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‘86 model E90txcdc fuel starved?

S

Sfox

Contributing Member
Back story, on board fuel tank was foul. Previous owners let gas cap seal go bad allowing moisture. Added different fuel and heat product and removed the same on three occasions with weeks between each. The last time was a bottle of heat only. A month later added new fuel.
Have installed a nice water separator filter, new pick up valve along with new anti siphon valve, new fuel line and new primer hose and bulb new fuel pump and rebuilt both carbs. Pretty confident at this point the system is ready. So the issue I’m experiencing is the primer bulb never appears to get firm, only slight resistance. The engine will start in this condition, and accelerate and will idle some then die and not immediately restart several try’s later it will run again. I have a spare fuel tank of which I will try to connect after I replace a power pack on port side of engine soon, only running on two cylinders at this time. Any other suggestions ??
 
First off, adding HEET fuel treatment to water contaminated fuel isn't the best solution. Your best option is to siphon out all old contents of the tank, blow the old fuel out of the lines, then refill with fresh fuel. Depending on how much water is currently in the tank you may be fighting this problem all season.

The primer bulb not getting firm could be an issue with your carb float levels. Did you check/adjust those when rebuilding the carbs? If not, you might want to pull the carbs and verify the floats are properly set so the needle valves close properly.
 
Thank you for the carb float level clue will look into that with the mechanic that rebuilt the carbs.. as far as treating with only heet product my post read this..” Added different fuel and heat product and removed the same on three occasions with weeks between each. The last time was a bottle of heat only. A month later added new fuel.” Pretty confident that siphoning the fuel out 3 different times and replacing everything that touches the fuel from tank to motor, I believe that tank is ready.
 
kevinj said:
First off, adding HEET fuel treatment to water contaminated fuel isn't the best solution. Your best option is to siphon out all old contents of the tank, blow the old fuel out of the lines, then refill with fresh fuel. Depending on how much water is currently in the tank you may be fighting this problem all season.

The primer bulb not getting firm could be an issue with your carb float levels. Did you check/adjust those when rebuilding the carbs? If not, you might want to pull the carbs and verify the floats are properly set so the needle valves close properly.
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Bypassed the filter now to see if any different. Not much and replaced hand primer bulb to see, put on an auxiliary tank and seemed better. So have since discovered only running on two cylinders so I need to figure out why that won’t fit the port side cylinders and then get back on the fuel.
 
These motors have a history of broken piston rings.-----Before you spend any coins on it you need to post the actual numbers that you get.-----And does spark jump a gap of at least 3/8" on all leads ?----Use a test device for this procedure.
 
Thanks racer, actual numbers ? All leads as in the spark plugs? I had a tester on each plug that lit up on starboard side only. Swapped coils from one side to the other problem remained the same leading me to power pack feeding the coil. Replaced the power pack to coils and Problem persisted. Still no spark on port side. I guess whatever feeds the power pack is next?
 
Post #5 suggest doing a compression test.-----These motors have a history.-----But it seems you ignored that valuable suggestion.-----I often suggest simple trouble shooting tips.--Checking wires , pins and ohm readings.-----Many times it is ignored.
 
racerone said:
Post #5 suggest doing a compression test.-----These motors have a history.-----But it seems you ignored that valuable suggestion.-----I often suggest simple trouble shooting tips.--Checking wires , pins and ohm readings.-----Many times it is ignored.thanks racer for that clarification wasn’t sure what you meant when you said post the numbers. As far as the spark goes I have used a tester and no spark to two cylinders so my guess the compression in those would be zero. I want to find out what is north of the power pack to test it I have tested coils and they are ok, and replaced the offending side power pack, to no avail. Just wondering where to go to next.
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I am beginning to think it was a mistake to stop in this forum. First response I got started with “first off” as though I were 10 and had no clue. Which is incorrect I am 71 and have no clue..lol Fact is he did not read my first post or he may have known I had siphoned fuel out on several occasions. And the second reply I got was “those motors have a history and I should post the actual numbers” of which I had zero idea what numbers were being spoke of. With only 2 cylinders firing out of the four I figured to get all 4 firing before determining compression. Thanks for any help.
 
Sfox said:
Back story, on board fuel tank was foul. Previous owners let gas cap seal go bad allowing moisture. Added different fuel and heat product and removed the same on three occasions with weeks between each. The last time was a bottle of heat only. A month later added new fuel.
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Sfox, I did read your first post but didn't quite catch from your phrasing "removed the same on three occasions" that it meant you siphoned out the entire tank and refilled with fresh fuel. Often times I've seen people trying to treat water contaminated fuel with HEET and just burn through it, which usually does not work. I meant no disrespect and obliviously (I see now) you've eliminated contaminated fuel as a cause for your symptoms, so lets move on.
Sfox said:
And the second reply I got was “those motors have a history and I should post the actual numbers” of which I had zero idea what numbers were being spoke of. With only 2 cylinders firing out of the four I figured to get all 4 firing before determining compression. Thanks for any help.
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Racerone has been in the repair game for along time and has seen many common problems, that's why he said in post #5 to test compression. The era of your engine has a failure prone piston design with a history of broken piston rings. He was trying to save you some money because if you have low compression in one or more cylinders you likely have this common failure. You should see about 120PSI on all four cylinders and no more than 10% difference between any of them. If you have low compression or a big variance you would need to dive deeper and see if this is a head gasket issue or broken rings. At that point you can decide whether to rebuild this engine and chase down any other electrical issues it may have, or cut your losses and find a replacement outboard.
 
Thank you Kevin! Yes I got you now and racer and will see about a compression test I had someone do that for me when I purchased the boat last August to see if I wanted to pursue the motor. At that time that person stated cylinder 1 had 90 on first try and 95 on second attempt. 2&3 had 110 and 4 had 115. I personally have not tested but now I think I will. And will get back to y’all. Appreciate you
 
racerone said:
Take the head off ( 10 bolts ) where you see 90/95 PSI.----Post picture of top of piston and cylinder head.
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That sounds crazy hard and you must have done that hundreds of times because you said that as if it was like taking a nap. I have Never had a head off a boat motor before. I have no idea even as to what 10 bolts I would remove. Sounds as though I’m in over my head and may need to find an expert to go further thanks for the help though. Just curious if I figured out the bolts to remove will there be gaskets to replace also can you tell me the torque needed to reapply the bolts?
 
Also my friend who is a shade tree mechanic said the stator should be looked at for cracks it could be bad, and may be the reason I’m not getting fire to the port side cylinders. How hard is it to get one of those flywheels off and will it mess with the timing or is there a method of marking it before taking it off.
 
Ok thanks I did look at some YouTube videos and I think I can pull that flywheel, can anyone tell me if that messes up timing ? I guess I am going to see about a timing light and get that done too.
 
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