Please someone HELP!!!!!!

silvano

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Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Hello all i am new to this site and new to boating. Here is my weird problem last week i just bought this boat its a 26' ft cruisers merc 5.7 alpha one drive took it out to a local lake but before i went to the lake i made sure the boat would start so i hooked up my hose and ran it for about 5 min then i hooked up and left to the lake when i got there i backed down the ramp and it started then stalled i open the choke i thought maybe i flooded it still crank no start then pulled it out and quess what it started up then quickley shut it down so im back in line waiting my turn to unload get to the ramp back it down starts up and the same crap happens this time i crancked it till the dam battery die's lucky for me there was a marina up the road. bought a new battery popped it in and started again on land grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. So here i am 3 hours trying to get this boat in the water so this time im on the ramp i start it before i get in the water back it down while its running im in the water had it reved up to around 1500 rpm stayed on the ramp till the temp rised a bit. Now the boat is finally in the water drove it all day (7) hours no problem. Now do i have a boat that thinks it a car? lol Y does it start on land and problems while its in the water also when i put it reverse it sometimes stalls.

Thank you all
 

Bondo

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Apr 17, 2002
Messages
71,082
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

so this time im on the ramp i start it before i get in the water back it down while its running im in the water had it reved up to around 1500 rpm stayed on the ramp till the temp rised a bit.

Ayuh,... It sounds like the boat has a Multitude of Problems,....
Running it out of water at the ramp, No Doubt, Smoked the Impeller....
Has the motor been given a full,+ complete Tune Up,..??
Has the rest of the driveline been Serviced,..??
 

shekinah5678

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
41
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

I may be competely off but here goes anyway. A few years ago I had a similar problem. Boat would start on land but not in the water. Turned out the exhaust flappers inside the y pipe were not properly installed. Out of water there was no water pressure trying to push back in through the exhaust manifold. Once you started it and put it in the water there was exhaust pressure keeping the water out. May not be your problem since you were able to be out for so long. Did you ever shut down and restart again on the water? If so I'd say the flappers are probably fine. Plus one on the Impeller. It needs that water to keep it from breaking apart. Change it A.S.A.P.
 

silvano

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Thank you for your replys when i bought my boat the impeler was smoked so i droped the lower end and changed it. Also when i was in the water i did shut it down and it started wright up with no problem a couple of times this is really weird.
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

I'm no magician or fire walker of any kind..but lets think about this...

Land is flat....mmmmm

ramp is tilted...mmmmm


Possibly you have water in the tank and when pitched down the ramp she is pulling water into the engine and no start???

you pull the boat back up...flat land..MMMMMMMM she starts!!

I think you need to check feul seprators and add some dry gas....or take the feul out and dry the tank...

just my thinking...
 

silvano

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Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Thats funny you say that before i went out i changed the fuel filter /water seperator. ah ya and added some dry gas into the tank also had the boat completely off the trailer and in the water so it was flat and still no start.
hmmmmmmmmmm oh ya when i bought her she had a full tank 80 gal
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

now now..lets relax..just thinking outside the box here..

plus, even if you have a little water in the tank, when the boat is tipped on the ramp, all the water collects at the feul pickup end of the tank...so, its possible that you could have a gallon of water collecting on that end when tilted and causing issues...

once on the water you said you did get it going..again..once she flattened out the water moves away from the pick up and you were able to go out ..

if you really want to test that...go onto dry land and prop up the front of the trailer till you are close to the ramps decline angle..and test it..that will tell you without a doubt.

this will also take away the previous thought that the exhaust backpressure was an issue as well
 
Last edited:

silvano

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Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Ok i will do that probley going out this weekend i will keep you posted thank you so much for you imput.
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

No problem.. just make sure to pull the water/feul seprator off and dpour into a clear container...wait about 1/2 hour.. if you see water on the bottom of the container then you do have water in there..

You can actually try that now if your boat is in the driveway.. just unscrew the filetr and pour it in a container...

Good luck
 

CV16

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 30, 2007
Messages
445
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Like Bond-o said, you smokoed the inpeller, replace it. Even if you just replaced it 5 min. before running it dry. Now on to another guess at your problem. My dads boat did the same thing. Take your timing light out with you next time. Check your manual, his said to set timing to 8*btdc with the boat in the water, in gear at 650 rpm idle. I set it all while running on the muffs, but had to readjust things a bit in the water. It solved the problem on his boat. I also had to play with the carb idle settings, but it runs sweet now.
 

silvano

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Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

In reply to the inpeller being smoked i dont think its smoked temp is normal and drove her for 7 hours. i must of ran it out of the water for 5 sec if that.
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
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May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

How did you make out?? any more investigating? feul seperator?..
 

silvano

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Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Hello RS here is the update took her out on the lake i did not try to start it on the ramp started at home before i went there started with no problem. after launching it while the boat was flat in the water i went to start it and sure enough it started wohooooo so i gess you where wright about the water in the tank. Now im on the lake for about 3 hr driving (normal) then all of a sudden the engine is making this over heating sound but i was not over heating oh ya it makes this noice only when giving it half to full gas so as im in the water i had it in nutral i rev the engine no noice. i checked the oil its full very clean i also tryed to play with the distributer cap made no dif and the engine sounds like its not firing on all cylenders. so i took it back to my slip. what do you think is wronge? i think maybe it needs a tune up or just bad gas i was tying to burn out the rest of the 80 gal of fuel left i have now half tank.
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Hello RS here is the update took her out on the lake i did not try to start it on the ramp started at home before i went there started with no problem. after launching it while the boat was flat in the water i went to start it and sure enough it started wohooooo so i gess you where wright about the water in the tank. Now im on the lake for about 3 hr driving (normal) then all of a sudden the engine is making this over heating sound but i was not over heating oh ya it makes this noice only when giving it half to full gas so as im in the water i had it in nutral i rev the engine no noice. i checked the oil its full very clean i also tryed to play with the distributer cap made no dif and the engine sounds like its not firing on all cylenders. so i took it back to my slip. what do you think is wronge? i think maybe it needs a tune up or just bad gas i was tying to burn out the rest of the 80 gal of fuel left i have now half tank.

