Points and dwell setting

[bruceb58]

Bad idea to time by feel with a boat engine...actually any engine. So much different than a car because of the loads. Great way of wiping out an engine when it starts pinging and you can't hear it.

 

[bruceb58]

Ditch the timing light and tune by feel. Advance it until it runs smoothly...keep advancing it until it starts to stutter a little and then just turn it back a bit...tighten it down and run it.

BTW...hope the airplanes you fly don't have mechanics that set timing by feel! You will be finding places to land when your engine gets a hole in the top of it's piston.

 

[achris]

I'm with Bruce, do not time by feel. Because an engine in a boat is under constant load is a very easy way to detonate or knock a hole in a piston. I have rebuilt more than a few engines with dead pistons and a lot of the time is because the owner timed the engine, but didn't use a timing light. "That's how I do it with my car"... Great for me, I make a very tidy profit on rebuilds.

Chris. ...

 

[sockpatty]

Eh,a little update. The shop called on my boat and said my manifold is cracked and he couldn't set the low speed due to air coming in or something. He said the carb could also possibly be bad. He did set the timing. So right now I'm working on getting a new manifold and starting there. I'm not really upset about any of this. I bought the boat for 375 and I knew I would have to drop some money on it. But the guy told me it was winterized but the cracked manifold says other wise. But the good thing is no water in the oil so the manifold might be the only major problem.

 

[achris]

...But the guy told me it was winterized but the cracked manifold says other wise. But the good thing is no water in the oil so the manifold might be the only major problem.

If so, you dodged a bullet.

 

[sockpatty]

Another update. The guy at the boat shop told me if I could get him a manifold for today,he would swap it out with the new one and have the boat ready for me. I got him the manifold but he didn't touch my boat today and won't get to it til Wednesday. So I brought the boat home to do it myself. It was really easy getting it off.
So now that I got it off,is there anything I should be checking out while it's off?

 

[achris]

Inspect very closely along the block surface just below the head gasket. If the block is cracked, that's a likely place.

While you're replacing the manifold check the exhaust elbow. Unless it's less than a couple of years old, budget replacing it too. Have a look at the exhaust shutter, make sure it's there and in good condition. Also check the rest of the cooling system, thermostat and housing and the water pump.

Chris. ...

 

[sockpatty]

S.O.B . Buried under a 1/4 of epoxy is the crack in the block. Looks like it cracked before and somebody welded it. And it cracked again. It looks like a wire weld but can't tell what wire was used since I wire wheeled it. Do u think the engine is junk or do you think I should reweld it. Welding is my profession so I will be bringing it to my work to weld it.

 

[sockpatty]

No Title

I forgot the picture

 

[sockpatty]

And do u think that could cause the no low idle

 

[sockpatty]

I think I'm gonna just swap my engine out for my older one.

 

[achris]

I have successfully welded a block. There's 2 ways. Strip it, heat it up in a furnace, weld it, bring the temp down slowly over a couple of days. Or, and this is what I did, grind a groove, and using MIG, keep the whole thing cool and only weld for a few seconds at a time. Let it cool and go again. It's time consuming, but it's quicker than stripping the engine.

 

[sockpatty]

U used a mig? What wire? I have flux cored 71 series,copper coated hard wire 70 series,and stainless steel flux cored. The copper coated is the cleanest of the 3. With that crack,what kind of engine problems would that cause? Welding the block takes less time then swapping engines. But if that crack isn't the issue for the engine running crappy,then I'd rather just swap.

 

[achris]

I used 0.8mm steel wire, no Flux. I use MIGshield gas. ..

I thought the cracked manifold was your run issue.

 

[stonyloam]

Well if you are not getting milky oil then internally the block is OK. If you repair the external crack you could be OK. Remember this is a nonpressurized system that runs pretty cool relative to a car engine. You can weld it, but you also could try epoxy again. The block apparently did not leak before so there is no reason to think that if you reapplied a good epoxy the repair would not hold again. Applying epoxy is by far the easiest and quickest solution. I like JB Weld, Looks like you have the crack pretty well cleaned up, so I would say give the epoxy a try. might just last the summer. Good luck.

 

[sockpatty]

That's what the boat shop said it was. If there is a crack in the manifold,should I be able to see it?

 

[sockpatty]

I have no idea how long the last epoxy fix lasted but I'm gonna do that. Cause that is by far the easiest. When I apply the jb weld,do I fill the crack line first and let it dry and then cake it on .

 

[stonyloam]

I would probably do it in layers, just because it is not going to run. Use the longer setting regular JB, let it set up and rough it up between coats. If it were me, once I got it filled I would take a small sanding block and sand it flat then another layer of epoxy and a strip of Fiberglas cloth with more epoxy over it to finish it off. If you get it clean and do a good prep it could last the life of the boat. Oh yeah if you get it on your hands, a little white vinegar will clean it off. Good luck!

 

[sockpatty]

It's gonna look like a full pen when I'm done.

 

[sockpatty]

The block leak has been filled and holding up. Redid my carb and put the new manifold on. I started her up and she purred. But when I dropped idle lower it would straight die out. And the idle can't go below 2000. I'm gonna grab me a vacuum gauge tomorrow.