So there I was, leaving the dock for a sunset motor cruise.
I throttled up to full power, got to 2000 rpm, life was good.
Then, the revs dropped to about 1200 rpm, with loss of power.
A couple of power surges a few seconds on, then back off, finally settling into low power mode.
Should I turn back immediately? Should I press on with the pleasure cruise?
What could possibly be wrong? A plethora of possible scenarios ran through my head:
1) Bad fuel? Had water somehow gotten into my recently gone-over fuel system? Should I drain the float valve tank?
2) Gunk in the carburetor? Would I have to do the rebuild that I have so far avoided with success, and hope to never do?
3) Have I lost compression, like a broken piston ring or something worse?
4) Has my coil failed? I think I have a spare on board somewhere...
Back at the dock, the first thing I did was to check each of the spark plug wire connections.
Sure enough, the #1 plug wire was loose. I snugged it down and the problem went away.
Easy Fix!!!
(wish they were all like that...)
I throttled up to full power, got to 2000 rpm, life was good.
Then, the revs dropped to about 1200 rpm, with loss of power.
A couple of power surges a few seconds on, then back off, finally settling into low power mode.
Should I turn back immediately? Should I press on with the pleasure cruise?
What could possibly be wrong? A plethora of possible scenarios ran through my head:
1) Bad fuel? Had water somehow gotten into my recently gone-over fuel system? Should I drain the float valve tank?
2) Gunk in the carburetor? Would I have to do the rebuild that I have so far avoided with success, and hope to never do?
3) Have I lost compression, like a broken piston ring or something worse?
4) Has my coil failed? I think I have a spare on board somewhere...
Back at the dock, the first thing I did was to check each of the spark plug wire connections.
Sure enough, the #1 plug wire was loose. I snugged it down and the problem went away.
Easy Fix!!!
(wish they were all like that...)
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