Edelbrock 1409 woes

[saf]

Hello everyone.
So, I have a 1997 Pursuit that originally had 5.7GIPLKDCE. At some point the previous owner killed the engine and the block was replaced. For whatever reason they decided to replace the original fuel injection setup with a carburetor. When I bought the boat, the carb (I think it was a Holley) worked fine until it got clogged about 3 years into my ownership. A mechanic (who is no longer my mechanic) could not rebuild the carb and replaced it with a new Edelbrock 1409 (I am kicking myself now for not insisting on keeping the old carb). Edelbrock works fine, easy to tune and service but it does have an annoying issue. Fuel is allowed to evaporate from the bowls, so, after the boat was sitting at a dock for a week or longer it is really hard to start. The problem (I think) is that the fuel pump (low pressure) does not kick in until the engine is being cranked. Simply turning the ignition on does not power up the pump like it would on a car. I believe someone on this forum mentioned that this a safety feature designed to cut off the fuel pump once the engine stops. So, essentially I have to keep cranking until the carb fills up with fuel, which takes a while. In the meantime the electric choke starts opening, so, by the time the carb has enough fuel the choke is half opened making the engine hard to start. Not sure my interpretations are correct but the fact is that it takes several minutes and lots of cranking to start the engine after it was sitting for longer than a week. Any thoughts?

 

[Earl Cordova]

I would prefer a Holley carb over a Edelbrock carb any day, but if it was my boat I would convert it back to fuel injection.
I had a boat with a carb for 17 years and had to mess with it at least once a year.
My current boat with fuel injection is 16 years old and only had to clean the injectors once a couple of years ago.

 

[GA_Boater]

Did the hard starting begin as soon as the Edlebrock was installed or over time? A lot of fuel would have to evaporate, not only from the carb, but the fuel lines as well.

 

[saf]

Did the hard starting begin as soon as the Edlebrock was installed or over time? A lot of fuel would have to evaporate, not only from the carb, but the fuel lines as well.

It's hard to say. My first time out with the new carb I overheated starboard riser, which led to a series of failures (including the ignition module failing, probably due to high temps in the engine compartment). It took me a while to track down all the issues and get back to "normal". This is where I started noticing the hard start issue. I've read that drying bowls is a known issue with Edelbrock (at least with car engines), so, I assumed this is what's going on...

 

[GA_Boater]

You can't assume. I never had dry bowls when I ran Edlebrock 1409s.

Next time you go to start, pop the flame arrester off and pump the throttle to see if the accelerator pump squirts.

 

[Bondo]

It's hard to say. My first time out with the new carb I overheated starboard riser, which led to a series of failures (including the ignition module failing, probably due to high temps in the engine compartment). It took me a while to track down all the issues and get back to "normal". This is where I started noticing the hard start issue. I've read that drying bowls is a known issue with Edelbrock (at least with car engines), so, I assumed this is what's going on...

Ayuh,.... The float bowels leak off into the intake,.....
Ya, it's a problem,.....
achris, as well as Rick Stephens have done extensive work with these carbs,....

There are fixes, 'n work-arounds,.....

 

[saf]

It is confirmed. The accelerator pump did not squirt after the boat was sitting for a week. Several seconds of cranking did was not enough to fill the carb either - still no squirting.

Thanks Bondo, I did some searching and found a relevant thread in Mercruser section. The solution that was offered is a "priming" switch that would power the fuel pump before the start. I started looking at my electrical setup and it looks like in my case the fuel pump is not powered from the oil pressure switch. Attached is the electric diagram, it is not for my specific model but I found it to be close enough on previous occasions. (BTW, would really appreciate if somebody could point me to the electric diagram for 5.7GIPLKDCE). It looks like the fuel pump is powered from the alternator through a diode. Is this correct?

 

[Meames1]

Hook a hot wire from a switch to the "86" pin on the fuel pump relay, use a diode so it doesn't back feed. It will power the pump while while on, if you make it a momentary switch , you won't forget and leave it on.
There should be a fix for the fuel evaporating though.

 

[Bondo]

Hook a hot wire from a switch to the "86" pin on the fuel pump relay, use a diode so it doesn't back feed. It will power the pump while while on, if you make it a momentary switch , you won't forget and leave it on.
There should be a fix for the fuel evaporating though.

Ayuh,.... Again, the fuel is not evaporating, it leaks down into the intake manifold,......

When ya shut the motor off, it starts leakin',.... after some time, if you try to restart it, it's Flooded, 'n have to go to Wot to clear it,....
After a longer time, the carb, 'n manifold are dry, which is the issue saf is fightin' now,.....

I do believe yer Right though, in how to wire the work-a-round on a Volvo,....