Hmmm

[heyttown]

97 searay 3.0lx 130hp alpha 1.

I winterized the boat in oct of 08, boat sat in my drive until now. Last spring I had back surgery and I didnt get the boat wet at all. Im trying to sell it now, and I have an interested buyer coming in from out of town in a few days. I cant seem to get it started now..

A strange thing I noticed is all 4 plugs were loose and I changed them in the 08 season, I dont remember leaving the plugs loose when I winterized the boat, but I cant remember to be honest with you.
The boat has maybe 12 gallons of gas, I remember I put stabil in the gas when I stored it..

I can smell gas when I pump the throttle, and I of course tightened the plugs, but still wont start it almost starts and spits just a bit but wont catch to stay running.

I tried getting a tube down my gas tank to syphon the old gas out,and the hose wont bend around the neck to drop into the tank..I tried for 30 minutes and all I got was a mouth full of fumes that about choked me out...

Im looking for suggestions on things to check..., im working alone so I cant pull a plug and check for spark at the same time, by the smell of gas around the carb its getting gas, but is the gas to old? and since I cant get inside the tank would topping it off with fresh gas make a difference? I would hate to pour another 12 gallons in there only to have it all bad gas.
any help would be appreciated.

 

[Don S]

Re: Hmmm

Did you check for spark? Bright blue spark that jumps from the coil wire to a good clean ground about 1/2" away? Yellow probably won't start it.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Hmmm

Thanks for the fast reply don, I just went out and pulled the wire of dist that comes from my coil, wire was only like 6" but I laid it up next to the closest metal I could find. Im guessing maybe up to 1"away if you count the distance inside the rubber boot and from up at the helm maybe 6 or 7 ft away I saw a good spark that appeared to be blueish color but again I wasnt up close to it.

 

[Don S]

Re: Hmmm

If it doesn't start after doing what Bubba mentioned, pull the plugs and clean them. You may have sprayed fogging oil in the cylinder and fouled the plugs a couple years ago, which is why they were loose. May be time for new plugs to make it run (Sell) better.

 

[havasuboatman]

Re: Hmmm

If you got a spark to jump an inch, I'd say you have good spark.
That gas has been in there a long time, stabil or not. I would try hooking up an alternate fuel tank to the boats fuel pump and give that a shot.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Hmmm

Ok
I had 4 extra plugs sitting around from 08 when I winterized(always good to carry extra on board) so I went and replaced them, and I poured 1 ounce of fresh gas down the carb, it eventually started and stayed running,I let it get up to 170 on the temp gauge to make sure that stayed the same..I came out of fast idle (neutral only) and put throttle in neutral at normal idle and she idled really good. (maybe ran for 10 min max) I shut the motor off, and waited about 20 seconds, and tried to restart..it started but shook to all hell, you could tell she was struggling to stay running,I gave some throttle and the motor caught up and idled good. I shut it back off and waited for less then 1 minute tried to start again, I got the same violent shake and spit and sputter and she died. This time I try starting the motor with (neutral only) fast idle pumping the throttle and she wont start at all...
I had similar problems with the same thing happening in 08 thats why I had a shop rebuild my carb and he also messed with the timing...but the boat would usually start (even when up to temp)if you put the throttle full down and clear out the carb(or so I was told thats what it does)

So it sounds like the gas isnt the best but its enough to run on once it started...Do I try and siphon out 12 gallons or do I go to the station and put in 12 gallons of fresh gas with the old)tank is half full) keep in mind I would have to disassemble my tank to get siphon hose down inside..major PITA!

what are my options guys? or what would you do.

 

[havasuboatman]

Re: Hmmm

Time to do a carb cleaning. The idle fuel mixture passages in the carb are gunked up. That's why it runs with the butterflies open, but not without.

 

[Fishermark]

Re: Hmmm

Time to do a carb cleaning. The idle fuel mixture passages in the carb are gunked up. That's why it runs with the butterflies open, but not without.

Yep. My thoughts exactly. I also agree with using another tank to eliminate the old fuel as a possible problem. A tank for an outboard motor works well.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Hmmm

This may be a stupid question but is it possible to run this motor off a remote tank? On the top of my gas tank is a round piece with 2 wires going to it, I just always assumed it was an electronic fuel pump on the tank..Not sure what it is. I do have normal outboard tanks around here for my other boat that I can use..just not sure what to do.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Hmmm

Im looking on iboats for carb kits and cant seem to find anything to match my carb. I looked all around my carb and cannot find an oem part number to match the iboats adds.. Its a 97 3.0lx mercruiser motor..small little 4 banger.

 

[Don S]

Re: Hmmm

On the top of my gas tank is a round piece with 2 wires going to it,

That's a gauge sender, there are no fuel pumps in any tanks for Mercruiser, OMC, or Volvo.
What is the Serial Number off your engine, you don't want to go by year alone, a 97 boat could have a 96 or even a 95 engine in it.

 

[heyttown]

Re: Hmmm

Cant find any numbers on the carb, but on my cover plate for the carb/flame arrest list engine and outdrive numbers...Engine is OK155527

Hope thats what you need.