86 V20 Cuddy 3.7L shakedown run in Norfolk

[1966Mustang]

Been a while since I've posted, here's a list of things I've done so far:

Rebuilt/Replaced:
Riser, Exhaust Manifold, Trim Pump w/ new style quick connects, fuel pump filter, fuel/water separator filter, oil/filter, coolant, carb, fuel feed line.

Installed:
breezeworks 3 wire Alternator conversion
And of course the basic make it pretty steps - compounding, polishing and waxing and the thankfully not too much brightwork, etc.

For the first trip, headed out on a sunny Sunday afternoon (2 weeks ago). At the gas station, I topped off the tank. It took less than 10 gallons. Odd I thought... but, coming out the overflow, so I stopped. I was expecting to put at least 20 in there. Oh well, good deal and off the the launch we went. I took her out in the Lafayette River here in Norfolk, VA - it's a pretty protected body, lots of boaters, lots of people near by and close to populated areas. The launch is a pretty nice City one, easy in and out. Launched the boat, fired right up, and set off to see what the old 3.7L would do. She does about 40. So, after thinking wow - great - no probs - Temps right around 160ish. All good, let's head out into the Elizabeth River and down towards the center of Norfolk.

If you're not familiar with Norfolk and the Hampton Roads area... It's a major shipping and Navy area. So, heading out into the Elizabeth and cruising down to Norfolk with my wife and a buddy, I started to notice some different engine noises... I think it started as a stumble, then fine, then another stumble. WTH... So, not wanting to push it, we turned around and headed back to where we came from. Flipped the engine cover up - everything looked fine (as it often does...). Anyway, I wasn't able to give it much fuel before it started spitting and sputtering, so we just puttered it back to the launch. Got it home, pulled the carb and the screen was clogged with old gas crud. The bowl didn't look too bad, the screen under the accelerator pump had some crud under it too. So, I cleaned and rebuilt the carb. In the process, I noticed that the choke spring wasn't doing anything because it wasn't catching the lever. I made sure to put that together properly. Replaced the fuel pump filter and made sure the steel line to the carb was cleaned out as well. Put it all back together and - engine started right up and was sounding fine. Choke worked, temps good, etc. Ready for another Sunday test drive...

So, today was that another Sunday.
Prior to today's trip, I did a mental and visual inspection of what I had done previously, connected the battery charger, checked oil, checked coolant, got the boat ready, etc. We headed out about 3:30 today - basically to do a replay of the first trip but expecting better results. First 30 minutes or so - no problem, hit 41 mph or so, everything sounding fine. Temps good. Headed out into the Elizabeth river and headed the other direction - towards Chesapeake Bay, rather than Norfolk. No sooner had we got into the channel proper - where the cargo ships be... sputter sputter... And this time with an actual cargo ship being tended to by tugs heading in our direction etc. I made the executive decision to turn around and head back to the launch. "Ya hear that honey? That means we're heading back..." We made it out of the channel to where people were fishing and about 5ft of depth... then the engine stopped. It sputtered out! Well, at least we were in a better position to think a bit. The weather was good, waters calm, people near by. Dropped anchor, lift the hatch - no obvious anything wrong. Try to give it a start - seems like it doesn't want to crank - Real slow.. Then no crank... Damn! - Was the alternator not charging? Vapor lock? WTH... Wait another five minutes. Cranked up and started. WHEW... Throw it in gear and limp it back to the launch. It seemed to clear up, hit WOT, idled down, no problem. Idling along thinking, it sputtered and died again. Wait five minutes.. started back up. WTH... Now I'm thinking I've got some bad fuel in there. Who knows what is comprising the 50+ gal that I did not put in there. I'll find out tomorrow when I drain the fuel/water and start draining the tank.

I will say that the 3.7L engine's ability to resurrect itself is a great feature... But it's certainly a feature I don't really want to test again. It was an Adventure for sure.

Can't wait till the next run!

[Destroyer]

Yup. If I was a betting man I'd bet that you have a load of bad fuel/dirty tank/etc. Sounds like you need to open the inspection hatch on the tank, pump out whatever crud that's in there and clean the tank and lines.

