vacuum gauge reading 12

[TurtleTamer]

A 3 L motor and a nearly 20 foot boat that maybe waterlogged and a 19 pitch prop will not turn 4400 RPM

3 liter in my 16 foot boat and a 19 pitch prop was all I could do to turn 4600 RPM

I would beg to differ. My 3.0 pushes a 20ft Grady White cuddy cabin (runabout, not walkaround) to right at 4750 with a 17P and 4400 with a 19P. I did quite a bit of prop experimentation last summer and tried quite a few. Even went so far as a cupped 21P that barely would turn 3900. Except for the last, they were all aluminum though. Stainless turn a good bit less in my boat. However, I will say these numbers were in less than a fully-loaded boat. My favorite prop was a 15" X 19P aluminum. I could get the boat to 38mph (GPS) but unfortunately I left the plug out one day and ran the boat to the beach as soon as I realized it, hitting bottom with the prop and bending it up badly.

 

[TurtleTamer]

Something still sounds screwy with that carb. No pun intended. If you can get it running again try putting some grease around the screw to seal it.

 

[Sashap]

It’s a tough call at this point as I have not checked for water logging, have not restarted since it stalled hopefully from lack of gas, have not water tested again, have not remeasured compression but I don’t think that’s an issue.

 

[Sashap]

Something still sounds screwy with that carb. No pun intended. If you can get it running again try putting some grease around the screw to seal it.

Good idea, I will do that! It’s just temporary as I will get another carb when I get a chance

 

[Rick Stephens]

You might look up the specs on your boat and find out what it weighed. Then you can get a general idea of how much the trailer weighs, take it to a scale and see if it's packing a bunch extra. That's probably the best way to ballpark it. Without having to drill and patch holes.

 

[Sashap]

Good news! It just ran out of gas. Starts right up. Sprayed WD-40 all around carb and no change in rpm.

 

[Sashap]

You might look up the specs on your boat and find out what it weighed. Then you can get a general idea of how much the trailer weighs, take it to a scale and see if it's packing a bunch extra. That's probably the best way to ballpark it. Without having to drill and patch holes.

Will do. The dump here weighs vehicles. I will pull up past the scale and read it. If it’s waterlogged I can just leave it at the dump!

 

[TurtleTamer]

Good news! It just ran out of gas. Starts right up. Sprayed WD-40 all around carb and no change in rpm.

Don't forget around the intake manifold as well for possible sources of a vacuum leak.

 

[Sashap]

I sprayed all over and nothing. I guess I will find out more on the next water test (maybe tomorrow). It starts fine, idles fine, timing is fine (except now I noticed a few sputters through the carb on giving it more throttle). Always something. It wasn't regular, just sporadic. It did hiccup a couple of times I gave it throttle but really sporadic too. Generally, it seems a bit better but I won't know until I hit the lake.

Picked up a new gimbal bearing. The current one growls like a bear. A bit less after I lubed it. When I took the leg off the grease was all mucky brown. It's noisy even turning it with my fingers. Frickin thing is in there tight. What makes it worse is I don't have a slide hammer or a gimbal bearin puller for that matter. My local Canadian Tire (where Canada shops) has none in stock but the $100 kind. Not gonna happen. I will fabricate my own tomorrow. I have all the tool toys. (ok, except a gimbal bearing puller). I hope it isn't too hard to take out. I think the best method would be a screw system because it can have more steady force. I will use my torque wrench on it. Looking forward to not hearing all that growling too.

Crossing my fingers on the increase power too. All you guys, cross your eyes too, maybe it will give me good luck.

 

[TurtleTamer]

"Sputters through the carb?" Like, backfires? That ain't good. Is that a new symptom?

 

[Sashap]

"Sputters through the carb?" Like, backfires? That ain't good. Is that a new symptom?

Yes and no. It did it when I first started this project, but has not done it all since I set the timing. I will recheck the timing but I think it was fuel related. Like I said, that carb is nothing but troubles. This only happened right after I did that whole carb episode yesterday and today. It's not really a backfire with flames, it's more a cough with fuel mist. Didn't happen at all with the flame arrestor on. Just when I took it off to check for vacuum issues and only when I gunned the throttle on muffs. At this point, it's not a concern because it was an isolated issue. After warm up it didn't occur.

 

[Bondo]

It did it when I first started this project, but

Ayuh,..... Which is why the back-story is important,.....

 

[TurtleTamer]

The backfire would indicate a lean condition. Pretty rare to see flames, very common to see mist. It was probably still doing it with the flame arrestor on but was less detectable.

So you're replacing this carb with another? For sure? If so I'd still be curious what this one looks like on the inside.

