1990 vs 1992 4.3 block swap

[Chris51280]

Picked the boat up unfinished since we were leaving the area to head back home. Apparently there was some debris in the gas tank that got sucked into the carb. Either it was there when I test ran it from my gas can and got sucked in now or it got somehow past my new in line fuel filter and the filterin the carb. They cleaned it twice and changed the spark plugs again. The ones I had in were not even 2 hours old. Now he said it is flooding the carb. He thinks I have a crack somewhere. I will have to dig into that now after paying for a job not finished

 

[Chris51280]

So the mechanic charged 400 for a job not done. He replaced all spark plugs. Said they were fouled. He seemed to think that my carb has a crack because it flooded now. He must have replaced the float because I took it apart and it was not to spec at all with the float height. The idle screw was 4 turns out. Spec is 1-1/4. No wonder it flooded.

 

[Rick Stephens]

The idle screw was 4 turns out. Spec is 1-1/4. No wonder it flooded.

'Spec' is a starting point.What runs right is tuned spec.

I would not expect idle screw adjustment to flood an engine. I would expect crud and or poor cleaning job to cause flooding. Or a missing check ball in the accel pump circuit. Or something similar.

Can't imagine replacing plugs cause they were fouled. I'd take a bic lighter and a wire brush and unfoul them.

At some point someone will have to start in on this and systematically actually do a proper tune up.

 

[Chris51280]

I got it running again after adjusting the float and idle screw. Proper cleanup. It did flood on me too. Adjusted the float one more time and checked the needle seat for proper seal. Now it works again

 

[Chris51280]

It just bugs me that the special boat mechanic did not know what to do. It was a reputable boat mechanic in the area with good reviews. Had alot of expensive boats there. Guess carb specialist are getting rare now. Even though this carb is not complicated

 

[havoc_squad]

It just bugs me that the special boat mechanic did not know what to do. It was a reputable boat mechanic in the area with good reviews. Had alot of expensive boats there. Guess carb specialist are getting rare now. Even though this carb is not complicated

A specialist of all boat engine systems is generally going to be a specialist/expert of none.

One of the hazards of agreeing to service too many types, you pick and choose what to be an expert at and fill in the gaps on the less common issues.

Unless a service shop has a large payroll of technicans to cover different specialties, no one person is gonna be able to learn it all.

 

[Chris51280]

Ok, I made a stupid mistake. My second battery is on the port side and the cable to the perko switch was not long enough. So it goes over the thermostat housing. Today we were out with the boat and all of a sudden I smelled something burned and heard some crackling noise. The positive wire from the battery got onto the pulley system and exposed the wire shorting the second battery to the ground. I did not pay attention to the voltage before but after this happened I checked my instruments and the alternator charged my first battery at 15.5 - 16V. I'm not sure if the second battery fried my alternator now or maybe it is just the battery that might be going out too. I did notice that the cranking wasn't that strong anymore. I do not know how old the batteries are since I bought the boat last year in March and the previous owner did not tell me how old they are. Should I take the alternator to a shop and have it tested? Also the battery could have a load test as well correct.
Can a short like this fry my alternator. I know 16v is high but it fluctuated between 14.5v and 16v

 

[Scott Danforth]

it probably took out the regulator on the alternator

make sure you have a good +12 volts on the excite wire.

 

[Chris51280]

Thanks, makes sense. I will check and also have it tested. If the regulator is shot, it probably doesn't make sense to just replace it, right? A new alternator is needed. Too bad since I put that one in last year. :mad-new::facepalm:

 

[Chris51280]

I started it up this afternoon and had it running for a good 5 minutes. the alternator stopped at 14.8volts. It never went above that. I may have dodged a bullet there. I will still have it tested at an oreillys here after I winterized the boat. probably in a month or so. Will keep you posted

 

[Lou C]

That may be fine...is that voltage reading on the alt output wire...or at the batteries...
Mine is usually 14.2-14.5 at the batteries and at the alt output.
BTW, if all you needed was a new regulator, I think its worth getting a price on that....a good marine alt is about $100 or so...

