need help!

G

ghuskin

New Member
Jul 10, 2007
1,089
Lake St. Clair, DYC
Boat Info
SRV225 Cuddy Cabin, 1983
Engines
228 Mercruiser w/ pre-Alpha1 "R" Drive
Engine starts/idles fine. idle out past no wake bouy, hit the throttle. RPM's increase to approx. 2k, then stalls. restart goes fine, increase rpm's, gets to 2k then stalls.

when i had her out last tuesday (last time i used the boat) she cruised wonderfully. planed timely, was able to reach max rpm's (4600) on the way in.

Recently put in new plugs, rotor, cap, pertronix electronic conversion kit.

any ideas as to what may cause this? water in gas? coil? ignition? carb?

I plan on changing out the fuel separator tonite and see what happens.

Thank you in advance.

Gregg
 
yes sir! I was thinking that one also. I like to think of those two filters as a team.
 
Sounds to me like a fuel problem, could be a filter restriction.
If that's not it, I'd suspect the carb. When was the last time it was rebuilt?
 
Did the issue start right after the Electronic Ignition swap?
Did it ever run properly with the Electronic Ignition?
If so, check the fuel(I guess do that anyway) but it sounds too coincidental.

Best of luck and let us know what you find.
 
guys,

she ran the best she's ever run after the tune-up/conversion. until now...

to my knowledge, the carb has never been rebuilt. this is in the back of my mind. But why would it be fine one day, then not the next? would a carb problem be gradual?

Gregg
 
Since it idles fine and runs up to 2K, I would also look at the timing advance. (if applicable)
 
Wobbly distributor plate?

You had to open up the distributor, remove the points, and install the electronics package to sense the lobes. If, in doing that, you knocked the plate loose, timing could go to heck. Normally, since there is no vacuum advance mechanism on a marine distributor, the plate should not be free to rotate as it would on a vintage car, but... does not hurt to check. Probably fuel.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Yeah, if she ran good after the ign swap you either have fuel filter/flow issues

good luck
 
When you change the Fuel Filter Cartridge dump the fuel into a glass jar and let it settle for observation. Al W.
 
ghuskin said:
guys,

she ran the best she's ever run after the tune-up/conversion. until now...

to my knowledge, the carb has never been rebuilt. this is in the back of my mind. But why would it be fine one day, then not the next? would a carb problem be gradual?

Gregg
Click to expand...


I'm no motorhead, and it's been a while since I owned a carbed motor, but I would think that one possiblity is a stuck float that's not letting enough fuel into the bowl. Could also be a clogged jet?
 
Here's an update!

changed out both filters. there were a few tiny bits in the carb filter, no water in the separator. put new filters on anyway.

took it for a run, and same response.

this a.m. i went to my mechanic, and they think it's a carb problem. Luckily they are scheduled to be at the marina thursday p.m. for another boat and can take a look.

sooo, sounds like i'm getting the carb rebuilt.

BTW, I ran out of daylight to check the pertronix in the distributor last night, and won't have time to look at it tonight. I'm running out of summer, and want it running - safely!

Thank you for all your suggestions, and I'll keep 'yall informed of the final outcome.

Gregg
 
Do the cheap and easy stuff first. You don't say when the wires to the plugs were last done. Make sure those are good and the fine mesh filters to the carbs are clean before you rebuild carbs. You could have a lightning storm going on in your bilge because of bad wires. Get into the habit of changing plugs, wires, wearable ignition parts and filters on a regular schedule before things start acting up. Always suspect the simple things first. If you stay on top of the simple stuff you will likely have less major stuff going wrong.
 
Hmm,my first thought was fuel but,could be ignition. One thing that i would certainly be checking would be coil secondary output(peak kv). I'm definitely no marine expert but,at least 30 Kv is needed to keep the fire lit-so to speak. Before distributorless ign. in cars,the coil was absolutely the most overlooked item in the ignition system. Hopefully,you've got a good mechanic that can actually DIAGNOSE the problem-not use the "dartboard" approach. G.L. and keep us posted.
 
I added a Pertronix ignition to a friend's 3.0 a few years ago and he had the same problem. He changed out his coil and solved the problem. He also changed out his wires at the same time so it could have been the wires were the problem.

The Pertronix greatly improved his engine performance. Ultimately, I think you will appreciate the change over.
 
Thanks all!

I changed plugs, cap and rotor when i put in the pertronix in July of 2008 (1 month ago).

I asked my mechanic about the possibility of the coil, and was told that this is either a fire/no-fire situation.

They will be taking it out this p.m. for a run under load to more accurately diagnose the situation.

I believe the initial diagnosis is based on several factors. 1) my description of the problem (hopefully I'm decribing it in proper terminolgy), and 2) the age of the boat/hrs.

Again, as info is presented, I'll update.

Gregg
 
Update!

It was not the carb. The mechanic hooked up an external gas tank and she ran fine, thus eliminating the carb as the problem.

Changed out the anti-siphon valve which was corroded. Was now capable of 3k rpms. an improvement, but not quite there.

Changed out the fuel pump. I am now up an running!

Thank you all!

Gregg
 
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