Maiden voyage on 89 2.3 OMC & very disappointed

[Jake707]

There should be a small hose running from the top of the tank to a thru-hull vent fitting, usually the hose runs runs parallel to the main fuel fill hose and the vent is close to the main fill. Post some pics.

here are some pictures. I was able to find the line you mentioned and i dont think that it is plugged in any way because the first time i filled the boat up at the gas station i didnt know when to stop and gas started backing up out of the little vent hole in the back of the boat (it is the small chrom cap in the pics). I put the cap on pretty tight thinking that was how it should be so should i loosen it some? i was afraid water would get in or it would be to loose and rattle off. I wont be able to take it out for a couple weeks as im not going out on a holiday weekend, too many drunk idiots out on the water. But if this coil, fuel filter, loosening the fuel cap doesnt work im out of suggestions so is there anything else i should check while its in my drive way?

Fuel Fill Cap


vent cap is the small chrome cap to the left


close up of the vent cap


fill line is on the left and the vent line is on the right


both lines running up the side of the engine bay


Vent line runs right to the vent cap

 

[Jake707]

here are the last two pics, as i could only upload 6 at a time.

 

[Jake707]

also, if anyone has one, my step ladder broke off the bottom of the swim deck so if anyone knows anyone with one and would sell it, let me know. Thanks

 

[Jake707]

so i took the boat out this weekend and tried it out for wakeboarding and tubing with 4 friends. It seemed to do ok, was able to pull my friends right out of the water, granted the know how to wakeboard already, and pull the tube at 25-30 mph with no issues.

I thought the problem had been fixed with the new coil and fuel filter however when it was time to go it acted up again, where after cruising at full speed for a couple minutes across the lake it would all of a sudden slow down even thought the throttle was still all the way down. I believe the RPMs slowed down as well with the speed and loosening the fuel cap did not help. I checked the marks on my prop when i got out of the water and everything still lined up so i dont believe it is a spun prop. What else could be going on?

 

[MikDee]

Another update, pulled the distributor cap and the points arm snaps back when rotating a 1/4 turn so it's no sticking

Whats the points arm? I meant the distributor shaft itself, with the rotor on it. It must smoothly turn all the way to full advance, (against the stop) as it would when you reach Full Throttle. Then slowly smoothly spring back (against the other stop) at idle, for you to then set the timing! If it's not doing this, then it needs to be cleaned, and lubricated. Timing needs to be set right after you set the dwell, or point gap. It'll never run right without this working properly.

 

[Jake707]

Ok I am confused on what exactly to do I took the cap off and rotated the small arm in the middle slightly and it snapped back that is obviously not what you are saying to check so do I remove the cap at all? I shouldn't be able the turn the Dist shaft without loosening something that locks it correct?

 

[vinnie1234]

If you are getting a timing gun you can check to see if the timing advance works by watching the mark when you Rev the motor. There is most likely a spec in your manual for exact advance, but most engines will be a little past 30 degrees at full advance. The best and fastest way to figure this out is by reading your spark plugs. Run the boat in the water until it acts up. Keep running it like that for a couple minutes. Then, immediately remove the spark plugs one at a time. Take a picture of each.and.keep them straight as to which cylinder they came out of. Check the plug gap, and inspect insulator, electrode for cracks or any other weirdness. Make notes, post pics and you should be able to pin this down quite easily.

 

[MikDee]

Ok I am confused on what exactly to do I took the cap off and rotated the small arm in the middle slightly and it snapped back that is obviously not what you are saying to check so do I remove the cap at all? I shouldn't be able the turn the Dist shaft without loosening something that locks it correct?

I don't know what you are talking about when you say the "small arm"? Are you taking about the "arm" of the points? Of course that needs to rotate on it's post, and open, & close, as the distributor camshaft rotates, and bumps it open to fire the points. I'm talking about the distributor shaft with the rotor on it. That is actually 2 pieces on a points distributor, the upper piece with the distributor camshaft on it, needs to rotate a little on the lower distributor shaft. To provide spark advance. So, Yes you should be able to rotate the rotor a little bit without loosening anything up, then it should spring back to it's original position if working right.

The upper part of the distributor shaft (the distributor) camshaft is usually held in place by a tiny (removable) spring clip in the center. Underneath is the 2 weights, & 2 springs, that swing open, and spring closed, as the engine speed increases, & decreases. All this needs to be cleaned, and lubed to work smoothly. Do you understand now?

 

[bruceb58]

If you are getting a timing gun you can check to see if the timing advance works by watching the mark when you Rev the motor.

This is how you check advance. You check advance vs RPM from the manual.

Rotating the rotor by hand tells you close to nothing.

 

[vinnie1234]

If you run the boat and check your spark plugs, you can tell if the engine is getting enough fuel, if the spark timing is off, if you have a problem on 4 cylinders or just one..... Really useful tool to learn how to read plugs.

 

[vinnie1234]

If you run the boat and check your spark plugs, you can tell if the engine is getting enough fuel, if the spark timing is off, if it isn't burning right - if you have a problem on 4 cylinders or just a one..... Really useful tool to learn how to read plugs.