Go back over your wiring....make sure that any battery positive cables....are well protected...can't ground out...you had a dead short to ground on a very high amp circuit (ie the total cranking amps of the battery, yikes). That is enough to start a fire...since usually there is no fusible link to prevent it. Also make sure that the alt output wire is routed so it can't chafe and protected.

 

[Chris51280]

It was measured at the battery. The alternator output wire goes straight there, correct. Yeah we caught it right away since I was coming off plane and heard crackling sounds and a smell of burned rubber/plastic. Shut off engine right there and opened the hatch. Wire was hot, obviously. I found the mando alternator for $77 with the regulator integrated and a regulator by itself for half that. so why mess with the alternator. The season is pretty much over here and I will winterize in about 4 weeks. Alternator will come out with the batteries and get checked at the auto parts store. I get a new cable for the second battery which was a 4gauge and switch to a 2gauge. wire will be 10ft long going around the engine. Is that too long? should be ok going to 2awg. The main battery has still 4gauge but is only 3ft long. Boat came like this so I never questioned it.

 

[Chris51280]

I got a question about starters. My 4.3 looks like to have the older bigger and longer starter installed. Is there an advantage to go with a newer starter from DB electrical for example? I hear all the time about the bolts breaking on the starter mount. is this because of the older starters being larger/heavier if they even are?! Should I change it just in case? I know that the drain plug is right behind the starter and when I drain the water from the block, alot goes over the back side of the starter. I don't like having electrical parts getting wet.

 

[Scott06]

Pretty sure it will be fine as long as the bolts stay tight. I think the breaking occurs if you hydro lock the engine or they bolts work loose

 

[Chris51280]

i have a slight tick at idle. Once i get to high idle around 1500 rpm it stops. Is this a lifter tick? I guess.
how to figure it out and is there a fix? Once i have been on 2-3000 rpm it seems to be gone or not as apparent.
Any down side leaving it. It does have good power and haven't noticed any power loss. Still doing 4500rpm at 40mph on a 1.98 ratio

 

[Scott06]

i have a slight tick at idle. Once i get to high idle around 1500 rpm it stops. Is this a lifter tick? I guess.
how to figure it out and is there a fix? Once i have been on 2-3000 rpm it seems to be gone or not as apparent.
Any down side leaving it. It does have good power and haven't noticed any power loss. Still doing 4500rpm at 40mph on a 1.98 ratio

Sounds just like my 5.0 dont worry about it. Might be exhaust flapper nothing with engine. These pushrod V engines are not super quiet. Either turn up the radio, add more throttle, or drink more beer. Any combo of the three makes noise go away….

 

[Chris51280]

Sounds just like my 5.0 dont worry about it. Might be exhaust flapper nothing with engine. These pushrod V engines are not super quiet. Either turn up the radio, add more throttle, or drink more beer. Any combo of the three makes noise go away….

Oh, it got bad today. Definitely something wrong. I think I smell unburnt fuel. I can hear it now in the upper rpm range. Sometimes coming off plane it is gone for a couple seconds. I don't think it's a push rod. Maybe an exhaust leak? But I tend to go with lifter. Know more by compression testing and taking the cover off

 

[Chris51280]

OMG. I checked just out of a hunch if it may be an exhaust leak. 3 bolts were out and the others rather loose. Both sides. I have no idea why. I did torque them correctly. The gasket is the thick one. Maybe it settled and warm and hot worked it loose.
It runs again just fine. I guess that explained that I still had power but still had the ticking noise

 

[Chris51280]

Took the boat out today and the Temps reached over 200 really quick. Was running fine 3 weeks ago at 160F. Replaced the intellectual in July because it was 3 years old and had overheating issues then. After the change I went to the lake for a week and it was running fine. Now, overheating right from the dock. I could hear the water boiling after I turned it off. Wonder if I sucked something up. It was muddy where I took the boat out last time.

 

[Chris51280]

Turns out my impeller was fried. not sure how that happened since I always put the muffs on. The plastic tube melted too and I had a heck of a time to get the impeller off the shaft since the housing had scratched the shaft. Oh well, another impeller this year. The second now