Clogged jets?

[jerryddurden]

So, I'm a first time poster. Hopefully I'm putting this post in the right spot.
I recently became the proud owner of a 1996 Evinrude 115 Intruder. It powers a 16ft Javelin bass boat. The boat had been sitting for over three years.
I changed the teleflex steering helm/cable, water pump, lower unit oil, and I rebuilt all four carbs. I am not a mechanic. It took me forever to get it to idle properly--after the carb rebuild.

I took it for a test run today and here are how events unfolded:

It started up fine. I noticed the it idled around 1000 rpm once it was in the water. She took off and I got on plane pretty fast. I took her 2-3 miles down a canal around 40 mph. I wasn't at full throttle. I did notice that the RPMs were around 5k at 40 mph (GPS). So, I was humming right along and decided to turn back. I did a 180 and headed back. A little down the way I had to slow down because there was a little kid on skis in the water. When I slowed down to barely above idle the engine just died. I tried to start her back up. No cigar.

I played with the damned needles--adjusting them for the next couple of hours...sometimes I could get it to idle, but it was barely idling---and in EVERY instance when I went to give it just a little throttle, then she would die. Another clue is that if I starter fluid into the carbs, then she would start right up for a few secs (bad I know). The bulb stayed hard throughout this ordeal.

Again, I am no mechanic, but I am thinking that of the the high speed jets---or maybe more than one got clogged. I just don't understand how it could be running very good and all of the sudden the engine stops. Again, the engine stopping coincided with me slowing down for a skier. There we no other symptoms--that I could tell, prior to this.
Can I get away with backing the needles all of the way out and spraying cleaner in there? I do have some Seafoam and I could put into the tank.

Thanks to everyone for your tips and suggestions. And a HUGE shout out to Deputies Sid and Shane from the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Dept.! They towed me in!
I learned a couple hard lessons today. One was that if somebody asks you if you are okay--swallow your pride and ask them to tow you in. Don't count on another boat coming your direction. The other lesson that I learned is that I am still not an outboard mechanic!

 

[79_banshee]

Could be clogged jets. It may have been running to lean as well. I'm not a boat engine expert but I thing I know from running 2 stroke sleds is to check your plugs often after doing any carb work. They will tell you how your engine is running. If they are whiteish then your to lean if they are wet and dark then your rich you could have been to rich as well and it flooded it self. If the plugs are a nice chocolate brown then you should be right on. I'm new yo the hole boating world as well so it could be different for boat engines but with most 2 stokes that is how you tell how it is running

 

[gm280]

Well first off :welcome: to iboats. Nice to have you aboard...

Do you have a fuel filter installed? If the boat sat for three years, you could be sucking up debris from the tank and causing issues. So I would check the entire fuel delivery system form the tank all the way to each carb. Also check the fuel pump is working and providing proper fuel flow. You want to see a steady fuel stream out of the fuel pump and not some sluggish flow. And being how you stated you're not a mechanic I would absolutely buy the manufacturer's engine, HP, model, year specific shop manual for your engine. It covers everything you would ever want to know about your specific engine and how to disassemble things with exploded views and details. And how to adjust everything the proper way as well. Don't buy the typical aftermarket manuals, they are too broad in their coverage and don't cover things most folks are looking for. Make sure it is the manufacturer's shop manual. JMHO

 

[flyingscott]

Completely agree with buying the engine specific manual. Did you drain the boat tank and refill with fresh gas or run what was in it. You could have water in there and 2-3 year old gas won't run right.

 

[jerryddurden]

Banshee Thanks for the tip. Once she is idling fine, then I will ensure that I check all the plugs to see if they or wet or dry.

gm280 Thanks. I Forgot to mention that I did change the plugs, cleaned the existing fuel filter (in-line), and replaced the fuel line coming from the tank--new bulb too. I did drain as much fuel as possible from the built-in tank. The thing is huge--like 24 gallons. Admittedly, I did take the easy way out. I drained it as much as possible and then I added stabil and other additives that supposedly burned off water----before adding fresh fuel. I do have a small 6 gallon tank. I guess that I will add fresh gas to that and maybe add some Seafoam to run it off a different tank. I really didn't want to have to drain that huge tank, but I don't want to get stranded again either! ha

I do have the OMC manual for the boat. Where would I notice a steady stream coming from the fuel pump?---dumb question I know. I just don't know where I could observe that while it's running.

flyingscott I should have just removed the existing tank and gave it a thorough cleaning BEFORE adding 12 gallons!...another lesson learned

 

[Faztbullet]

You wont see a steady stream of fuel on a VRO equipped engine ,you will only see a fuel pulse when the VRO clicks.

 

[jerryddurden]

Okay. so after buying an external tank and breaking the carbs back down --AGAIN. I took her back out and after readjusting the carbs, she ran excellent. I noticed that I ran through 3-4 gallons of fuel in a very short time. In fact, I ran the tank dry. That got me thinking that could I be so stupid as to have simply ran the main tank dry on my initial outing? I pondered that until Monday morning---the fuel gauge was acting funny anyway. Turns out that I did, in fact, run the damn main tank dry. That's why it wouldn't go--that's why it would run for a few seconds after spraying carb cleaner in the intake! Genius I am! I fished all day Monday on the main tank with no issues and I had the reserve tank on standby! Thanks for everyone's help. Experience is really the best teacher.