Oh, and do yourself a huge favor and buy a fuel/water filter/separator. That should be the absolute last thing your fuel goes thru before it is in the short line to your engine's carb or fuel rail. This way you know that your fuel is clean. Period. (Get one of the ones with the clear plastic bowl on the bottom that you can empty the water out of). Moeller makes a good one, as does Racor, Seasense (Walmart) and several others. Cheapest $60 (about) piece of mind you can buy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moeller-Wate...JXkSxQ&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moeller-Clea...5X0BTL&vxp=mtr

[garbubba]

Testify about the fuel water separator. I had similar problems with my 20 when I first got it. Instead of cleaning out the tank, I just put an in-line filter where I could get to it easy (right in side the battery compartment) and carried spares including one that I could clean & reuse. I had to change that thing offshore a few times, cussed it out a few times too, but it did the trick.

[THEFERMANATOR]

EVERY boat should have a spin on fuel water seperator mounted just before the engine where it is easily accesible. Can't tell you how many times I've had to stop at sea to swap one out. But its better than plugging a carb up and burning your engine down. Beings this is an I/O, check your fuel pump. Most I/O pumps I've encountered have there filters on the intake side so the only filter to catch debris coming out of the pump is the filtet in the carbs inlet. If you have filters before the pump not plugging but are still getti,g debris into your carb, then the only place it can come from is the pump itself, and is normally a sign that its diaphram is coming apart(when this happens, they start dumping gas either into your engine, out the vent hose, or worse, into your bildge.

[RWilson2526]

Good advice from Destroyer but being that you have an I/O and will have to mount fuel filter under the engine hatch I belive USCG does not allow the plastic bowls on fuel filters for that installation.

[1966Mustang]

Took a look into the tank last night - it's about full of fuel - 50+ Gallons.

What is currently set up in there is:
Tank -- Napa F/W separator -- FuelPump Filter -- Carb Filter.

I pulled the carb filter - nothing to mention in there.

Pulled the fuel pump filter - nothing there.

Water separator didn't look like it had water in the fuel

Took a fuel sample from down the bottom of the tank into a glass jar and let it sit overnight... Nothing separated out. Not finding an obvious smoking gun yet.

I do have a napa fuel/water separator - looks like a regular filter, no drain hole. I am going to replace this with one with a drain. Parker/Racor makes one that fits the OEM mercury mount about $50.

In addition to that I am going to get small aux tank to hook up to with known good gas to do a test run. If it runs all right on there, I'll know the fuel in the tank is the issue for sure. This seems like the easiest way to troubleshoot.

If it displays it's issues again, then I'll know I need to dig deeper... plugs, wires (which are new, but wrong style end), take a look at the dizzy.

[chart]

if your not finding anything in your fuel next time it starts sputtering try popping your gas cap its a long shot but maybe a partially clogged vent?

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by chart

if your not finding anything in your fuel next time it starts sputtering try popping your gas cap its a long shot but maybe a partially clogged vent?

Chart, that's a damn good suggestion.

Originally Posted by RWilson2526

Good advice from Destroyer but being that you have an I/O and will have to mount fuel filter under the engine hatch I belive USCG does not allow the plastic bowls on fuel filters for that installation.

Rob, I wasn't aware of that. Good to know. Thanks

[chart]

Have you figured out the problem with your boat yet?

[1966Mustang]

Wow - can't believe I've been away from here for nearly 9 months?! I have been lurking though.

Recap from last 2016 post - This last run didn't leave the launch. It was disappointing. I discovered that the wire from the dizzy to coil was shorting on the dizzy housing! Went home. Replaced that wire. Got it running again, headed out, nothing but stalling out. Shift cable out of adjustment? Needed to do some research. Decided it was the shift cable.

On the first start this year, wouldn't start - points glazed (they were new at the last 2016 run). Cleaned up points - fired right up, decided to convert to electronic ignition.

Other things done/replaced this year:
- Pertronix conversion
- Spark plug wires (PO installed wrong ones for the 170...)
- Slave Solenoid
- Horn
- New VHF and Antenna and connected to GPS
- Cleaned up wiring
- New shift cable
- New temp sender
- Replaced upper gear box - discovered old one was leaking into the bellows and was missing a chunk of upper gear which had torn up the seals and inside of housing. Did not find any piece of chunk of gear. I suspect the PO fished it out... And I thought I just was going to replace the shift cable.

Hopefully this weekend I'll find out if I have killed most gremlins. Anyone near Norfolk want to come lend some morale support this weekend? I'll be launching at the Lafayette River Haven Creek launch.

Wish me some luck!

Thanks,

Perry