Ran fine till I paid someone to do a tune up.

[P30_889]

I have Pearson 30 that I purchased a year ago. It was on the hard for three years with little attention before I bought it. I was impressed when the Atomic 4 started up fine once I charged the batteries.

After sailing the boat this spring I decided to have someone look over the engine and tune it up for me. After the 'tune up' the motor seemed slower to start (took more tries turning over before actually starting) and now only a couple of months later (only about 2 hours on the motor since July) it won't start at all.

The mechanic replaced the spark plugs, distributor, points etc. and changed the oil. Any ideas? The company that worked on it originally says that they won't get to the boat again to check it out for some time. I think I would be better off just doing the work myself!

David Hagler
Annapolis,MD

1976 Atomic 4
Raw water.

[jayw]

Yes, try to work on the engine yourself. These engines are pretty simple and it's not hard to learn basic troubleshooting skills. This website is a great resource and Don is very generous with his advice and support. You'll become more familiar with your engine and be much more self-sufficient, not to mention saving a lot of money. The only downside is spending the time necessary. If you approach the project as a learning experience, you may even enjoy it. One other suggestion is to purchase the proper tools if you don't already own them. Good luck!

[tenders]

What you're seeing could be a lot of things. I agree it isn't worth paying somebody to do what your tuneup guy did--unless you can get the guy to come over every time something strange happens, you're going to need to figure it out yourself anyway. It's not a bad idea to have an extra set of tuneup parts (condenser, points, rotor, cap, plugs) on hand for the next time and to troubleshoot in the meantime.

Things I'd check that require just a screwdriver, plug wrench, and gapper:

(1) Look at the carb and make sure that the choke cable actually moves the choke. If the screw that holds this in place gets loose, the cable will move without closing the choke and it can be very hard to start the engine.

(2) Make sure the spark plug wires are correctly connected. Look at the distributor, follow the wires around clockwise, and make sure they correspond to spark plugs 1, 2, 4, 3 (in that order). (I screwed this up once big-time and now label my cap with these numbers written next to the wires with masking tape.) Also check that you're getting spark to each plug.

(3) Pull the plugs to make sure they aren't fouled. You should have a spark plug gapper. Strangely, plugs don't come from the factory properly gapped.

(4) Take off the cap and make sure it and the rotor are clean. Also, that the wire that comes out underneath the cap isn't crimped or cut.

(5) While the cap is off make sure the points are properly gapped. You need the gapper for this too, although if they are gapped to the thickness of a business card, it's pretty darn close.

Once you've done this you've pretty much eliminated a problem with the tuneup as you've described it, except bad condenser, which is easy to swap out if you have an extra.

[P30_889]

Ran fine

I will take these suggestions and try them out this weekend. I used to actually work on engines in the past and with work being so busy I thought I would 'do the right thing' and pay someone to do some of the work so I didn't put off much needed work (the tune up).

I won't do that anymore!

Thanks. I will let folks know what happens on Monday.

[bayway27]

Because you stated the the Boat was on the hard for three years, I would check the carb. Pull the main passage plug, capture the gas if any comes out. If no gas then change your filters. Gas tends to get a little iffy after three years of fermentation. You might also need to clean out the fuel pump sediment bowl if gas is still not getting to the carb. Best of luck, don't go too crazy on projects as { atleast in my area } sailing season is coming to an end
fix what is necessary, enjoy the balance of the season. On the hard is project time.