 

[MikDee]

This is how you check advance. You check advance vs RPM from the manual.

Rotating the rotor by hand tells you close to nothing.

Sure if you have a timing light, it's easy Duh!
The way I mentioned it is easy, and can be diagnosed without any tools by a novice. He may be dealing with a fuel delivery issue, but it can only help to check the advance, and fix it if necessary.

 

[bruceb58]

Sure if you have a timing light, it's easy Duh!

If he wants to work on his boat he needs a timing light. I assume since he is on here, we should teach him the CORRECT way to check it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Just jumping in. 21p way to big for the motor. the 17p may even be a bit much. what RPM are you getting at WOT (when its doing 34)

regarding the 2.3 slowing down, could be vapor lock, most likely its fuel related. if it was ignition, it would have an intermittent miss. If it was the fuel vent, I would guess that it would do it quicker than a few hours.

 

[vinnie1234]

Scott has a good suggestion re: vapor lock. If its getting really hot in there that could do it. It may also be useful to check carb venting. Maybe run it with the doghouse off and see it open air keeps it cool enough to prevent an issue.

 

[achris]

Sure if you have a timing light, it's easy Duh!
The way I mentioned it is easy, and can be diagnosed without any tools by a novice. He may be dealing with a fuel delivery issue, but it can only help to check the advance, and fix it if necessary.

All that turning the rotor will tell you is that the rotor shaft is not seized to the distributor shaft, nothing else!! The ONLY way to check the advance is with a timing light and the advance chart for that engine. And another thing, if the engine is reaching full power, then dying off, it is not an advance problem, It's most likely (as already mentioned by MANY posters) a fuel delivery problem. Also, coils run quite warm under normal conditions, that what generating 20,000 + Volts will do.

Chris......

 

[JD88]

I have a currently non-running '88 Bayliner with the 2.3L engine. Haven't cranked it over for several years (long story). But I have been through a lot with it, since purchasing it very used in the mid-90's: I rebuilt floors and replaced seats and carpet; Cobra stern drive rebuilt; carburetor rebuilt (needs that again after sitting so long); timing belt replaced. I had to replace the cylinder head (cold water cracked it when the gasket gave away; this motor uses has cheesy "stretch bolts" for holding the head in place. Studs were too expensive?). I do have the manuals. I have the parts to convert it to electronic ignition, and the instructions to get past the ESM, but didn't pull the trigger on that..

Sounds like you have a carburetor issue. Rebuilding one isn't too difficult, if you can still find the parts kit.

And that's the problem with these old OMC motors: the last parts I could find locally (mid-TN) dried up. Bombardier bought out bankrupt OMC in 2001, but didn't seem quite willing to keep parts coming.

You've quite a project on your hands. Good luck!

 

[inthedirtagain]

I've got a 1984 17.5ft Invader with the 3.0L and I thought it was under-performing, as well. My tach is a little goofy, so I'm not sure if its reading correctly. My WOT rpm is about 4000 and pushes me to a GPS-confirmed 30mph with a 15p prop. Like you, I was expecting better. I don't have any advice to give that you haven't already heard, but thought you might benefit from knowing that I have a slightly larger boat with a slightly larger engine that is giving nearly the same performance. Hope you get it figured out soon. I've got a few things to check on, too!

 

[Jake707]

Ok first thanks everyone for the posts and advice. It is much appreciated. Sorry I haven't been able to get back on here timely but to update. I broke down and took it to a shop. I figured I would have them adjust the shift cable and check the timing and just give everything a once over. The shop only charged me 1.5 hours of labor so it was a $167 well spent in my opinion. What the found was - The shift and throttle cable was slightly out of adjustment - the idle was set at 1000 which is way too high and contributed a lot to the extra grinding when going into gear - the carb was way out of tune. The guy said who ever tuned your carb didn't know what the hell they were doing haha - they check timing at idle and at higher rpm and it was where it should be - pulled the spark plugs and didn't find any trace of aluminum - did compression tests and all four cylinders are good on compression - checked all fluids and lines in motor bay and everything was good They said they couldn't find anything that stood out that would point to the slowing down issue I was experiencing but thought it might be the carb tune. So they said everything was good that they could see now and to take it out. If it happened again bring it back and they would dig deeper I took it out today with 5 adults and my 1 year old daughter. Boat ran great. Was doing 30+ And never did the slowing down issue from before so I think it must have been the carb tuning. We were able to wake board and tube all day with no problems. Well they Wakeboarded. I got dragged through the water a handful of times trying to get up and called it quits before I got too best up. The only last issue I see is that at full throttle doing low 30s with a loaded boat it still not going over 4100 maybe 4200 rpms. I think I may order a 15 pitch prop since it's only $104 shipped on eBay and try to sell the extra 21 pitch.

 

[Jake707]

Just got home from the lake after being out all day. There wasn't a huge difference between the 15 and 17 pitch props. This new 15 did seem to plane a little bit quicker but with four adults max speed was 32 at 4700 rpm where as the 17 pitch I was able to reach 35 or so. All in all I think it's running about as good as it can be so ok pleased. After all I do understand it is a 25 year old 4 cylinder power plant so I can expect too much.