Should I rebuild my carb on an unknown boat or is that just a waste of money?

[cecho]

Would it be a waste of $50 to rebuild the 2 bbl carb on my Mercruiser 898 / Chevy 305 before I even take it to the lake? I don't think it's been used in 18 months. I have no reason to believe there anything wrong with it other than the current lack of use.

I'm planning on taking the boat out to the lake by the end of this month or beginning of this month. I'll be going through everything from the trailer's surge breaks the the prop before then.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Should I rebuild my carb on an unknown boat or is that just a waste of money?

Would it be a waste of $50 to rebuild the 2 bbl carb on my Mercruiser 898 / Chevy 305 before I even take it to the lake? I don't think it's been used in 18 months. I have no reason to believe there anything wrong with it other than the current lack of use.

In my opinion, Yes.

When I had my previous engine installed (460 OMC) and after I bought the boat from my brother it had some minor running problems.

After I did the obvious things, I thought the carb might be a problem so I bought a kit, took it apart and rebuilt it....After all, it was almost 20 years old.

When I got it apart, the only thing wrong with it was the gaskets I destroyed taking it apart.

Just make sure you have good clean fuel, new filter, and your fuel tank pickup is clean and your tank vent is not blocked.

look carefully at the fuel pump and ensure that it is not leaking. Also inspect the clear plastic hose that goes from the fuel pump to the carb. If you see evidence of fuel in that hose, you'll need a new fuel pump.



Cheers,

Rick

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Should I rebuild my carb on an unknown boat or is that just a waste of money?

I'd start out with a complete inspection and then I'd try running it - before doing any work. That way you have a baseline starting point.
You probably will end up doing the carb just to eliminate unknowns, but what if there's something else wrong that takes priority?

 

[spdracr39]

Re: Should I rebuild my carb on an unknown boat or is that just a waste of money?

If it ain't broke don't fix it. Find out if and how well it runs first then you will have a baseline to see if your changes do any good. If not you won't know if it was an existing problem or something caused by the repair.