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Just thought I would share the following, and maybe someday, someone searching for a trouble shooting answer can find this and resolve a very frustrating condition, with what turned outout to be a simple solution.
If you want the fix, without all the drama skip to the end.
Last summer on a trip around the west end of Erie, I noticed a slight reduction in my normal, comfortable cruising speed, when judged by me listening to the A4, and referencing my speed on the helm readout Nothing significant, but noticeable. As days past, the situation continued to deteriorate. I asked the Admiral if she noticed it, as she acknowledged a difference in performance. Disclaimer- Sometimes I need to double check these things because I have a tendency to expect the worst, and look for issues that might not be there...kinda glass half full...
So at the our next layover I bike up to the local marina to get a new fuel filters, because I didnt get around to changing them when I launched, and I am convinced that dirty filters are starving the Beasty of fuel when I throttle up.
I will spare everyone the story and drama of multiple trips/mis fitting fittings/and a minor fuel leak. Needless to say, I was thankful my fellow travelling group was open to the idea of a extra day at our current Port-of-call.
Casting of all seemed well. A almost full day of sailing and only minor motoring into our next port showed no issue.
Fast forward another few days , and the same symptoms returned. Sluggish performance at the higher end of the RPM spectrum.
For the remainder of the season I mulled over causes and decided it must be a dirty bottom/prop. I dove on the bottom, during the second week of Sept, in my weedy slip, to discover a fairly clean bottom, and clear prop.
Late fall now, and I am convinced I have contaminated fuel. Boat was hauled, and this year I had it delivered home so I could do other, unrelated work aboard all winter. As soon as the winter cover was removed, I turned my attention back to the engine. I drew 7 gallons of fuel out of the main tank, and carefully inspected the siphoned gas for water, or containment’s and or water. All looked good.
Rushed to meet my appointment to get hauled back to the lake, I put the issue aside, and concentrated on doing all the tasks that had to be done in my driveway.
As I arrive at the marina, I am immediately launched. Not being prepared for that, I scramble to get the engine fired up after it’s winter slumber. It was sloooooow to catch, but I assumed it was due to winter storage plugs still being installed, and my aggressive use of engine fogging spray last fall.
As it turns out, the choke cable had slipped, and ultimately, I started the Beastie without choke, on a cold spring day. WOW
After readjusting the choke, I was hoping for the same performance I have come to appreciate, but nope, it wasn’t to be. Again poor proformance at the top end, but noticeably worse in the mid range now. What ever was going on was getting worse.
As a Hail Mary move, I pulled the carb last Saturday- disassembled it- cleaned it, and paid particular attention to the reinstall, because I was out of ideas. The engine fired up , was OK sounding, but still a little sluggish when in gear,pulling at the lines in the slip. I am absolutely frustrated at this point. I commit to pouring over this Fourm until I have another potential solution
So here is the payoff......I have avoided digging into the distributor. I’ve always been intimidated by conversations about weights, and springs. I just don’t get it. In fact Sunday was the first time I removed the distributor cap, since I installed the EI 5 years ago, so in hindsight I wasn’t surprised to see a rotor that had a green blob of corrosion on the tip. A little light sanding, and touch up of the cap too and holy cow....The Beastie is back- roaring strong.
The reason I went to the ignition side, was the valuable info I could reference on this fourm, so I guess this massive post is not just me blabbering, but a a really long build up to a THANK YOU to the many knowledgeable contributors who make this a great form........and for those of you that read this entire diatribe, when did you realize it was ignition related?
Cheers
Jimmy
If you want the fix, without all the drama skip to the end.
Last summer on a trip around the west end of Erie, I noticed a slight reduction in my normal, comfortable cruising speed, when judged by me listening to the A4, and referencing my speed on the helm readout Nothing significant, but noticeable. As days past, the situation continued to deteriorate. I asked the Admiral if she noticed it, as she acknowledged a difference in performance. Disclaimer- Sometimes I need to double check these things because I have a tendency to expect the worst, and look for issues that might not be there...kinda glass half full...
So at the our next layover I bike up to the local marina to get a new fuel filters, because I didnt get around to changing them when I launched, and I am convinced that dirty filters are starving the Beasty of fuel when I throttle up.
I will spare everyone the story and drama of multiple trips/mis fitting fittings/and a minor fuel leak. Needless to say, I was thankful my fellow travelling group was open to the idea of a extra day at our current Port-of-call.
Casting of all seemed well. A almost full day of sailing and only minor motoring into our next port showed no issue.
Fast forward another few days , and the same symptoms returned. Sluggish performance at the higher end of the RPM spectrum.
For the remainder of the season I mulled over causes and decided it must be a dirty bottom/prop. I dove on the bottom, during the second week of Sept, in my weedy slip, to discover a fairly clean bottom, and clear prop.
Late fall now, and I am convinced I have contaminated fuel. Boat was hauled, and this year I had it delivered home so I could do other, unrelated work aboard all winter. As soon as the winter cover was removed, I turned my attention back to the engine. I drew 7 gallons of fuel out of the main tank, and carefully inspected the siphoned gas for water, or containment’s and or water. All looked good.
Rushed to meet my appointment to get hauled back to the lake, I put the issue aside, and concentrated on doing all the tasks that had to be done in my driveway.
As I arrive at the marina, I am immediately launched. Not being prepared for that, I scramble to get the engine fired up after it’s winter slumber. It was sloooooow to catch, but I assumed it was due to winter storage plugs still being installed, and my aggressive use of engine fogging spray last fall.
As it turns out, the choke cable had slipped, and ultimately, I started the Beastie without choke, on a cold spring day. WOW
After readjusting the choke, I was hoping for the same performance I have come to appreciate, but nope, it wasn’t to be. Again poor proformance at the top end, but noticeably worse in the mid range now. What ever was going on was getting worse.
As a Hail Mary move, I pulled the carb last Saturday- disassembled it- cleaned it, and paid particular attention to the reinstall, because I was out of ideas. The engine fired up , was OK sounding, but still a little sluggish when in gear,pulling at the lines in the slip. I am absolutely frustrated at this point. I commit to pouring over this Fourm until I have another potential solution
So here is the payoff......I have avoided digging into the distributor. I’ve always been intimidated by conversations about weights, and springs. I just don’t get it. In fact Sunday was the first time I removed the distributor cap, since I installed the EI 5 years ago, so in hindsight I wasn’t surprised to see a rotor that had a green blob of corrosion on the tip. A little light sanding, and touch up of the cap too and holy cow....The Beastie is back- roaring strong.
The reason I went to the ignition side, was the valuable info I could reference on this fourm, so I guess this massive post is not just me blabbering, but a a really long build up to a THANK YOU to the many knowledgeable contributors who make this a great form........and for those of you that read this entire diatribe, when did you realize it was ignition related?
Cheers
Jimmy
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