OK I know Rodbolts gonna be grinning after all the talk we had about bad fuel but this happened with fresh fuel...well maybe. This concerns a 1997 C80TLRV that I've been working on as part of a boat restoration. The project has been interesting and I've learned a ton but I think I'm about to learn some more. I have had the boat out several times since cleaning the fuel tank and removing water from the fuel. I've replaced the water pump, the water tube, the thermostats, the plugs, cleaned the carbs, replaced the fuel pump and replaced the fuel lines. I've verified no air leaks. The cylinder compressions are 120 115 115 top to bottom. The engine has always seemed to labor to get on plane but was capable of pushing the boat at a good planing speed. Today was great weather and fishing but we had a problem. As we were about to return I cranked the engine but as soon as I put it in gear it died. It would start but as soon as you put it in gear it died. I checked what I could on the water and found the bottom cylinder was not firing. I removed the plug and it was wet. No really wet. Slimy sludge oil water nasty wet. I was eventually able to get us home by feeding the throttle very slowly and proceeding very slowly. Once I got home I cleaned the plugs and made sure they were firing. With the engine running if you choked the top or middle cylinders the engine would bog but if you choked the bottom cylinder there was no effect. I removed all the carbs. Cleaned them and blew them out with air and reinstalled the top carb on the bottom and the bottom on the top. The problem stayed with the bottom cylinder. Spark plug still getting wet and nasty. Swapped coils, plug wires and plugs and problem stayed with bottom cylinder. Is this a blown head gasket? Or do I need to provide more info. Rodbolt warned me about reusing fuel but I'm sure that any fuel that has been used has been OK. The fuel used on the last two outings has been fresh. Is there any testing I could do other than removing the head? Engine is not overheating and water pump is working great.
