1989 Sea Sprite Engine Questions

[bpopilek]

Hello all, I am the proud new owner of a 1989 Sea Sprite boat. This boat has a Mercruise Alpha I with a 4.3l v6 engine in it. It sat for the last 2 years, so I have spent the past 2 weeks getting it fully functional again.

I initially had problems with it stalling out all the time, but after a good carb cleaning, new plugs/wires, fuel filter, fresh gas, and water pump impeller, it is now running considerably better. The first problem/question I have is this. When I go from forward or reverse into neutral, the engine still wants to stall. If I go back into neutral very very slowly, it will keep running. Is there something I can check to prevent the stalling when I just pop it back into neutral after slowing down? The engine runs very smoothly while idling and when cruising around in gear, I just have this pesky stalling issue left.

My 2nd question is this. While I know the engine is branded as a Mercruiser, I also know it is a Chevy 4.3l v6. It currently has a 2 barrel carburetor installed on it. What I wanna know is if I can put a stock GM 4 barrel intake on it and an automotive 4 barrel carb on it? Would it work, or would I need to get genuine Mercruiser branded parts to make this kind of an upgrade?

Thanks for reading and for any help you can offer!

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: 1989 Sea Sprite Engine Questions

Sounds like a shift interrupt issue. You know it is supposed to "stall" momentarily when going from fwd to neutral and rev to neutral, but should not completely die...this allows your gears to disengage properly. And generally, your shifts should be "brisk" to allow for proper operation of the circuit. If it dies completely, then need to check out that interrupt switch operation, or this just may be contributing to the problems you already had with stalling.
I'll let the motor-heads give their advice on the carb swap.

 

[cr2k]

Re: 1989 Sea Sprite Engine Questions

No, automotive carb is different, you can use the manifold but you need a marine carb. They are jetted and set up for performance not smog and vented different and have different fittings and won't make your boat explode.
Your shifting problems could also be early (or not so in this case) warning of the lower shift cable going bad.

 

[chrisvr6]

Re: 1989 Sea Sprite Engine Questions

I have a '89 bowrider with sundeck. Can you post pics?