Recognize This Motor Problem?

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FishingCop

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The guy I sold my boat to 3 weeks ago called me today wondering if I had ever had this problem. I guess he took it out last week and it ran like a top - they were out 4 hours and had no problems. Today, the motor started right up with a short turn of the key. They idled out past the no wake area, throttled up, but the motor just sputtered some, then died and now will not start.
They tried and tried - turns over fine but won't fire. Gas line and bulb full. I told him I never had that sort of problem in the 4 years I owned the boat.

Specs: 1995 Force, 40hp, 2 cycle, last fall's gas/oil, with stabil added - 13 gallon tank, full up before storage so gas/oil is old - but I've done this for years, never a problem. Also has 10% ethanol gas. Also, pulled the plugs, cleaned them and sprayed sea foam in the cylinders and replaced the plugs and wires for storage. Lower oil changed before storage last November.

The only thing I didn't ask was how many RPM's he was running last week - it runs about 5400 at full throttle - I told him the manual says to hold it down to 5100 and, to watch the RPM's when running WOT. Don't know if he did that or not? Surely it didn't overheat at idle speed. Maybe it just flooded??

All that being said, any thoughts, comments, ideas on what went wrong???

Thanks......
 
Tough to diagnose when you don't have the motor to check out. Do you know if it had spark after it died?


I have the same motor, but a 97. Today was the first time I got to take it out and open it up, and it keeps cutting out at WOT. I assume the carbs are gummed up, and I'm not looking forward to dealing with it..

The tach also said I was running 7000 rpm at WOT. I think my tach is broken, cause that sure as hell wasnt happening :roll:
 
As always - have him check for spark - and maybe replace the spark plugs?

Does he have the gas line hooked up correctly? Is the vent open on the fuel tank?


Does he have the gas /oil ratio correct?

Are the spark plug wires hooked onto the spark plugs correctly?

Are all the wires (sensors and such) plugged in / together? (have him check every connection - there is a main connection from the throttle control box (usually a big red plug - make sure it is in and tight)

Have him shoot some pre-mix into the mouth of the carb and see if it sputters when he turns it over, if it does kinda start then he has a fuel problem somewhere - if not, it is a spark problem

That engine is simple and bullet proof so I bet it is a loose wire
 
I had that problem with a 40 hp force, worked great in the yard and ran good - for a day. Next day, at wot it would cough and die and barely start. Mine was a carb issue - the carb had vibrated loose and was just hanging there. Trying to start it, and priming it - it would flood and be hard to start, then run fine and at wot, it would die IF they messed with the engine, they might have 'adjusted' some stuff - and just don't want to tell you about it.

I felt pretty silly when I just tightened up the carb bolts #-o
 
Does your motor have a safety shut off/dead man switch?

I went out with a guide one time. His motor was giving him trouble. He borrowed a friend's boat to get us fishing.

He could NOT get it started. It turned out that the guide's boat didn't need the safety lanyard, but the boat that he borrowed needed it connected before it would start.

Perhaps your guy bumped the safety switch.

Rich
 
Thanks for all of your suggestions - all of them are good ideas and things to check - I have been forwarding all of them to the new owner - ha, trying to recruit him as a Tin Boats member too :) :)
 
They found the problem. They left the boat outside and had a big rainstorm. They had the live well plug and the bilge plug both plugged into the two drain holes in the transom (the holes for letting water out if you back up and get water inside). The upper part of the transom has a 2" well where the hydrolic and gas lines are and the gas cap is in there too - so, the rain filled the well and apparently went down the gas vent and got into the gas tank. See the picture - you can see the two drain holes in the two corners of the well - actually, both holes have the plugs in them in this picture.

They drained the water/gas mixture and put in fresh gas. Problem solved.

Ha, I always stored the plug in the same two drain holes and I showed that to the new owner when they bought the boat but I always had the boat in the garage, never left out in the rain.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

DSCF3033.JPG
 
Well, that is good news. Great that the problem was solved.

I've often heard that a mechanic will try a completely different gas tank and supply bulb and hose to help diagnose odd problems. Sure would have worked here.

Interesting in that I have that same configuration on my boat. I am going out now to be certain the drain holes are unblocked. Thanks for posting. Rich
 
richg99 said:
I've often heard that a mechanic will try a completely different gas tank and supply bulb and hose to help diagnose odd problems. Sure would have worked here.


That will work wonders. If it is getting fuel and spark, I would suspect bad gas. Just because you purchased gas that very day does not automatically mean it is good gas. It happened to me one time.
 

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