rough day on the water..

[hullofalottatrouble]

1982 merc 260 reman 2006
pre-alpha
pertronix II flamethrower coil
160 comp all around

took the boat out for the first time this year and was fine for the first 20-30 minutes.. maybe more..

had prior issue with stalling when throttle up to 900-1000rpm on muffs but i adjusted the choke and it was a lot better.. just a slight stumble before warmed up all the way..

so let her warm up a bit.. then headed out.. got up on plane. opened her up wot.. no problems.. ran around like that for a good bit..

then i brought it back to idle and it started running rough..

throttled back up and and started popping thru the carb..

didnt have timing light with me but checked the timing on the muffs at least as part of summerizing and it was ok.. also new oil, oil filter, fuel/water sep, new plugs gapped correctly.. had about 22 gallons of gas with stabil in tank and topped it off with 18 more fresh gas before heading out..

but anyway.. i moved the dist a bit and all the running rough stopped at higher RPMs.. no more popping through carb.. ran great again..

throttle down and ran rough again and stalled.. died.. tried tweaking the dist a bit to help out but didn't seem to make a huge difference..

higher RPM seemed to run like a champ..

died again at idle rpm and couldn't get it started.. it just wouldnt turn over.. until i disconnected one of the batteries.. got it started.. still rough idle..

and now i throttle up it runs rough no more popping through carb but not running well.. can see engine shaking a bit.. then sorta immediately without me doing anything at all it clears right up and runs great again..

slow down.. bad idle.. throttle up does the same thing.. runs rough and without doing anything it clears up and runs great again..

temp and oil pressure was fine..

pulled plugs and they look okay.. no water in cylinders or oil..

haha then i forgot to put the drive up.. kid at the ramp reminded me before i did any damage.. than i slipped on the algae on the ramp.. man that stuff was slippery..

anyway.. definitely need to set timing again after messing with it out there..

but any other things to look into? ideas?

thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: rough day on the water..

but any other things to look into? ideas?

Ayuh,.....

From your discription,..... A Full Tune Up,+ Carb Rebuild might Fix it....

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: rough day on the water..

thanks bondo.. carb rebuild seems to be the consensus..

never rebuilt a carb before.. but sounds like fun!

this kit do the trick? or you got any other sources for good kits? tried ebay this is all i could come up with..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MARI...004QQitemZ140236014095QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

[CharlieB]

Re: rough day on the water..

While you were installing the ignition kit did you ensure that the mechanical advance was working freely?

 

[Robj]

Re: rough day on the water..

While you were installing the ignition kit did you ensure that the mechanical advance was working freely?

I would definitely check that also, is everything moving freely with the springs intact?

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Bondo]

Re: rough day on the water..

this kit do the trick?

Ayuh,..... That appears to be the Kit for a Rottenchester....

But, Be forewarned,...
Rebuilding a Rottenchester that's 26 Years old might be an exercise in futility.....
It'll be a 50/ 50 shot at Best....

Bolting on an Edlebrock Preformer Carb might be another, or Better alternative...

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: rough day on the water..

pertronix was installed 2 years ago and everything was functioning fine at that time..boat ran well from 2006 to now.. at least never had this problem until now..

just checked the dist and everything is moving freely..

the carb was a reman from 2006 as well.. not by me by a prof shop.. has worked fine since bolted on..

 

[Fishermark]

Re: rough day on the water..

This doesn't help diagnose your problem, (and I agree with the "time for a new carb" thought), but it may help someone else tempted to do the same thing.... It is an exercise in futility to "fiddle with the distributor" to try and fix an engine that suddenly starts running rough. Unless it is loose and happened to move, the timing will not suddenly change. Not unless something major has happened / broke inside the engine, in which case turning the distributor isn't going to fix the problem.

Not trying to bust your chops - just a note to others - "Don't try this at home!"

 

[Coors]

Re: rough day on the water..

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=167561

 

[hullofalottatrouble]

Re: rough day on the water..

i wasnt trying to find a permanent fix to the problem by turning the dist at that point just trying to get myself back to the launch ramp.. and i wasn't going to make it with the carb pop and engine almost stalling.. my thought was maybe it was loose and shifted a bit..

tweakin dist helped.. so i went with it and ran it back to towards the ramp..

and i think some folks thought on the dist was that the advance wasn't function properly.. which is why i checked that out..

other folks suggest that i had some sort of bad connections/ground etc at the batts that could have caused these issues..

so first things first i am going to replace the questionable batt.. clean up and tighten all connections.. reset the timing.. and see how things go from there... process of elimination...