Compression results

[Joker2]

I went down today with fresh gas, checked in-line filter inside motor, looked good,checked all plugs, sprayed them with carb cleaner, disconnected fuel line from engine side of primer ball and pumped a gallon into a bucket, it looked perfect, hooked line up to 6 gall. tank, it started right up using the fast idle lever, let it run for about 1 min. RPM's showing about 1500, pushed the fast idle lever down, she kicked like a mule and shut, couldn't get it started again. I don't know, maybe the fuel pump ? any suggestions ?

[RidgeRunner]

If it were the fuel pump you ought to be able to mash the primer ball hard enough to fill the fuel bowls and keep it going. I lean toward fuel because it died off when you decreased the fast idle. My motor did something similar a little while back. It would idle for a while and shut off but the primer ball didn't feel right. It was kinda squishy and never felt firm like it does when the needle is in the seat. I didn't discover the primer ball was bad until after I took the fuel pump off inspected it and put it all back together. Went to the local marina and purchased a primer ball, installed it in minutes and cured the issue. The old one had a faulty check valve even though it would still move some gas when tested. I left the old one in the splashwell, it hardened up like a piece of plastic. I say ethanol finished it off as it was nearly 10 years old.
Hope you don't mind but I got a question for the gurus about your motor. Assuming all the jetting is the same in the carbs wouldn't having one side lower by 20 psi cause a bit of a nightmare on tuning it to idle smooth? Is there idle air adjustments or something?

[Joker2]

I would be curious to know the answer to that also ! My whole fuel system I installed last year, all new except the tanks, which i cleaned with pebbles and acetone. Water seperator and all lines including primer ball, new, fuel shut off valves, gas fills, vents. I don't know if the ethanol could work that fast, could it ?

[RidgeRunner]

I don't have the answer to the ethanol question. I am running non when I can get it. Joker, when the motor died did you try the primer to see if it was still firm?

[Joker2]

No, I didn't, I am thinking about checking the fuel pump tomorrow, but I would rather not do that yet because I have no trailer and I have to work on this in the water on my mooring ball, I don't even know if I will be able to take off the lower shroud of the engine, it's going to be a nightmare I think. There are no mechanics that will come out to work on the boat on a mooring around here. I would like to exhaust all other avenues before I dive into taking off the fuel pump. Any suggestions ?

[Joker2]

Went down today, got it to run with portable tank and my built in tank, same results, I don't think it's fuel. I can run it idling it using the throttle linkage at engine, keeping it at 800-1,000 RPM's when I push it close to 1,500 she kicks and shuts down, she is also running a little rough. After I was done running it I inspected a few plugs, they all looked normal except one, the bottom starboard plug was clean and shiny just how I left it after the last time I was there when I cleaned it. That doesn't seem right. Like I said from previous posts that plug was the one that always had black buildup on it whenever I changed plugs, yet the compression was 120lbs. on that cylinder. Didn't have time to check for spark, maybe that's the problem, waht do you think ?

[Joker2]

I found what I think to be my problem today, Had no spark on the # 1 cyl. tested the 0583740 ignition coil for # 1& 2 on #3 & 5 cyl. had no spark on # 3, bad coil pack. How common is it for these to go bad, I am thinking about changing all 3 ( only $30.00 each )?
0583740 IGNITION COIL

[spareparts]

if it was one bank(one side of the engine ) that had no spark, its your power pack, if its just one cylinder, or various cylinders on either side, it could be coils and or power pack. The ground strap on the coils are subject to corrosion, you can remove the cols, clean the strap and the coil mounting surface, if the spark comes back, you've found your problems. If the power packs are old, I'd replace them both just because

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Joker2

I found what I think to be my problem today, Had no spark on the # 1 cyl. tested the 0583740 ignition coil for # 1& 2 on #3 & 5 cyl. had no spark on # 3, bad coil pack. How common is it for these to go bad, I am thinking about changing all 3 ( only $30.00 each )?
0583740 IGNITION COIL

While I had my old 86 Rude, I found that coils and power packs go out more often than college kids...ask me how I know...

[Joker2]

It was just the left side cyl. of the top coil (# 1 ) that had no spark, I swapped out the coil with the coil underneath ( # 3 & 4 ) and had spark on #1 with different coil but still no spark on the original one on the left side, now # 3