ford 2.3 engine wont rev up under load

smithracing

Recruit
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Messages
1
hey guys im new to this site. well really dont wanna admit my mechanical background at this point due to this question.ive had this ongoing problem for couple years now..... in the water. the craft will barely hit plane . n tach is around 3000. at 1/2 throttle ish . any more throttle it dies off 3-500 rpm. im goin crazyyyyyy with tthis damn thing....no onto what ive already done.... replaced head when i first acquired craft. with a racing head. changed cam... mild cam smooth idle good power curve. removed stock carb. installed adapter plate w a holley 500 (4412). we use these all time on our race cars. replaced alternator. boat ran flawless for cppl years. and then went into not revving up in the water. to its former potential(5500). ive tried everything it seems. but obviously not the correct part. ive had the carb rebuilt cpl times.changed to a electronic dist. (thinkin the old points was the problem). changed wires. pluigs. put a msd blaster coil on. pulled rocker cover verified all cam lobes still have adequate lift. changed lifters.butttt when i was playing with liffters i noticed the lifters were tight as there was no play on the valve stems which concerned, me but 2.3 guuroo. said that was ok. any possibility this is electrical still???? only thing in my mind left is a burnt valve. or tthe lifters. but last fall with muffs on it just decided to run normal for 5 minutes then back to not very responsive. im lostttttttttttttt
 

Autowizzard

Cadet
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
29
Re: ford 2.3 engine wont rev up under load

Boats are no different that cars for problems like this, I had the same motor in my last boat and it rocked for being small, Grab a vaccum guage and measure vaccum at idle,should be 16 or better with a stready needle,if so you motor is solid, now i'd check fuel volume, I had problems with the fitting right out of the gas tank there is a rollover valve there than can clog, You could bring a gas can with a hose for testing (be CAREFUL and have a helper), If thats ok make sure dist is good and you have solid spark, get a inline spark tester and take for a ride, Let me know
 
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