OMC 3.0 idles rough when hot and dies when go into gear

[Quicker]

I just bought this boat a few weeks ago. Owner told me it was a 1990 Reinell 170M, but I see 1989 stamped on a few things. He had put a 6 volt coil on it which of course did not work well. It fried. He said he put multiple on last summer. No doubt that he did. It fouled the plugs and burnt the points. I replaced the coil, plugs, points and plug wires. It now always starts easy when cold and idles at 900 rpm. Goes into gear easy and runs well. On my 1st day out at the lake we ran mostly around 5-10mph for over an hour because one of the kids was scared to go fast, Headed back to dock to let them off and the dock was full so I put it in neutral and the motor died. To start I had to put it in full throttle then pull back, but it would not idle below 1000 rpm. When I put it in gear it died. Finally nursed it to dock and let it cool down for about 30 minutes and all was fine. I took it back out and ran around the lake a few time at high speed with no issues. Back at the dock it did the same thing. I let it cool down for about 20 minutes while I got the truck & trailer in the water to load it. It started fine and I was able to trailer it.

Time for a carb rebuild? Could it be the choke? I really hate working on carbs. The thought of just buying a new replacement and bolting it on sounds really good to me.

 

[Scott Danforth]

points burn usually because the resistor wire feeding them gets replaced or the condenser goes bad

service the points (file them, gap them verify the dwell is between 28 and 32 degrees, then set timing)

then move on to the carb and tear it down and clean it. your choice if you want to spend $35 to rebuild or $350 for a new one

then adjust or replace the shift cable

 

[Quicker]

Thanks. I forgot to list that I also replaced the condenser. I’ll check the gap on the points and look at a rebuild kit.

 

[kpg7121]

Idling rpm on that 3.0 should be about 600.

 

[Quicker]

The choke was sticking so I wired it open and I adjusted the idle. Great evening on the lake today. The issues I was having the last time did not happen tonight. Going in and out of gear was flawless.