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Old 10-11-2017, 07:56 PM
rsanghera rsanghera is offline
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Unhappy Sigh... please let my A4 start this time.

A4 experts... I'm a frequent visitor, but first-time poster.

First, the boat: '79 Newport 30 with a rebuilt A4 (rebuild in '13). Raw water cooled, electric fuel pump, in-line fuel filter to fuel/water separator.

She's been getting harder and harder to start over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the boat sits for long periods of time. Even though I'm in SoCal (Orange County), I'm on the road a lot and she doesn't get the attention she needs... speaking about the boat, not the wife.

Last time I was able to get the A4 started was about 2 months ago, and it took nearly 10 minutes of attempts. Once started, things seemed fine. It took throttle fine... until we got out of the slip and into the channel. This time, I happened to backup down the channel, but then, once in forward gear, it was struggling to take any throttle at all. Got it back into the slip and have two months of bruises on my forehead now. Never started since. The starter engages, and does it's job... flywheel is turning, etc. The engine just doesn't "catch."

I went down the spark channel first. Changed the points, rotor, condenser, cap and plugs. I also changed both fuel filters and changed the oil at the same time. I am getting spark at all four plugs... still no starting. One move I regret. When I filled the new fuel/separator, I filled about 2/3 with fuel, and then the last 1/3 with Sea Foam liquid. I did this based on a recommendation; however, I now appreciate that I should have got the engine running and warm before doing this. So that "whoops" factors in since I've yet to burn it out of the system.

I switched to the fuel side of the equation. All else seemed fine, but the fuel does sit a long time so figured the carb was gunked up. Now running on a newly rebuilt carb. Still not able to start.

After checking the plugs again, I see that they are wet, and I also noticed that I would get fuel backed up into the intake below the flame arrestor. I borrowed a compression gauge from the local auto shop and have the following:
Cylinder #1: 110 lbs
Cylinder #2: 100 lbs
Cylinder #3: 110 lbs
Cylinder #4: 0 lbs (not a typo... I got skunked. Sigh)

I double checked the gauge back and forth across working cylinders and got a zero in #4 consistently... bummer. Assuming that this means stuck valve. This also happens to be the "lowest" cylinder with the tilt of the engine, so I'm guessing that in one or more of my difficult starting attempts over the years, I forgot to keep the raw water intake closed. Bad things happen as a result. Another sigh and bruise on the forehead.

So here's where I am: Probably stuck valve on #4 (anyone here in OC ever try to do a valve job on the boat??), BUT... shouldn't she still start? I'm thinking that I still should have "bang" everywhere else and at least get it started. My next move is to drain the fuel tank. It's a 20 gallon tank and, in the last 6-7 years, has only been to the fuel dock 2-3 times. It only take 20-30 minutes to get out of the channel and get the sails up, so the fuel sits for a long time.

Am I crazy in thinking that I should still be able to start up on 3 cylinders? If not, does cleaning out the tank and all of the fuel lines seem like the best next step?

Appreciate the advice.

RICK
"Beginner's Luck"
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