arriva2001
Seaman
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2015
- Messages
- 64
Hi,
I have a 1994 Force 150 outboard. I think I've done a dumb thing. Please help me figure out how dumb it was.
So I have read that the old cowl foam insulation inside the motor box can deteriorate and then get into the air intake, which will clog up the carburetors. I was worried about this happening on mine, because there were some areas that seemed dry-rotted.... so I bought some foil-covered insulation foam with adhesive on it that I could stick into my outboard cowl cover. It looked really great when I initially installed it, with shiny foil area looking much cleaner than the old foam. I used aluminum tape to seal up all of the seams...looked really professional.
Anyway, fast forward, and I have it out on the water for the first time, and engine sounds and runs great. It sounds like it's insulating even better than the old foam did, because the motor sounds much quieter (at least in my head it does).
Here's where the problem comes in. I get home, open up the cowl, and I come to find out that the flywheel has chewed up the new insulation at the top of the cover. This foam must have been ever so slightly thicker than the original. So this foil/foam has been basically shredded and flung all over inside the cowl. My fear is that when this happened, it's possible some of it could have been sucked up in the carburetor air intake (this was the ENTIRE REASON I did this switch to begin with, mind you!!!)
Just sick to my stomach, now I've gone in there and blown everything out with compressed air, and wiped down the powerhead with a damp rag. How can I check to know if anything got in the carburetors? I will remove the plastic covers on front, do I just look in there? Or can I blow compressed air in them? Or do I need to remove the carburetors? I'm just worried I did something that is going to ruin what otherwise is a fine running engine. I don't fully understand how the carburetors work to mix air/fuel, so I'm not sure how bad it would be if a tiny piece of the foam got sucked in there.
Thanks for reading my dumb story of what I did to make things "better" and "prevent a problem." I guess it's true what they say about not trying to fix something that is not broken...
I have a 1994 Force 150 outboard. I think I've done a dumb thing. Please help me figure out how dumb it was.
So I have read that the old cowl foam insulation inside the motor box can deteriorate and then get into the air intake, which will clog up the carburetors. I was worried about this happening on mine, because there were some areas that seemed dry-rotted.... so I bought some foil-covered insulation foam with adhesive on it that I could stick into my outboard cowl cover. It looked really great when I initially installed it, with shiny foil area looking much cleaner than the old foam. I used aluminum tape to seal up all of the seams...looked really professional.
Anyway, fast forward, and I have it out on the water for the first time, and engine sounds and runs great. It sounds like it's insulating even better than the old foam did, because the motor sounds much quieter (at least in my head it does).
Here's where the problem comes in. I get home, open up the cowl, and I come to find out that the flywheel has chewed up the new insulation at the top of the cover. This foam must have been ever so slightly thicker than the original. So this foil/foam has been basically shredded and flung all over inside the cowl. My fear is that when this happened, it's possible some of it could have been sucked up in the carburetor air intake (this was the ENTIRE REASON I did this switch to begin with, mind you!!!)
Just sick to my stomach, now I've gone in there and blown everything out with compressed air, and wiped down the powerhead with a damp rag. How can I check to know if anything got in the carburetors? I will remove the plastic covers on front, do I just look in there? Or can I blow compressed air in them? Or do I need to remove the carburetors? I'm just worried I did something that is going to ruin what otherwise is a fine running engine. I don't fully understand how the carburetors work to mix air/fuel, so I'm not sure how bad it would be if a tiny piece of the foam got sucked in there.
Thanks for reading my dumb story of what I did to make things "better" and "prevent a problem." I guess it's true what they say about not trying to fix something that is not broken...
