fuel help needed, boat stalls for no reason

[Mo]

To set the mixture in turn clockwise. Then back off 1 1/4 turn and try that. I generally back it off another 1/4 again before I try it.

This time of year, around 75 degrees here: Choke to start, push choke in right away after it starts and see if it stalls....if it stalls it's generally pretty close.

Next, I start again with full choke and after 10 to 15 seconds ease it in and it should continue to run...another 10 seconds and push it all the way...engine should continue to run.

Next I smell the exhaust and see if it smells rich...if not it's pretty close.

The reason I mentioned sniffing the oil in my earlier post was because the pump had been worked on. Although not much to go wrong there I just wanted to ensure you weren't pushing gas through a damaged or faulty diaphram...outside chance.

[Mo]

With everything said in the previous post, this could be a fuel starvation issue. I'm not sure, could be a blocked main jet, pump issue, plugged fuel filter, or air leak in some portion of the vessels line.

Changing out the coil: Did it make it better?? If so, the problem, then would be considered electrical. There's a small wire from the distributor also that gets jammed some times, connections as mentioned by Neil and others. Neil knows your particular boat and has been through allot of these issues himself...so does Shawn.

[JOHN COOKSON]

Cause Ane Effect

Hey All.
I have just retested by C 30 with the new coil. Same old thing. Runs fine in the slip but off the dock and under load it stalls out. It still does immediately restart, go for a while and then stall again.
Greg

My bet is still on wiring or electrical until proven otherwise. (Post #7)
An engine that is flooded or so lean that it quits will not start easily.

TRUE GRIT

[gregsails]

Ok. So my next step will be to run a wire from the pos. terminal on the battery to the pos terminal on the coil.
Esay to do, but why am I doing this. I am in the chocalate business by trade and good with the tools but lots of theory I do not understand.
Does the connection happen before I start the engine? What happens after the motor is started... just run it? What should happen after that?
Greg

[JOHN COOKSON]

Divide And Conquer

Ok. So my next step will be to run a wire from the pos. terminal on the battery to the pos terminal on the coil.
Esay to do, but why am I doing this. I am in the chocalate business by trade and good with the tools but lots of theory I do not understand.
Does the connection happen before I start the engine? What happens after the motor is started... just run it? What should happen after that?
Greg

We got you covered on the theroy part. Hang in there.
It's easier to run wire from the large battery cable on the back of the starter to coil +. This will bypasses the boats wiring.
Do not leave this wire connected and hot for more than a couple of minuets when the engine isn't running or you will burn out the coil.
If the engine runs normally it means the boat's wiring is at fault. We'll go from there.
Have you read general information FAQ #14?

TRUE GRIT

[Mo]

Hi Greg,
Just remembered something: I looked at a boat earlier this summer that would idle and not stay running in gear. I was thinking his problem was stuck valves as shutting down under load is a symptom of that as well. Once it was started I could hear the miss so checked the plugs first. It was spark plug issue and it had been running lean for a while as well, judging from the mess on them. So, before you do anything else pull off one plug wire at a time and see if it changes the idle. The boat I looked at had 2 bad plugs. Two malfunctioning plugs will shut it down under load and it could idle with them.

If you post a video of the engine running so we could hear it maybe it would help.

[gregsails]

OK. That didn t work out very well. Make up a jump wire, #10 guage with clips.Put my old coil back on just in case. Ran the boat on the dock to make sure it started easily. All good so far. Motored out of the slip and went to the day sailors dock, tied the boat up and shut it down.
Went down below, went pos to battery and pos to coil. Reached out and turn the key and immediately fried the wire right off the battery and destroyed the wire going into my distributor. Looked like the boat was on fire.So Im sure the coil and distributor are shot.
The whole process took about 2 seconds. Not a happy camper right now.
I do, still have my new coil and a new electronic distributor on the boat.But Im doubting my ability to fix this now.What did I do wrong?
Greg

[ndutton]

My guess is either:

1. The jumper was actually on the coil '-' post or
2. The wire from the distributor that should have been on the coil '-' post was actually on the coil '+' post. That is, the normal wires attached to the coil were reversed.

Either is a possibility with all the work that has gone on in the area. I also don't think turning the key had anything to do with it. Likely the problem started when the jumper was installed (any sparking during connection?) and it took a little time for full meltdown, about as much time as it took to activate the key. Turning off the key wouldn't have stopped it either.

That's all if my guess is correct.

I further don't think it caused any distributor damage save the small wire nor do I think the distributor caused the damage. I think the coil was spared too. This appears to be a connection polarity problem pure and simple. How 'bout a fuse in the jumper next time?

edit:
Bottom line - the small wire from the distributor and the temporary jumper should NOT be on the same post. That is what I think happened here.

[Mo]

Nice promp reply Neil...and you had some good news in there for Greg as well....always in awe of your electrical knowledge.

[romantic comedy]

If the wire was connected to the negative side of the coil, it would have burned up right away, if the points were closed. My guess is that they were open. When the engine was turned over, the points closed, thus causing the wire to burn.

[ndutton]

Nice prompt reply Neil...and you had some good news in there for Greg as well....always in awe of your electrical knowledge.

Let's just hope I'm right and this is a simple diagnosis and fix.

I'd never considered a fuse in the jumper wire but Greg's experience has given me religion.

[gregsails]

Hey.
Im almost positive ( forgive the pun ) that my hook up on the jumper was correct. What I will try to do after dinner is take a picture of the coil so you can see exactly what I have going on.
I was assuming damage to the distributor and/or coil because the boat would not start after the smoke out. I ll try to restart it again.
This is all going to be weather pending tonite as I see a front moving towards us that looks a little nasty with yellows and reds.If not today, tomorrow for sure.
Thanks for talking me off the edge :-)

[ndutton]

Until the wire from the distributor and the coil '-' is replaced I would not expect it to start. Keep the raw water thru-hull closed during start attempts, open when she starts.

[gregsails]

Ok. I learned something new today. I knew I put the jumper to the positive post. Turns out now that I had the coil oriented in the wrong direction, so the wires were on the wrong post!
Would this cause the boat to stall and restart the way it did?
How much more damage have I done to the electrical system?

[ndutton]

Good find Greg

Yeah, pretty much as we thought. Your excellent description of the event made the diagnosis pretty easy. Looking at the picture, I'd replace the crispy wire from the distributor to the coil '-' post and the coil too. I don't think this episode affected it but it's looking ragged anyway and since you have one on hand . . . I believe in my heart the damage was limited to the distributor wire and maybe the points too.

As for whether or not connecting the coil backwards caused the original problem, I don't know. No one has ever admitted doing that before so the knowledge base is slim to non-existent. Why not fix the immediate damage as recommended (wire, points & coil) and give it a try? The worst that could happen is it stalls again and we're back to diagnosis mode.

Keep us posted.