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  1. Lou C

    Never underestimate the power of the mechanical fuel pump

    That is very odd. I had the OE pump on mine for about 30 years and then replaced it with a Sierra. Both worked fine, never had a flooding problem. One thing with the Q-Jet is that there is a hanger for the needle valve, and the bracket for the float has a couple of small holes, that hanger just...
  2. Lou C

    New Volvo 250 HP PY20

    more un-asked for complexity, that in the end, doesn't benefit much.
  3. Lou C

    new carb new issue

    I’d check for spark when this happens next time. You just want to cover all the bases
  4. Lou C

    new carb new issue

    If that’s fuel in the water it would seem that three possibilities exit: Electric choke not staying open Carb floats sticking or needle valve not holding Fuel pump pressure too high That’s way more than what you’d see from the idle mixture being too rich.
  5. Lou C

    Electronic Ignition and Shift Assist

    They sell an ESA that works with both points and the conversion electronic kits like Petronix. I replaced my old ESA when it stopped working about 6 years back with that one. Call them & ask but I’m my case I just continued using points.
  6. Lou C

    E10 fuel

    MOD EDIT - Political
  7. Lou C

    Urgent request: dealing with a fuel tank spillage on my '83/4 Islander

    Just make sure to sniff very carefully for any sign of gas vapor. Any sign at all do not start the engine or turn on anything electrical. Problem with gas vapor in boats is it takes a while to dissipate. Nothing to take a chance with.
  8. Lou C

    E10 fuel

    I have: 33 year old Chevy OMC 4.3 Five different 2 stroke yard engines Three 4 stroke yard engines All run fine on E10. Stabilize it don’t store more than a year
  9. Lou C

    E10 fuel

    If your gas tank had a lot of varnish build up figure on the E-10 gas starting to clean it out and that can clog filters, so I'd keep a few on board and the tools you need to change em. We went through the change over approx 15 years ago and I didn't have clogged filters but I had some red gunk...
  10. Lou C

    Fuses on a 1986 four winns.

    Look on the four winns site, they used to list wiring diagrams for older models (Sport Boat)
  11. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    If you do wind up removing the elbows you can look inside the center exhaust passage for rust trails. There should be no rust there only black carbon. If you remove the manifolds you can see into the exhaust ports to determine if the exhaust valves are getting corroded. If so it’s time for a...
  12. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    Like I said earlier when you remove the spark plugs look for rust on the electrodes. That, and disabling the ignition and EFI and crank it over with all the plugs removed. If water or even just a mist of water comes out it’s time to remove the exhaust. You must have the dry joint units so if...
  13. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    PS many years ago my wife had a 1988 Toyota Camry. When it was about 3 years old it started running like a 2 stroke engine! Now I had 2 different Toyota twin cam 4 cyl engines in the family but did not really know much about them past doing oil changes and tune ups. First thing I did was ohm out...
  14. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    Double check the firing order & distributor cap, get an ohm meter and measure the resistance of each plug wire. You may find one with very high resistance that isn’t firing the plug
  15. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    Well if they were very oily and not corroded you may not have a water problem but an oil burning problem. Might need new valve seals and/or rings. I’d do a compression test first. How long have you had it and for how long did it run well?
  16. Lou C

    Major two stroke screw up Force 120

    I’m not sure about this either but the theory I heard on power equipment discussion boards was that adding more oil to the same quantity of fuel makes less fuel available and in turn leans the mixture which makes it run hotter. I have five 2 stroke machines, one is 23 years old two are 15 years...
  17. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    Possible but when you changed plugs did any of them look oil fouled or were the electrodes slightly rusty? First could be valve seals/piston rings second might be leaky exhaust manifolds/elbows. Based on your description it is possible that the engine sucked in water. Was the boat more heavily...
  18. Lou C

    Mercury 4.3 running rough - ideas?

    Was it running rough before? If not go back to the last thing that was changed lol.
  19. Lou C

    Oil change question

    I have used it to: change oil in the inboard make auto trans fluid changes less messy if there is no drain plug on the pan make 4x4 differential oil changes less messy same thing (we have 3 Jeeps in the family) I like the Topsider because it all metal and no plastic to break really. definitely...
  20. Lou C

    Oil change question

    This is a Topsider vacuum pump & I rigged up this garden hose adapter that threads onto the dipstick tube. It works much faster than sliding the thin tube down the dipstick tube. Just make sure that there is a gasket in the garden hose adapter just like for a water hose. That helps maintain the...
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