89 Nautique no start after carb rebuild
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Engine Repair
Forum Discription: Engine problems and solutions
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51728
Printed Date: November-21-2024 at 10:11am
Topic: 89 Nautique no start after carb rebuild
Posted By: dabeastro
Subject: 89 Nautique no start after carb rebuild
Date Posted: August-14-2024 at 12:00pm
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Working on getting this boat back on the water after sitting for almost 5 years. Less than 200 hours on the motor. Well maintained and ran great before sitting while the local lakes were super low and I was too busy to get my ass in gear. Started by dumping all the fuel, replacing the ASV, dumping the separator (kept the filter because it looked like new still), and rebuilt the carb. Prior to doing all this I turned the key to see what it was doing (before really thinking about how old the fuel was), it would start to fire with some fuel dumped in the carb, but wouldn't keep running without lots of throttle. Also, no fuel making it to the bowl in the regular fashion. Hence the rebuild. Post rebuild, I've got plenty of fuel and decent crank with a new starter battery, but won't fire. Plugs are pretty black, but not awful. I'm starting to think that I messed something up with the rebuild. I was pretty careful and believe I didn't mess up reassembly, but maybe I am missing something simple? It's hot where I am and the choke plate is always at least partly open. So maybe I goofed up the choke? I pulled the rich/lean screws from the metering block when I was rebuilding and just eyeballed reinstallation. And the power valve in the rebuild kit was 6.5 while I had the old 2.5 in there before. All suggestions appreciated. ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Replies:
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: August-14-2024 at 2:33pm
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No start after a carb rebuild is normally No fuel or to much fuel. You said you have fuel now so maybe it is flooding? Open the carb up 100% to get more air in there and see if it fires up. Testing for fuel, move the throttle from idle to wide open while you look down into the carb. You should see two squirts of fuel spray into the carburetor. The accelerator pump does this when working proper. The squirts will also add fuel but you need to know if they work after the rebuild. With the throttle held wide open do you see fuel leaking into the lower carb. Just basic checks, rule these out. You already know there is a problem, just need to find it.
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Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-14-2024 at 5:46pm
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Yeah. From no fuel to too much fuel. Pulled the arrestor and disabled the choke (it is 100 degrees here). Turned the key and I can see fuel pumping out the primary vent tube as it cranks. At least the accelerator pump is working fine. Any thoughts on what to look at before I pull the carb back off and try to find my mistake? I've seen suggestions to check for high pressure from the fuel pump, but I'm at a loss as to where to attach the gauge on this unit. ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-14-2024 at 8:13pm
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Alright. Pulled the carb off. Discovered I must have forgotten to reattach the e-clip to the float and mine has the little wire that was just waving around in there. Slapping it back together once I get some more gaskets. Speaking of which, the gasket between the body and the metering blocked was totally soaked. I guess that's normal because of the metering block runs? ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: August-14-2024 at 9:40pm
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I should have warned, if cranking while looking down the throat of the carb you may be exposed to having your hair burned off by backfire. It does happen so do be careful. Glad you found your issue. I am surprised the gaskets are no good, on a fresh rebuild they are usually fine and can be reused? My Holley days were 20 years ago so maybe quality has changed. |
Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-15-2024 at 4:58pm
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Well the gaskets were Edelbrock, maybe the new Holley gaskets I just put in will fare better. No more flooding, still won't start. I'm getting fuel. Maybe too much still because when held wide open I see a decent amount of fuel below. Is that what you mean by lower carb? There was an absolute pond down there when I pulled the carb off to fix the float problem. I almost am starting to suspect I am not getting any spark because it's not even trying to fire and sputter along like it was before I rebuilt the carb. But I don't know what the connection would be. It was so close to starting and running with the old fuel. I really just did the carb while I was going through the whole fuel system purging the old gas as is advised. I am getting minimal drop between the battery and the starter. I checked the points. I pulled the plugs and there was a bunch of carbon and they were wet with fuel, but otherwise looked okay. I'm about to give up and take it in, but I never do that and I'm pretty sure it is something stupid that I am missing.
