1989 sea Ray pachanga 22 454 b1 SLOW

[alldodge]

To me, this is the only one which shows some oil

The rest all look lean

 

[NHGuy]

Yes, they are very white. What ignition and carb do you have?

 

[davidonmars]

Thunderbolt 4 ignition and a quadrajet carb. Doesn't pop or anything on top end I figured they looked a bit lean. Just changed everything ignition related cap rotor plugs wires, that sensor under the rotor. Didn't change coil. These plugs are the old ones so unsure how many hours on them I would say at very minimum 10 because I put on at least 10 hours before I changed them. Also changed water/fuel filter, compression is 145ish average. Timing is 8degree base advancing 22 degrees

 

[davidonmars]

Any ideas?

 

[NHGuy]

Maybe it's a carb that's jetted for a smaller motor. Get the tag # off the front of the carburetor and we will look it up for you.

 

[scoflaw]

Only thing I can say is...you shouldn't have sold that Phazer.. Sorry dude couldn't help myself

 

[davidonmars]

The tag is pink I don't have the number off hand but it said 454 mag and 454 sfi or something like that not sure on that one

 

[davidonmars]

The tag on the carb is 1347-8291

 

[alldodge]

You have the correct carb

To recap from my point of view, the post started because it was not going as fast as you thought it should. Most the stuff folks asked to you checked and said it was within spec. Last issue is the Tach is showing different from one time or day to the next but otherwise runs fine.

See three things which can effect the speed your reaching for, a slight lean condition, one cylinder burning a bit of oil, compression a tad low (if gauge is accurate, 145ish) and the weight of the boat.

 

[davidonmars]

You have the correct carb

To recap from my point of view, the post started because it was not going as fast as you thought it should. Most the stuff folks asked to you checked and said it was within spec. Last issue is the Tach is showing different from one time or day to the next but otherwise runs fine.

See three things which can effect the speed your reaching for, a slight lean condition, one cylinder burning a bit of oil, compression a tad low (if gauge is accurate, 145ish) and the weight of the boat.

145 is the average is that low. I posted individual cylinder psi above lowest 138 highest 150. I think that is pretty good? Wet loaded with full tank fuel 3600 lbs in truck scale. Plugs do look lean as I posted above any way to Richen? Also the rpm only went up on one occasion as soon as I changed plugs and wires. I flooded the boat because I had firing order wrong as soon as I got it sorted I went out and she was revving to 5000 which is what this boat should do over rev with a 21 pitch prop like my Phazar did. Stopped the boat went back out again not flooded and she didn't reach 5000 4450 max Rom trimmed right up 53 mph top speed

 

[alldodge]

Your right at 10 percent prop slip (1.5 ratio, 4450 rpm, 21 pitch prop, 53 mph), betting its better at slower speeds, or could be tweaked getting it to 7 percent or so.

If your motor was hitting 100% on all cylinders your compression would be at least 150 on all. So your motor normally puts out around 40 hp per cylinder. The lower compression on some drops your hp. If you can get all the hp out of all cylinders, you would be able to hit 60 mph in turning 4800 rpm with the 21 pitch prop.

Your motor needs to be freshened up to pick up the speed.

My guess is the lower compression cylinder is where the oil is showing up, and the lower compression is causing smooth airflow thru the crab and may be cause some of the lean issue, but think most the lean is the carb being clogged a bit

 

[davidonmars]

Your right at 10 percent prop slip (1.5 ratio, 4450 rpm, 21 pitch prop, 53 mph), betting its better at slower speeds, or could be tweaked getting it to 7 percent or so.

If your motor was hitting 100% on all cylinders your compression would be at least 150 on all. So your motor normally puts out around 40 hp per cylinder. The lower compression on some drops your hp. If you can get all the hp out of all cylinders, you would be able to hit 60 mph in turning 4800 rpm with the 21 pitch prop.

Your motor needs to be freshened up to pick up the speed.

My guess is the lower compression cylinder is where the oil is showing up, and the lower compression is causing smooth airflow thru the crab and may be cause some of the lean issue, but think most the lean is the carb being clogged a bit

Compression test was done on a stone cold motor I'd expect numbers to raise with a warm engine. Also how can I Richen the carb as I suspect it's lean on the top end judging by spark plugs

 

[NHGuy]

And there's still the possibility of other issues. Only a couple of plugs were dark, right? I hope there are no bad rings or valve guides. You'd be smart to do the compression test again, but hot with the throttle open. And again with a squirt of oil in each hole.

Then, Once you trust that the engine is good...

It's lean, you should do a full cleanup and rebuild of the carburetor. Best process is to use Cliff Ruggles book "How to Rebuild & Modify Rochester Quadrajet Carburetors"
Just read through and follow his process without doing the hot rodding part. Fix it Cliff's way, set it the Mercruiser way

Your carburetor already has the right jetting and metering. Don't go buy another generic quadrajet, there's no way in the world it will be as perfect a match as the carb that came with the engine when it was built.

There are a lot of fuel passages. And there are two brass collared fuel restrictions that have to be removed to assure yourself a perfect rebuild. I would guess many rebuilds do not remove these, they just blow cleaner and air through there which is wrong because stuff can remain if the restriction tubes are not removed when cleaning the carb body.

Cliffs way is kind of involved, I used it and made my last boat run great. The book was $24 I spent $75 on parts. But I worked on it over the off season. Took a few weeks during my scarce spare time.
If that seems too much get a rebuild for what $250? And maybe it works. Or get an Edelbrock 1410 and a jet kit. Probably $500. It might need some finagling to get your fuel right. There is a book for that at Edelbrock's site.