First things first, my mechanicals skills are sub-par. I've torn down and put an engine back together before, but it's been 20+ years ago, and most of my experience since then has involved signing a credit car receipt. The ?professional? options in my area aren?t particularly compelling, and I have to think it's be a good idea to (re)learn to do simple stuff myself, and might even be fun, so long as I don't break anything expensive. I have bought a seloc (from iboats), but even if it told me what to do, I?d probably check here first unless I was out on the water at the time, making emergency repairs. XD
The problem(s).
I have two carbureted 1997 Mercruiser 5.7Ls with Alpha drives in the boat I bought last fall. The stbd engine seems to start and run about normally. The port engine is tougher to start, I get black smoke at the start and what looks like raw fuel in the exhaust (gas in the water). It idles roughly a few hundred RPMs lower than the stbd, and dies if I let it idle too long (e.g. as I?m approaching a dock after a couple minutes of no-wake zone). Also, having filled up both tanks a couple times now, it seems to go through around 20% more fuel than stbd...a significant cost given how thirsty these things are.
So things to check?timing, idle setting, and fuel air mixture? Are those right or should I look elsewhere? And if so, what?s the logical order to approach them in? Check/set the timing per specs, adjust idle, then look for carburator/fuel delivery issues?
Thanks!
Dave
The problem(s).
I have two carbureted 1997 Mercruiser 5.7Ls with Alpha drives in the boat I bought last fall. The stbd engine seems to start and run about normally. The port engine is tougher to start, I get black smoke at the start and what looks like raw fuel in the exhaust (gas in the water). It idles roughly a few hundred RPMs lower than the stbd, and dies if I let it idle too long (e.g. as I?m approaching a dock after a couple minutes of no-wake zone). Also, having filled up both tanks a couple times now, it seems to go through around 20% more fuel than stbd...a significant cost given how thirsty these things are.
So things to check?timing, idle setting, and fuel air mixture? Are those right or should I look elsewhere? And if so, what?s the logical order to approach them in? Check/set the timing per specs, adjust idle, then look for carburator/fuel delivery issues?
Thanks!
Dave
