NOT GETTING FULL POWER

I would first like to thank anyone willing to respond to this post.

OK, here we go. 1993 Sport Nautique. 302 Ford with Electronic Ignition.

Symptoms:

1) Out of the hole, the boat bogs a little and then lets loose after a few seconds. It is annoying skiing behind it as you can imagine. Then It runs up to about 4,000 RPMs and wont go any further. Every tenth time, the boat will increase to full speed which is around 5,000 RPM's.

Resolution: I thought that this was an obvious accelerator pump issue, so I had the carb rebuilt. At the carb shop they tested it on an engine after being rebuilt and it worked great. They set the idle to about 800 RPM. I took the carb and put it on my boat and the idle was around 1,200. I checked the linkage, it was fine. Testing again the boat had the same symptoms. Bogging and then no top speed. Also, I replaced the spark plugs.

Other: Other things I have done are replace the fuel filter, I am now going to replace the fuel pump. I am not sure if I have a fuel problem or if I have some type of electrical issue.

Please help ~Steve Martini

I also would vote for the vacume leak. That will give the high idle and running lean will cause power issues also.

Check around the carb are there any black plugs or covers that look cracked or melted?

When replacing the gaskets between the
carb, spacer, and intake manifold, should
you use a gasket dressing such as RTV or
hylomar?

Thanks Guys,

I will pull the carb back off, use the copper RTV and reapply. I agree that it does act like a vaccum leak, I just cant find the sucker.

Regarding "Check around the carb are there any black plugs or covers that look cracked or melted?"

I am a little confused about these? I will check however.

Bingo! Jameski. Spray carb cleaner, ether, anything solvent based, around the carb base, intake manifold, to see if the engine r.p.m.'s change. I use Permatex, "the good stuff" in a caulk gun applicator, on everything I work on, and own. It's great, urethane and polymer rules. If you seal all gasket surfaces, and still have a problem, I would check engine timing, and if you can, take the valve covers off, pull the coil wire off, crank it over and watch all the rocker arms to see if all are rocking properly.

Wow, thanks for all of the help.
By the way I am out in San Diego in Mission Bay; Salt Water sucks let me tell you. I am from the Finger Lakes region of NY originally where the water is fresh! Much better.

Anyway, took her out last night after replacing the fuel pump, reinstalling the carb with some copper RTV. Initially I thought it was fixed, the idle was much better. When I started to give it to her, she began to back fire and would stall out. So, I began to think that since I have gone through the fuel that maybe it is an electrical issue like you suggested. Well I began to look at the plug wires from the spark plugs and they were fine. Then I traced them back to the electrical block (electronic ignition) and found that three out of the 8 were very badly corroded. It was very weird, 5 looked brand new and then three that were right next to each to other looked like they had been sitting in salt water for a couple of months. So, I scraped the rust with a screw driver and tested it out, I got my full speed this time but I still had hesitation and backfiring. But it was better. So I think this is the problem. I am going to replace the spark plug wires. Should I buy PCM factory or will any do from an auto parts store? Also, I have a question about my electronic ignition; I do not think it is factory because I cannot find anything in the service manual about it. All they have is info about non-electrical. I do not know anything about my electronic ignition. It says PCM on the black top where the distributor should be but there is no marking on the black block on the back of the engine where the plug wires run too? Where could I find out about this and would it be an idea to replace it? Any suggestions?

Steve

I think 66polyhead said to check the timing and I agree.

When starting out, if you have the Holley, the engine goes through (struggles with) two stages.

First is running with the idle circuit in the carb and retarded timing...then you hit the gas and...your pumping gas through the accelerator pump, and jets as the advance mechanism kicks in. Lot of things going on that have to be right.

If you've re-built the carb and removed that mystery...check your timing and advance. If you still have the vacuum leak it will not allow your engine to advance properly....or the advance unit itself needs repair (pretty rare)

Just rotate the distributor.

Not sure what type of PCM Electronic Ignition you have, but I'm assuming what you are refering to is one without points.

If you'll loosen the bolt holding the distributor in place and rotate, you'll adjust the timing. Of course, you'll need to shoot the light on it to watch the adjustment.

Hope this helps you out.

Steve-
Sounds like the Pro-Tec ignition. Same as on my '93 Sport. For a '93 PCM manual, try this link. It is a discussion I started on PlanetNautique awhile back when I was having problems on mine. They came through with a PCM manual that I was able to download. Also, I always used carb cleaner, not ether, to test for leaks.

http://www.planetnautique.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=1037

Scroll way down for the link to the download. It has a wealth of info. I don't think there is a change from '93 to '94 on the 302. You could also call Correct Craft and see if they can get you one if this isn't what you want. Hope this helps.

Gary

Steve I'm in Rancho Bernardo. Email rloomis2@san.rr.com contact me I'll see if I can help

the motor is accually a ford 351 converted by pcm using their protech ignition system. It is like gm's dis system on the 3800 series engine in cars but less sofisticated. yes you can check timing and adjust it but be careful it could cause other problems like burning a piston or a valve if you over advance the timing. I would recomend replacing the plug wires with factory replacements because if you use the wrong type it could cause rfi interferance and cause the system to go into limp mode. skidim should have the wires resonablly priced or any pcm dealer should have them.

Ok,

I read the entire owners manual yesterday and went out and spent about 3 hours with the boat. First problem I had was bad fuel. That solved the the issue with the idle and the skipping at top end. It however did not stop the issue with the flooding and backfiring and stalling when I drop the hammer as if I was going to pull somone out of the water. The timing is simply not advancing like it should. Since this is an Electronic Ignition I see no reason why the timing should be adjusted. I have never touched it therefore it should not be needed to be played with. I have however come to the conclusion that my coil pack is shot. That is why the timing is not advancing like it should, causing a slight backfire and a hesitiation. I wish sometimes this thing just had a good old distributer and some points. Now, where can I get one of these coil packs?

Let me know what you guys think of my theory.

Steve

a coil does not control the spark advance the module under the coil controls the spark advance. you may have to check your knock sensor because it could be causing the system to retard the timing. check your timing at 3600 rpm in the water in neutral, it should be 30 degrees for the 240 hp motor and 26 degrees for the pro boss motor. but also check your spark plugs to make sure they are not fouled out. also is the accelerator pump nozzel still a #25 because you could replace it with a #31 and cure the problem, also make sure the accelerator pump arm is adjusted properly.

Also, this only happens under a load. When tranny is disconnected and sitting it revs fine.