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Old 05-13-2018, 10:28 AM
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TomG TomG is offline
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smosh,

I too went from a Catalina 25 with a Merc outboard to a Tartan 30. I loved that Catalina 25, but the only thing I miss about it is the swing keel. And Catalina Direct.

As sdemore stated, definitely check for compression. Even a simple "thumb test" would tell you if you had a stuck valve or two.

Due to a poorly done replacement fuel deck fill by a previous owner, I had water in the tank when I first got the boat. It was vexing to figure out (the water was entering the tank from where the out of sight barb of the deck fill inserted in the fuel filler hose), so I went straight to an outboard tank for troubleshooting. This alone narrowed down a lot of problems.

We know the engine was running and I'm assuming the timing hasn't been changed. We know you have a spark. We know we need two other items to run - good, clean fuel, and compression. A compression check closes the loop there. All that's left is fuel. I would make certain the choke is fully closing and opening. If it is, I would temporarily hook up an outboard tank to the carb. If that didn't get her going, I'd check the fuel pump for output (someone, Neil maybe) mentioned a fuel pressure gauge, but just running the pump or bail if it's mechanical will close this loop. If your fuel pump is working, now most of the fingers are pointing at the carb.

As you know, the accessory side of the A-4 is a joy to work on in the T-30. The tradeoff is the manifold/carb side. The good news, removing the carb is a simple affair. One set screw holds the choke, one cotter pin holds the throttle linkage, and two nuts secure the carb. My go-to choice for removing the carb is stubby box end wrench. Usually the hardest part for me is getting the fuel line off the barb.

Definitely check compression first (because it's so easy to do), and then rule out fuel. If you feel pretty confident about the fuel quality (and it sounds like you are), check the choke. If it were me and all the above checked out, I wouldn't hesitate to remove and clean (and possibly rebuild) the carb.
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