 

[Sashap]

I will wait on the carb until I see what it does on the water. I might just change it if it causes me more grief.
Right now I am having issues pulling the gimbal bearing. I made a threaded rod based puller and used a piece of iron pipe with an oblong hole ground in it to slip it through the bearing and a nut on the end. Managed to grind it the right shape (maximum to what the bearing hole would allow and still give good strength. I just managed to get the thing so tight I could barely turn the wrench and still nothing. The most movement came from the bell housing slowly rotating sideways or up and down. Afraid that too much angle just causes more friction and stress on the bell housing. Any ideas on how to ensure that the whole thing stays stable and straight? If I could do that it would most likely work just fine. I could even use the impact wrench to tun the nut. I just need to keep the whole thing from rolling sideways because the threaded rod is stressed and wants to bend then to make up for the force.

I read the threads and saw the tools. My tool would work just fine if the whole body was more stable. In one post I saw that it was removed with the brace against just the transom plate but that isn't an option when I have the rest of the assembly attached. I tried using a sledge hammer against a thing I devised but that did not even budge. I know screw force is much better because you can provide consistant pressure. Plus, the puller is slipped behind the oil seal, so a hammer option isn't as good because the rubber bounces a bit.

 

[Sashap]

You might look up the specs on your boat and find out what it weighed. Then you can get a general idea of how much the trailer weighs, take it to a scale and see if it's packing a bunch extra. That's probably the best way to ballpark it. Without having to drill and patch holes.

Didn't get a chance to weigh as I was working on the fricking gimbal bearing! I will open another thread for that fiasco.
However, The weight is questionable as an issue unless someone knows different. This is because I did some exploratory drilling. No oil I'm afraid, so the Saudis are still in luck.
What I found is slight dampness.

There was no water to speak of, right to the glass. It was humid at best.
Basically, the boat was kept outside for at least 7 winters. Although, the bow end of the trailer was jacked up about 4 feet to keep a sharp decline to the stern. Plus the plug was out the whole time.
This situation might have helped because it never had standing water on the carpet or in the bilge because the water had to flow fast downhill, rather than find it's way meandering through the boat.

I drilled at the very back by the transom where the water would have concentrated (also where it is easy to simply patch the holes and not worry about looks because nobody can see or go there. Like I said, humid. Not a drop of water, just moisture. I know this is still not an ideal situation, but it is far from "Oh my god, what am I going to do now!". I really don't think that amount of moisture can weigh enough to lose 1000 rpm at WOT. At best, let's call is 35 pounds and I think even that is a stretch. I think to be so heavy to lose that much rpm due to weight we would be talking 600 pounds but that's just a guess.
interesting article from boatingmag : https://www.boatingmag.com/packing-on-pounds#page-10
I do believe weight has a lot to do with out of the hole acceleration and even top speed, especially when dramatically overloaded though as I have had that experience having to ferry 7 people with my 70hp evinrude in an old glasply. But in reality, that was a huge load of about 1200 pounds plus I would guess. We never got more than 12-14 mph.

I still need a water test after my latest carb fussing. However, that has to wait until I get that damn gimbal bearing out (again, different thread).

 

[Sashap]

Finally able to water test today after tons of rain.
Vacuum reads 15 now, so it’s on the edge of ok. It only improved by a few hundred rpm. It’s now at 3600 . It started immediately upon turning over after sitting for three weeks. It coughed once when cold as I gave it throttle. Seemed to accelerate ok but could be better. I know a prop could get me up to required rpm but there is still a hesitation at the top of the throttle. Past about 80%, there is a definite stumble and ever so slight rpm drop. I couldn’t test dripping fuel in carb because I was alone. What tests should I do if I have someone driving? This sounds fuel related to me. Am I correct? No need to suggest that I clean anti siphon valve or drain water from tank etc because that is all perfect.
I don’t think a prop increase will fix the stumble. First I will fix stumble then go to 15-17 prop from my 19.
it accelerates smooth, just a bit sluggish.

 

[TurtleTamer]

Did you change the carb or rebuild it? If neither, we are stabbing in the dark.

 

[Sashap]

To all pros out there. Nobody mentioned that there are two types of est ignition modules for the 3.0. Same part number but different breed. The one ending in a stamped number 369 is automotive only with a timing curve that does not advance until 2400 rpm and then maxed out around 4000 rpm. The one stamped with a 399 is used for marine and some high performance uses with the correct curve.
Runs perfect now. Plus the automotive one has no base mode.

 

[Maclin]

Most here figured you knew you had a boat, not a car. If you feel the need to assign blame then maybe your parts supplier looker-upper has some issues. Glad you got it sorted.

 

[TurtleTamer]

I don't feel any blame lol. We pretty well narrowed it down to that specific part over the internet (and I'm not a pro). Also, aren't there a number of different modules since they are used across a pretty good spectrum of vehicles?