------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: August-15-2024 at 5:53pm
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Sounds like it is flooded in a big way. You might pull all the spark plugs and crank it over to blow excess out of the cylinders. Look at the plugs, my guess is they will all be very wet and not able to spark. Have you noticed the starter loading up as the engine is trying to start? Excess gas flowing can cause a hydro lock, piston not able to rotate due to fuel puddle in the combustion chamber. Hydro lock can bend connecting rods so be careful. The reason I suggest removing the plugs, gives all that gas a place to blow out of the engine.
You should never see a pond under the carb. |
Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-16-2024 at 3:58pm
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I'm going to take your advice and pull the plugs and crank it in case the flooding is really bad. The pond is really just a puddle on one portion of the manifold. However...I checked for spark with an inline tester. I am not getting any. Which is perplexing because I definitely was before the rebuild. This boat has the lanyard plug bypassed by previous owner. And it still looks okay. I guess I'm looking at the condenser, coil, and points now? Just really odd that it had spark before I pulled the carb. ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-17-2024 at 5:53pm
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Checked the coil and good voltage. Before heading out to find a good condensor and points I figured I would check the gap. It felt a little loose on my 0.018 feeler so I reset it. And now I'm getting spark and it starts. I guess maybe running super fine grit paper through there messed it up just enough? Now I can keep it running above 1000 rpm with the throttle on a bit, but it won't idle. So I am thinking a new set of points are in order and I need to brush up my timing and such. So good news I guess. ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: August-17-2024 at 10:36pm
| In the old days after installing new points we would wipe them clean using a business card. In those days all the business cards were thick paper stock and a little rough. You could slip a white business card between the points and slip if back and forth a few times. Sometimes they came out clean, sometimes you could see a gray or black film on the card. They would fire right up after the card wipe. It just cleaned the surfaces for good contact. |
Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-20-2024 at 1:21pm
Got the idle sorted. Just needed adjustment. Probably at least a bit related to swapping to the 6.5 power valve. Now...I've got heat issues. Idling up to 180 off a bucket (with 85 degree water from the hose. It's hot down in Texas). Portside riser is much hotter than starboard. Tightened all the hoses and no change. I pulled the impeller and it's pretty chewed up. Does this look bad enough to be causing my issue? Replacing regardless, but wondering if I should be trying to get chunks out of the system somehow. Figured I would pop the new one in and see if the temps come down first.   ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: Wilhelm Hertzog
Date Posted: August-20-2024 at 4:19pm
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Impeller definitely needs to be replaced. ------------- 1982 Ski Nautique PCM351W RR II Velvet Drive 10-17-003 1:1 II PerfectPass Stargazer Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. |
Posted By: samudj01
Date Posted: August-20-2024 at 4:22pm
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That impeller is TOAST! Looks like it lost some chunks but they look to be small...hopefully nothing large. You may get lucky and they all flushed out. I would switch, run and keep an eye on temp. Make sure you never start the boat dry, even for a few sec. Some folks do this in their driveway or at the ramp and it will hurt the impeller. Install the new impeller with a little dawn. That helps too. Feel in the inside of the pump and make sure it is intact...I had a jabsco that had plastic and it degraded/cracked and would kill an impeller instantly. ------------- 78 Ski Tique, 72 Skier w/302's, 93 SN w/351 & 17 GS22 w/zr409 Previous - 99 Sport Nautique w/GT40 and 87 Martinique w/351 |
Posted By: dabeastro
Date Posted: August-21-2024 at 12:51pm
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New impeller did not bring my temps down. Which was disappointing. But thankfully I'd picked up a new 143 thermostat while at the parts counter and swapping that has me down to around 162 at idle running off my 94 degree Austin hose water (I actually took a temp on this. It's August!). I threw both units in a pot while I was waiting to get back outside and figured I'd share the photo for science. So I think I'm ready for a lake test to see where the temps land when I'm not using bath water for cooling. Lessons learned about getting this '89 SN on the water after a 5 year hiatus: 1. Dump the fuel, do the fuel filter, rebuild the carb....correctly. 2. Clean the points and then double check the gap. 3. Replace the RWP impeller 4. Replace the thermostat 5. Tighten up those hoses I'm sure I'll find something else shortly, but glad to get it back on the water. *************** happens, I don't think I'll ever let it sit so long again.  ------------- 1989 351 Ski Nautique |