like to fish. Myself I like to go fast. Last august I bought a 1989 Glastron Futura 227 SL. I have used this boat nearly every weekend since I bought it. It has grown to be very fun hobby for my wife, my girls, and myself. <br /><br />Last night was the end of four weeks of degrading performance, which ended up in me barely making it back onto the trailer. Here is a rundown of the degradation that I have experienced:<br /><br />1) About a month ago I put into a lake here in middle Tennessee called Normandy Dam. I was headed out when the engine started to cough and cut out. It didnt die, it just coughed a few times and then went well. It actually reminded me of my father in laws old Plymouth Fury. It had a 2-barrel carb and one of two things would happen when you stepped on the gas hard, it would either get up and go like hell, or it would cough. I discounted this event as a learning experience because the temperature was only about 140 and usually its about 180. Once it warmed up things seamed to be better.<br /><br />2) About three weeks ago, I began having trouble getting on plain, the engine just seamed to not be all there. Once on plain though the boat ran well again. The water temp was about 180. I was having some trouble with a water leak from somewhere under the engine and the bilge pump was dead so I discounted this to the weight of the water in the bilge which I estimate to have been about 15 gallons of water. When I first got the boat, it had the leak and the mechanic who was inspecting the boat for me said it was coming from one of the winterizing drains which he tightened and the problem stopped. Now its doing it again but the bilge pump is working great and keeping the water out.<br /><br />3) Two weeks ago the boat ran great. Checked oil. Looked good.<br /><br />4) Yesterday I put 20 gallons of 87-octane fuel (which I have been using all along) and 8 oz of STA-BIL fuel stabilizer in per the instructions on the bottle. The boat was hard to start but once started ran well. I headed down Tims Ford Lake wide open and pulling about 45 mph a drop from the normal 53. A few coughs getting going. Stopped to fish and opened the sundeck (exposing the motor) I was shocked to see oil in the bilge! Checked the dipstick and it was down about a quart and a half but the oil was not foamy or weird looking. I started looking the engine over and found that the area around the top of the dip stick tube was oily. The dipstick was not seated properly in the tube and I believe it was blowing up the tube and out the hole. I seated the dipstick well into the tube and started the engine. It ran fine and came up on plane well but again did give out a cough or two. When I got back to this is when the trouble started. The engine started idling rough and died. It took several tries to get it going again and when it started up it coughed and coughed and coughed. Today I cleaned the bilge and started the boat on the trailer with muffs. The oil problem seamed to be fixed by seating the dip stick in the tube.<br /><br />5) My friends have been telling me they think a tune up would help, and I want to put her up running well, so today I bought Bosche 4 way spark plugs, new wires, cap, and rotor. I have four of the plugs replaced (one whole side) plus the wires. And now she wont start at all! No I dont have the wires mixed up, no I didnt forget to hook something back. Its more of the same from last night.<br /><br />6) I have run out of daylight and have given up for now. Im not going to be in a very good mood untill I get this thing fixed.<br /><br />7) So what would cause a slow degradation in power and performance to the point of not starting at all?<br /><br />8) How would you old salts approach this?<br /><br />9) Oh one last thing, my mechanic told me next season I would need a gimble bearing.<br /><br />Thanks in advance,<br /><br />Chris
) Simply remove all the spark plugs, disable the distributor, (disconnect the wire), and screw the compression guage into one of the spark plug holes. Turn the engine over several revolutions using the starter motor. Keep an eye on the guage. It shouldn't take more than a revolution or two to max out the compression. Take a reading for each cyliner. Your readings should be close to the same for each cylinder, if not, you have a compression problem that needs to be taken care of.