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Boat won't idle

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Bchboy33 View Drop Down
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    Posted: July-16-2017 at 12:47am
Hey there!   So I have a Holley 4160 carb on a 1985 Ski Nautique 2001 with a Ford 351 Commander. I discovered a fuel leak on the secondary fuel bowl at the pressed in plug. Sorry I don't know the correct term for that part. Anyways, I bought a new fuel bowl and installed it along with the necessary gaskets and transferred over the float assembly. My problem is that I can get the boat to fire up under throttle and run, but when I move it to neutral or idle the engine dies. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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KENO View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KENO Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-16-2017 at 8:07am
Assuming that it idled OK before you took the rear bowl off, transferred parts and replaced it, there's a good chance that your problem is in the rear bowl.

Take the flame arrestor off, look down the throat of the carburetor while it's running and if you have lots of gas going down the venturis especially the secondaries since that's what you worked on, then you probably don't have the float adjusted right and it's allowing way too much gas into the secondaries.

Just like you describe, it'll run in neutral at higher rpm's and as soon as you back it down to idle there is way to much gas going in and it floods.

It may continue spilling gas into the venturis for a short time after it is shut off

There's a gasket that goes between the screw in seat and the body of the bowl, hopefully you have that in place or you'll get fuel leaking around the seat instead of going thru it and even if the float is adjusted right, you'll be flooding.

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Bchboy33 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bchboy33 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-16-2017 at 4:27pm
Yeah the boat was running like a champ before. I was very careful to replace all the gaskets appropriately and made sure the fuel bowl sat just like it was before. There are no leaks. I will check to see if it is flooding. I had to spray carb cleaner on the old gasket to scrape it off using a plastic putty knife. Would it be possible to get some of that old gasket in the idle circuit and if so what is the best way to clean it? Thank you.
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Dreaming View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dreaming Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-17-2017 at 3:50pm
its possible that the gasket fragments got in there... back flush with spray carb cleaner or compressed air.   Likely that your float is mal-adjusted though... I would follow KENO's recommendations.   He knows his stuff.   improper torque, missing gaskets, broken gaskets can all cause big issues. There was another recent post similar to this where the problem was a missing o-ring.    Get back in there, open up the problematic side, re-adjust the float to shut the fuel flow off when the float is perfectly parallel to the bowl side. Check to make sure that the fuel flow shuts off (7psi max) when you close the needle/seat valve.   I use my mouth for this so I don't have new problems after checking. Pictures may help, you might not catch missing parts if you're not familiar with the interworkings...

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bchboy33 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-17-2017 at 5:39pm
Thank you guys for the replies. I ended up taking off the secondary fuel bowl and back flushing the ports/holes with carb cleaner and compressed air. I made sure all the correct gaskets were in place and put it back together. This carb does not have an adjustment for the float so I just left it alone. I fired it back up and it's idling and running great now. It must have been gasket fragments stuck in the holes. Thanks again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dreaming Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-17-2017 at 5:49pm
Originally posted by Bchboy33 Bchboy33 wrote:

   This carb does not have an adjustment for the float so I just left it alone.


Glad it was just junk in there.   that's a good outcome.     There is an adjustment on the float, you just have to bend the tab to make it hang down further, or less, depending on what the float is doing.   If you experience more trouble, try blowing it out again, and check the float level. float levels are critical to proper operation
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bchboy33 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-17-2017 at 5:57pm
Ok will do. Also what is a good idle RPM? I think mine is about 600 right now.
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KENO View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KENO Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-17-2017 at 6:05pm
Originally posted by Dreaming Dreaming wrote:

Originally posted by Bchboy33 Bchboy33 wrote:

   This carb does not have an adjustment for the float so I just left it alone.


Glad it was just junk in there.   that's a good outcome.     There is an adjustment on the float, you just have to bend the tab to make it hang down further, or less, depending on what the float is doing.   If you experience more trouble, try blowing it out again, and check the float level. float levels are critical to proper operation


If you ever need to adjust the float level, just read what Dreaming said

That's how you do it on your carburetor

I think Dreaming knows his way around a carburetor pretty good these days

By the way "carburetor" is French or some other foreign language for "keep me clean or I'll give you fits"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dreaming Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July-17-2017 at 7:47pm
:) thanks Keno... LOL     

600 Idle in Gear in the water. is a good number.   If you hear the damper plate clacking, it's running too slow... bump up to 700 in gear Mine clacks at 600, but YMMV.
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