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Old 05-12-2011, 12:05 PM
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daveinrenton daveinrenton is offline
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Flawless Performance, 2 years running

[B]A little back story for my A-4 bretheren. When I first joined the Forum, my A-4 ran all right but the amount of water being ejected from the exaust was a small stream and there was, invariably, an unsightly soot line on the transom of my Ericson 29 whenever I used the auxiliary. I have not been active on the site for nearly a couple of years because my '79 A-4 has been operating flawlessly after making the many improvements suggested via our interactions in the Forum over the prior several years. The two main issues that made the most difference were the replacement of the exhaust hose (which had internally collapsed) and the installation of the adjustable carb main jet and fuel polisher downstream from the primary fuel/water filter. I pretty religiously use MMO in the fuel tank everytime I do a major gas-up (cheap and effective keeping those piston rings supple). The boat can sit for weeks, sometimes more than a month, and the engine starts and runs like a champ. Don shared with me that he believes that half of the engine problems encountered by users are due to improper exhaust back-pressure. In my case, there was no evidence visually on the exterior of my 7 feet of hose to suggest the catastrophic condition inside. When removed, the discovered blockage reduced the fume and water flow by at least 90%. It's a wonder the engine ran at all. The hose cost about $85 dollars and I was able to easily install it myself with the proper clamps. Water and exhaust flow was completely restored. I still suspected problems with the air-fuel mixture. Installing Moyer's adjustable jet to the carb (with a thorough cleaning of the carburetor itself) and following the adjustment instructions that came with it created an ideal mixture of those two imortant components and an end to my black line on the transom caused by a too rich fuel-air mixture provided by the stock jet. Another significant but inexpensive upgrade. Finally, I installed the fuel polisher in the line from the fuel pump to the caburetor because who could ever argue against the cleanest possible juice? When my old thermostat finally gave up the ghost, I did install the less expensive aftermarket thermostat which required additional installation of a special bronze housing and adaptor. This was easy, worked beautifully and restored the engine to consistent and safer operating temperature with the added benefit of far less expensive thermostat replacement in the years to come.

I miss hanging out on the Forum but do NOT miss worrying about the engine failing to fire-up with a push of the button in the middle of the Puget Sound in a running tide. Take a look at doing some of these services on your motor and go with confidence when the wind takes an unexpected rest or you need to maneuver in and out of the marina. Dave
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