This might be kind of long, but I need to tell the whole story as background to the problem. I have an 85 Reinell 185 with a 305 Chevy and 400 stringer - always super reliable with rarely a problem. After not running the boat for two seasons, I finally got it out and ready to go (or so I thought). I de winterized it, changed the oil and hooked it up to the hose. She fired right up as usual, ran it for 25 minutes or so, I thought we were good to go. When we got to the ramp, I turned the key and nothing happened - the battery got so hot it melted a terminal. I figured the motor was somehow locked. I pulled each plug to check for water in a cylinder that might have hydrolocked. Nothing - all dry. Plugs looked old, so I replaced them. The boat fired right up and ran. There seems to be a misfire now, you can feel it in the floor when the boat is running - not terrible, but not running right. It will also backfire through the carb once in a while. (Tried fresh gas as well).
I checked the distributor cap and all the ignition parts, everything looked good. Seems like #5 & #7 are the culprit. When I pull those wires off the distributor while running, there’s no noticeable difference in how it runs. I ordered a set of plug wires, should be here today sometime. Anything else I should check? I can’t figure out what locked up and why. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I checked the distributor cap and all the ignition parts, everything looked good. Seems like #5 & #7 are the culprit. When I pull those wires off the distributor while running, there’s no noticeable difference in how it runs. I ordered a set of plug wires, should be here today sometime. Anything else I should check? I can’t figure out what locked up and why. Any suggestions? Thanks!
