1986 Wellcraft 23 Nova XL, Alpha One. 260 Mercruiser (350 Chevy) Bone stock
First time this has ever happened - On holeshot start, when getting on plane, RPMS drop down to zero. Engine shuts off and is acting like no spark. Carb is squirting fuel, can smell that it is getting fuel down the carb.
Let it cool some, and it starts up, and gets on plane like it always has since I have had it - years...
Couple things:
-- Last year, since the last couple years have not used it much - felt the fuel may be getting old. Had it out and it was acting like a lean backfire on full throttle. Could it be the octane was getting low I thought... So I pulled the sending unit and set up a siphon and drained the tank. Ran the boat till the fuel in the carb would not fire it and put it away. This year, put 20 gallons of fresh fuel, and it ran fine for the the first part of the day. No backfires, ran strong just like it always has.
-- Always winterize it.
-- After this shutoff situation, yanked the carb and have cleaned it up and checked it out as part of the rebuilding (cleaned it last night, will put it back together tomorrow) Figured it was due anyway. Looked better inside than I expected. Some sediment, but not bad. It looked like the float was shutting off the fuel o.k.
-- I am thinking that it could be the Thunderbolt IV shutting off. Thinking about putting in a Pertronix on it after confirming my distrubutor number with Pertronix (They show it as a Mallory in their catalog, but a friend of mine and I think it is a Merc distributor)...
-- Normally the pickup in the distributor is either it works, or it totally leaves you stranding, right? I figure even if it is bad, I'd throw a Pertronix in anyway.
Any suggestions and personal experiences are appreciated.
First time this has ever happened - On holeshot start, when getting on plane, RPMS drop down to zero. Engine shuts off and is acting like no spark. Carb is squirting fuel, can smell that it is getting fuel down the carb.
Let it cool some, and it starts up, and gets on plane like it always has since I have had it - years...
Couple things:
-- Last year, since the last couple years have not used it much - felt the fuel may be getting old. Had it out and it was acting like a lean backfire on full throttle. Could it be the octane was getting low I thought... So I pulled the sending unit and set up a siphon and drained the tank. Ran the boat till the fuel in the carb would not fire it and put it away. This year, put 20 gallons of fresh fuel, and it ran fine for the the first part of the day. No backfires, ran strong just like it always has.
-- Always winterize it.
-- After this shutoff situation, yanked the carb and have cleaned it up and checked it out as part of the rebuilding (cleaned it last night, will put it back together tomorrow) Figured it was due anyway. Looked better inside than I expected. Some sediment, but not bad. It looked like the float was shutting off the fuel o.k.
-- I am thinking that it could be the Thunderbolt IV shutting off. Thinking about putting in a Pertronix on it after confirming my distrubutor number with Pertronix (They show it as a Mallory in their catalog, but a friend of mine and I think it is a Merc distributor)...
-- Normally the pickup in the distributor is either it works, or it totally leaves you stranding, right? I figure even if it is bad, I'd throw a Pertronix in anyway.
Any suggestions and personal experiences are appreciated.