Running rough - full explanation inside

Hopefully you guys are on the right track.

I'll just add one more simple check to your list. Make sure your coke is opening fully and staying open once the boat is warmed up.

That kind of confirms my suspicions. I was speaking with a mechanic earlier today that said the same thing. I ordered that part this afternoon! Should come in tomorrow or Wednesday and we'll see how it works! I'll take the module off tomorrow and evaluate it. Will replacing it alter the timing? If so, best procedure to calibrate that?

Photo of inside the distributor

It looks like you have a YLM554CV breakerless distributor. It sure appears like your doing the right thing by using the ballast resistor with that coil.

I wonder if there is water in the gas?

its a correctcraft so checking the quality of the wiring and the actual voltage reaching the ignition system is always a good idea.

Also, some oil filled don't like to be lain on their side.

Pictures of ignition set up attached.
Looking forward to hearing thoughts.
Please don't be too hard on me if the setup is terrible! haha

In fact, I did notice the coil getting hot...I replaced the coil a year ago, but with the exact same one - could be inappropriate for marine?? When we bought it, the previous owner had had the motor and transmission rebuilt two years prior and it only has 275 hours on it...but again, the coil did feel very hot...

Carb rebuild because I had it looked at by a Nautique mechanic and he said it needed doing. New fuel pump because it was original and didn't seem to want to prime. New one is a 7cfm Holley - not the higher performance model, as that would be too much pressure.

The answer to your second question is that I'm a novice and that's new to me. I dont know if the timing is maladjusted, and was told that a cap and rotor change would not require timing adjustment.

Update: walked out to get something out of the boat and thought "what the heck" and wouldn't you know it fired up?? Even idles fine. (This is on the hose, not in the water) So much confusion! So to sum up, once it takes a break, it will run fine for a while then get rough and die.

Hi all,
Myself along with Andy Stinespring (another member on the forum) own a 1990 ski Nautique with the PCM 351 engine. I'll list everything about it, then explain what is going on. Hopefully one of you has some semblance of a clue what's going on, as I am at a loss at this point.
Long story short, we have owned the boat for a little over two years now. Year one was bliss. The engine ran perfectly with no issues. One day it died on us, forcing us to swim it in. This is the first of many similar experiences. At this point, here's what has been done (all in the last two weeks or so)
Carb taken apart, soaked and rebuilt - new front float bowl.
New fuel braided (rubber) fuel line from the carb to the new Holley manual fuel pump
New clear fuel line from the filter to the pump
New distributor cap and rotor
All new spark plugs - gapped at the recommended .35.

Straight pipe exhaust added back in May of 2014.

After two weeks of getting all of those items mentioned above replaced, I have begun taking the boat out for tuning. I finally got it tuned to my satisfaction (essentially each mixture screw is out 1.5 turns, and the idle screw is almost all the way out).
My wife and I took the boat out today with exciting results....for about an hour. It idled wonderful, pulled hard and was overall an ideal experience. Then, all of the sudden it began idling very rough, seeming not to run on all cylinders. Low on power and shuddering. I checked the wire from the coil to the distributor and it was seated properly,
I the boat seems to be getting spark, it's definitely getting fuel (can see it flowing through the clear line). The accelerator pump is functional, and the water strainer was clean (not sure if that matters) the boat idled very poorly for a bit, and I tried to get back to the dock. Eventually it died. We sat there for a bit, it fired up again (but still very rough) I put it in reverse, and it smoothed out inexplicably. Put it in forward and was able to idle smoothly through a long canal - toward the end of the canal it began to run rough again. I tried reverse again with no effect. Got about half way to the dock and it died again. After several attempts to make it turn on, we had to be towed in. In the middle of being towed, it started up again!! We got it to the dock and it idled very rough for about 7 minutes at the dock then died. I sincerely hope someone has some ideas!! I'm lost!!!

Thanks so much!

Caleb.