Head problems on the 4th

[ontherocks83]

you can bet the other is not far behind...also block has to be corroded as well, ck manifolds closely as well

Surprisingly the block actually is in decent shape. The water passages look good and all of the threads for the head bolts are clean and not corroded at all.

You are definitely right about the other head. I'm just hoping to salvage the rest of the season and do it this winter. Waste of time I know.

 

[ontherocks83]

sorry for the long time between updates. I got the head bolted on this weekend and got her running. The boat idled for 45 minutes while I adjusted the timing and checked over everything. Took her out and very shortly after I got the engine above 3000-3500 rpms she bogged down and lost speed. If I got off the throttle fast enough she'd stay alive, if I didn't touch the throttle the engine would die.

I'm leaning towards a fuel issue, of either restriction in the pick up in the gas tank as the cleanliness of the tank is suspect, or possibly a weak fuel pump. I'm borrowing a friends fuel pressure gauge and the next time I can make it to the boat I'll let you all know what I find. In the mean time all I can do is check off another week of the summer that is lost to non-boating activities.

 

[ontherocks83]

I was able to get to the boat after work today with a fuel pressure test kit and took it out for a run. At idle the fuel pressure started at 6 psi and built to 10psi. When accelerating the pressure steadily dropped until it was almost cutting out at 2 psi. If I stopped and let it idle it would build back to 10 psi. I am ordering a fuel pump and will let you know if it fixes it!

 

[ontherocks83]

Found the problem!!!!!!! I replaced the fuel pump and took it for a test run. It ran better and took longer to act up but it still stalled out at higher speeds. Since the fuel pump improved the performance im guessing the older one was getting tired so atleast replacing that wasnt a total waste. This morning I took a jerry can of gas and bypassed the boats gas tank by running a fuel line right into the jerry can. Took it out and no problems at all!!!! Looks like the pickup in the gas tank is probably cracked. I didnt have the tools with me to pull out the old one but once I do I'll post a pic of it.

 

[ontherocks83]

I took the fuel pick up out of the tank and found the check valve that the fuel line attaches to is full of crap. The sand and debris you see on the paper is only some of what has come out of it, there is more in there that won't come out. I am making up a whole new fuel pick up and replacing the check valve.

The concern I was running into is that obviously this can happen again due to all the stuff in the tank, so a mechanic I work with gave me a great idea that I am going to try. I will post pics of it after I build it as it is hard to explain but essentially, I am going to put the old pick up back in the tank with the 90 degree elbow. I am going to orient the elbow to face the back of the boat where the tank ends. I am then going to install a pipe about 4 or 5 inches long that hangs off the back of the tank into the bilge. At the end of that pipe I am going to install a spin on fuel filter housing just like the one on the engine. I will make a support bracket to hold the weight of the housing and then on the outlet of the housing I will put the check valve and fuel line to the engine.

 

[ontherocks83]

I installed the tank filter today. I hardpiped the filter just after the fuel pick up and installed the anti siphon valve on the output of the filter housing. See picture. The boat ran great!! Just glad I can salvage what little summer we have left.

 

[keith4216]

Did you flush and pump out the tank?

 

[ontherocks83]

Did you flush and pump out the tank?

No. I'm still trying to find an effective way to clean it as my only access is through the fuel level sender hole. The filter should prevent any major problems until I can clean the tank or if I cant clean it effectively then all I have to do is periodically change the filter and I can stay up and running.

On a side note I forgot to mention. In my previous post with the pic of the filter there is a block of wood supporting the filter. That is only temporary. I plan on finding a more professional way of supporting the filter this winter. But for this year I just put something there so I can use my boat.

 

[jumbofordman]

Sorry I didn't jump in and warn you, I usually catch threads with these symptoms. Anyway, for anyone else out there reading this, if you ever encounter a situation where a vehicle (car, motorcycle or boat) runs great up to a certain speed then won't go any faster, or runs great for a few minutes, then quits: Your #1 culprit is going to be something disrupting the fuel flow. A lot of times it's crap in the tank clogging up an inlet filter or obstruction such as a check valve, especially in a vehicle that gets infrequent use (such as a boat or motorcycle.)