the last time on the ramp you mentioned you ran it out of the water for a few seconds.. so when you went out this time did you notice the temp guage reading?.. my I/O i used to have ran at about 150-160..

You may be on to something with a tune up but you should eliminate some of the stuff yourself.. at this point I would take the distributor cap off and check under it to see that all the points are clean, then i would change the plugs or at least look at then, clean them and make sure tha gap is at .030..be sure to put the cap on correctly as you removed it. (you might have done this already) but just checking.

If you have a compression tester then go ahead and take all the plugs out and check each cylinder one at a time and see what you get..if you dont know what i mean let me know and ill tell how...write down the numbers..they should all be pretty close in pressure.


If the coil is old (the cylinder looking thing with the top spark cable that goes to the center of the distrubutor) then think about changing it as well..but only if you think its more than 3 or so years old.

As far as the water goes, pull the sperator and pour it into a container and see if you are starting to pull water again...if so you might have more water than you think....

if you take the flame arrestor off the top of the carb and push the throttle up and back a few times it should squirt gas into the throats..if you see water droplets then you do have water getting to the carbs...

so, (if you want to try this) what I did on mine is i purchased a hand pump (static free) for pumping fuel and i sucked out my tank. I did this from the hole where the float or gass tank level arm is located.(under the floor hatch) so i pulled it out and sucked through there..into 5 gallon buckets..being careful since its flamable..once i got enough out i then again changed my seperator and ran it on ear muffs in the drive way to try and get the last bit out. I never got all of it(unless you want to pull the tank out but enough so i could use a couple bottles of dry gas to eliminate the rest.
I let the gas sit for a few hours and with a funnel i poured it into a big gas container so i could put it back in the tank..(the water will sit on the bottom of the bucket so dont pour all in just the gas and throw out the rest,,
 

silvano

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Hello RS thank you for your help. I did not take the dis cap off i have a brand new one in the boat im going to go there tomorow to replace the cap and roter and preform the water in fuel test i will let you know how things go.

Thank you
Silvano
 

silvano

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Hello happy 4 th your not going to beleive this. i gave it a tune up it started up like never before i used to floor it in order to start now starts up fine i didnt think i needed to take it out for a test drive but the next day i did take it out and the clanking sound came back only when giving it half to full gas so bought it back to the marina where there is a shop that can check it out. I explained my problem he took a look at it and told me it could be the cam or a push rod or a lifter what do you think could be the problem.
Oh ya when i bought the boat there was work done to the engine (head gasket ) and as they put it back together they tighted the rockers way to tight thats what the micanic told me this is whats cousing the noise now. does this sound wright to you. Im trying to make sence of all this i dont want this shop to take me for a ride.
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Hello happy 4 th your not going to beleive this. i gave it a tune up it started up like never before i used to floor it in order to start now starts up fine i didnt think i needed to take it out for a test drive but the next day i did take it out and the clanking sound came back only when giving it half to full gas so bought it back to the marina where there is a shop that can check it out. I explained my problem he took a look at it and told me it could be the cam or a push rod or a lifter what do you think could be the problem.
Oh ya when i bought the boat there was work done to the engine (head gasket ) and as they put it back together they tighted the rockers way to tight thats what the micanic told me this is whats cousing the noise now. does this sound wright to you. Im trying to make sence of all this i dont want this shop to take me for a ride.

lifters and push rods usually dont make a clunk sounds per say..its more of a clatter or clicking type sounds..usually you would hear there near the top. if the rockers were too tight then the rods would/could hit them hard enough to bend them slightly and cause noise as well.. if its a deep clunking sounds it could be a cam issue but since they did a head gasket job someone could have went through and tightened everything down without a tourque wrench and overtightened as well.. it makes sense since you hear it more at higher throttle when the engine is reving up..

one thing is for sure..if you had water in the engine you could have bent a rod slightly since water cannot compress.. that may also effect the lifters as well..

it is possible but unfortunately you dont know until its opened up and looked at..
you can do rockers and rods yourself..there are not hard to do.. the cam issue would be best done by the proffesional..
 

silvano

Cadet
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Messages
21
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

Hey there if it helps its a clater like a overheating sound when running at high rpm in the water when it is in nutral and i rev it up no noise but it does look and sound like its missing and the noise is coming from the right side of the motor.
 

Rscardina

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
513
Re: Please someone HELP!!!!!!

the rocker arms and rods are accessed from the top. the oil head pan can be removed and you will see all the rockers..under the rockers are rods that go down into the engine.. they are a specific length and should be straight.. the rocker arms are held by 2 bolts each..

clatter is better than clunking...this sounds like its higher up and much easier than lower cam problems.

rods and lifters are not that bad to do or expensive...
 
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