1988 four winns horizon 210 5.0 omc cobra sluggish performance

[sethlove]

I have a 1988 four winns horizon 210 with a Ford 5.0 I/0 . The motor starts and runs great until I try to throttle it up. It has a sluggish take off and when it finally ges up on plane it will only run about 3200-3500 rpm with occasional surging as if it wants to open up. This is a new boat to me so I have hardly done any diagnostics apart from general testing. From wha I have read the motor should run out around 4400-4600 rpm. My guess would have to be some sort of fuel restriction , but I am wondering if there are any common problems I should look into. Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Welcome aboard.

Plenty of reading in the DIY stickies at top of forums

 

[Lou C]

You need to go thru both the ignition & fuel system and check everything!
Ignition:
Points condenser dist cap rotor wires and plugs
Fuel sys:
Gas tank vent, anti siphon valve fuel pump carb

Your problem sounds like fuel delivery to me

 

[drexton311]

I had nearly the same issue on my 88 Reinell with Chevy 5.0. I went through the fuel system and electrical system. Turned out it was a combination of slightly low compression and timing being nearly 16 degrees off! Check the timing. You can check my threads, they are recent. "OMC Engine Boggin Issue"

 

[14trubl]

I am new to this forum and I have some info that may be helpful to some. I have a 1988 Four Winns with an OMC Cobra 5.0 drive. I do all my own maintenance on my vehicles including engine rebuilds and I thought this boat would be easy to maintain. For three to four years we dealt with sluggish performance. I replaced plugs, wires, all the distributor parts, filters, anti sipon valve etc.. Still had the fuel starvation issue. Would idle fine and cruise at half throttle but when you pushed for more fuel at the throttle it would bog down. I felt it was not the mechanical fuel pump and the Rochester Quadrajet was looking ok. Someone told me to check the pickup tube in the tank. It might be broken or cracked. I took it out and it looked ok. I noticed there was some blockage or restriction about halfway in the tube. I unscrewed it from the 90 degree fitting and I discovered a steel mesh filter that was 85 percent blocked with junk. It had never been inspected or cleaned since new. Now the boat runs great! More power and torque than I felt in years. It was so simple!