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rmb803 
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Joined: March-17-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9 |
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 Topic: Engine TroublePosted: March-11-2012 at 8:28pm |
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Please help... I have an 89 Ski Nautique with a 351 Ford motor. The engine starts and runs great. The problem occurs when I gas it to pull up a skier or wake boarder. The motor dies and doesn't start back up right away. I replaced the distributor with a Mallory unilite, I replaced the carb with an Edelbrock, new fuel pump, new plug wires and plugs, ballast resister, and I had a boat shop time and tune it. I am still having the same issues. The boat repair shop can't find the problem. I added a fuel pressure gauge and there is plenty of fuel pressure. Can anyone help please?????
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rmb803
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ononewheel
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Joined: June-21-2011 Location: B Status: Offline Points: 776 |
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Posted: March-11-2012 at 8:36pm |
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I don't know all the answers but here is what I would do if it were me. And I have been there before too.
When it dies the next time, pop the cover and see if you have spark. Then fuel pressure. When you hit a "no" you found your problem why it isn't running. Then you can narrow your choices down significantly. Others will be along shortly too help as well. |
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SNobsessed
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Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102 |
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Posted: March-11-2012 at 11:29pm |
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Sounds like the anti siphon valve is clogged, or possibly the pickup screen in the tank.
Next time it won't start, try dribbling some gas down the carb (just an ounce). Other possibilies are a vacuum leak around the base of the carb, or a bad coil (they heat up). If the shot of gas doesn't start it, check for spark. When you find the cause (yes there is one) then go get some of your money back from the shop that can't diagnose a problem. You should at least get the labor cost back. |
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“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 8:22am |
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Robert,
Some of us are not big fans of distributor EI conversions. Did you use the unilite conversion or a complete distributor? Ether way, I sure hope you kept it marine with a mechanical advance. Why the carb change? |
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rmb803
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:31pm |
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I installed a new Mallory unilite marine distributor because it worked so well in my old 83 Nautique. I had the original Holly carb rebuilt but an engine backfire did the Holly in. I replaced the Holly with a marine grade Edelbrock carb because I read it was so easy to work with and an engine backfire would not harm it. I thought if I replaced all of the components related to fuel and spark the problem would be fixed. I guess I was wrong.
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rmb803
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Bri892001
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Joined: September-27-2008 Location: Boston MA Status: Offline Points: 4947 |
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:34pm |
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Double check that all of your spark plug wires are properly routed. It's pretty common that this can get messed up when a distributor is replaced etc.
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eric lavine
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:36pm |
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did you replace all this stuff because of the problem? (process of elimination) it sounds coil related to me at this point....some more history will help
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"the things you own will start to own you"
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8122pbrainard
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:39pm |
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Robert,
My original distributors in my 54 and 64 work real well too (and, still on a point set)!  I suggest looking for the problem first before just throwing new non OEM parts at the engine. I'm sorry to say that you may have created more problems. You had the carb rebuilt but when it didn't perform, what did you do? Was it rebuilt with the proper kit? |
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rmb803
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:45pm |
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The Nautique shop timed and tuned the motor. They checked the firing order and the wires were correctly routed. The motor starts and runs great until I gas it.
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rmb803
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Bri892001
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:51pm |
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Will it get up onto plane without a skier in tow? It's actually possible for it to idle ok with a couple wires off.
If this was a Holley, I'd say you might have an accelerator pump that's either not functioning properly or not adjusted properly and coming on too late. I'm sure the same principle holds true with Edelbrock, just not sure how that adjustment is made. |
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rmb803
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:51pm |
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I found that the motor starts faster, even when cold, with the Mallory Unilite distributor. The boat actually runs better after installing the new parts but the original acceleration problem still exists. The coil is the only ignition component not yet replaced. Do you think the coil would cause this issue?
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rmb803
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Jllogan
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Joined: May-18-2011 Location: canton, OH Status: Offline Points: 1728 |
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:53pm |
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does it matter if you gas it in neutral or in gear? Will it fall on its face either way? Could be dumping in too much fuel and flooding itself. Have you looked at the spark plugs for black or white? That is in indicator of rich and lean respectively.
It could be alot of things I suppose. You need to elminate what it is not through some testing. I think it would be good to check the total advance, its a new distributor but thats what it would do if it wasnt advancing the timing properly. |
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Jllogan
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Posted: March-12-2012 at 7:54pm |
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Pete just recently posted a little coil testing diagram. I would get out the multimeter and check it
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