Intermittent Starting Problem

[kent]

Before the holidays our Atomic 4 in a Pearson Ariel started and ran reasonabily well. I tried to start it yesterday after about eight weeks including some freezing temperatures at night. It behaved as though it was receiving no fuel. I did not get a single putt. Starter fluid in the air intake caused it to start and run for the couple a seconds needed to burn off the fluid. I gave up for the day and left it to recharge the battery.

Today I got to the boat and tried the starter. It started immediately! Then it ran for just 30 to 40 seconds before the rpm started to increase and continued to increase at an alarming rate. I eased back on the throttle and it died. I tried to restart it and got the same lack of response that I had yesterday.

I let it sit for about five minutes then tried again. I got a couple of putts. I let it sit for fifteen minuites and it started and ran for about half a minute. I restarted it and got the same half minute of run time. I repeated this a couple more times before it started, ran for a couple of minutes, then increased rpm on its own and died. I restarted it and it ran roughly then smoothed out, slowly increasing rpm while I backed off the throttle. I let run in gear for about fifteen minutes before shutting it down for the day.

I would like to avoid this process in the future and would be grateful for any suggestions.
Kent

[Don Moyer]

Kent,

Fortunately or unfortunately, it looks as though you have correctly determined your problem to be fuel-related. Whenever a fuel problem manifests and then clears itself, it's relatively strong evidence that there is some dirt moving through (or trying to move through) the carburetor main jet. Since the engine is working OK again, you could gamble that a small particulate has made it through the main jet and out of harm's way, but it would be more prudent to at least remove the main passage plug and clean the area just ahead of the main jet by blasting carburetor cleaner into that area. If, when you remove the plug, you find other crud between the main passage plug and the main jet, you could feel that you have found the smoking gun.

Don