Hi Everyone,
I've lurked around for awhile, but this is my first post. I did some searching on here to try and come up with an answer, but I think this may be a bit of a unique situation.
The casting on the carburetor that "bridges" up to receive the stud that holds the air cleaner in place broke free of the carburetor. For the life of me, I don't know how this happened (I'm quite particular about the condition of our boat), but it's where we are now.
When I set the piece back in place to see how it broke, the port and starboard pieces fit together properly, so I know I'm not missing any pieces there. Unfortunately, it looks like I am missing a small chunk between the bow (forward) side of the carb and the "bridge." I'm guessing that piece (or pieces depending on how it broke) fell down into the carburetor as it would really have nowhere else to go.
I estimate that this boat has about 5+ hours of run time since this broke, but just became aware of the fact that a piece has been missing. I haven't started it since I discovered this, but it seems to be running as well as ever.
I removed the carburetor today and used an endoscope (camera) to try and look into the intake manifold searching for the piece(s), but it was very difficult to see. While trying to do my inspection, I noted that the passages between the top of the manifold to the head seem to be pretty short and very straightforward with not many places for something to get stuck. Am I wrong?
With 5 hours of run time, is there any point in disassembling more to continue to look for this? It would seem to me that piece is probably long gone and probably passed right through with the exhaust. Obviously there is always a risk of engine damage with something like this, but how likely is it based on the possible size of the piece?
1989 Rinker 186 Captiva, 4.3l V6, Thunderbolt IV - searched high and low for the serial number on the engine but couldn't find it stamped or tagged on the engine. The motor is original to the boat.
Thanks for all the help.
I've lurked around for awhile, but this is my first post. I did some searching on here to try and come up with an answer, but I think this may be a bit of a unique situation.
The casting on the carburetor that "bridges" up to receive the stud that holds the air cleaner in place broke free of the carburetor. For the life of me, I don't know how this happened (I'm quite particular about the condition of our boat), but it's where we are now.
When I set the piece back in place to see how it broke, the port and starboard pieces fit together properly, so I know I'm not missing any pieces there. Unfortunately, it looks like I am missing a small chunk between the bow (forward) side of the carb and the "bridge." I'm guessing that piece (or pieces depending on how it broke) fell down into the carburetor as it would really have nowhere else to go.
I estimate that this boat has about 5+ hours of run time since this broke, but just became aware of the fact that a piece has been missing. I haven't started it since I discovered this, but it seems to be running as well as ever.
I removed the carburetor today and used an endoscope (camera) to try and look into the intake manifold searching for the piece(s), but it was very difficult to see. While trying to do my inspection, I noted that the passages between the top of the manifold to the head seem to be pretty short and very straightforward with not many places for something to get stuck. Am I wrong?
With 5 hours of run time, is there any point in disassembling more to continue to look for this? It would seem to me that piece is probably long gone and probably passed right through with the exhaust. Obviously there is always a risk of engine damage with something like this, but how likely is it based on the possible size of the piece?
1989 Rinker 186 Captiva, 4.3l V6, Thunderbolt IV - searched high and low for the serial number on the engine but couldn't find it stamped or tagged on the engine. The motor is original to the boat.
Thanks for all the help.
