Return to the home page...

Go Back   Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Community - Home of the Afourians > Discussion Topics > Troubleshooting

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   IP: 76.118.109.66
Old 04-06-2014, 05:39 PM
southcoasting's Avatar
southcoasting southcoasting is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Fairhaven, MA
Posts: 141
Thanks: 15
Thanked 22 Times in 13 Posts
My new A4 won't start yet...Fuel related



So after a couple of days of doing a few things (flush, electric fuel pump conversion, new OPSS, cleaning carb, new fuel filter/separator unit, fuel hoses) to get it ready for first start in a few years, I am not getting fuel priming from the pump

Here's the story:

I had my old extra fuel pump from Destinada around so I went ahead and used it...But got no kind of priming/pumping...I did not get the usual ticking noise I get when I used to on Destinada telling me the pump is sending fuel...Tried bypassing the OPSS as well...Nothing

So I went and pulled the newer pump from Destinada to see if I just had a bad pump but also got nothing...

So I thought, that eliminates the fuel pump being bad...and started looking at the coil...I noticed this odd piece in the attached picture that I am not quite sure what it is...It is not on Destinada's A4 so contemplated yanking it...I touched the connections and they seem really flimsy on this contraption...

Any ideas what this is and how to yank it and retrofit the existing cables going to it?
Attached Images
 
__________________
1971 Tartan 34C Sloop "NOVA LUNA", Rebuilt (2019) Fresh Water Cooled A4 (Bought boat in 2014)
1968 Tartan 27 Yawl "Destinada", rebuilt Old Lyme freshwater A4 (Sold boat in 2014)
Reply With Quote
  #2   IP: 173.66.236.200
Old 04-06-2014, 06:39 PM
edwardc's Avatar
edwardc edwardc is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 2,509
Thanks: 153
Thanked 595 Times in 388 Posts
Its a ballast resistor to reduce the power dissapated by the coil. It protects the coil from overheating and cooking itself. There are several extensive threads on the topic in this forum.

If it's faulty, it will keep the boat from starting. And if the fuel pump is (incorrectly) wired to the reduced voltage side of the resistor, it's failure will also stop the fuel pump from running.

For a very quick, short test, it should be fine to simply bypass the resistor, but you should strongly consider keeping it if you have electronic ignition.
__________________
@(^.^)@ Ed
1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita"
with rebuilt Atomic-4

Reply With Quote
  #3   IP: 24.224.152.244
Old 04-06-2014, 09:06 PM
Mo's Avatar
Mo Mo is offline
Afourian MVP
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Halifax NS,
Posts: 4,470
Thanks: 292
Thanked 411 Times in 272 Posts
Turn it over and see if you have spark; check plugs and see if they are wet with fuel. If problems noted correct, and if it still doesn't start do a compression test. Valves or stuck rings can be problematic as well on an engine that hasn't been run in a while.
__________________
Mo

"Odyssey"
1976 C&C 30 MKI

The pessimist complains about the wind.
The optimist expects it to change.
The realist adjusts the sails.
...Sir William Arthur Ward.
Reply With Quote
  #4   IP: 76.118.109.66
Old 04-09-2014, 08:34 PM
southcoasting's Avatar
southcoasting southcoasting is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Fairhaven, MA
Posts: 141
Thanks: 15
Thanked 22 Times in 13 Posts
Thanks guys...So after some troubleshooting, I bypassed the resistor and ordered a new one for now...

Still wasn't pumping fuel...

Until I realized that the Racor pumps need to be grounded! Jeez...Spent a ton a ton of time and this whole time I had not realized the Racor pumps needed to be installed with a grounding attached to it if installing it on a bulkhead like I am doing...So used to messing with it right on the block on my old A4

So after manually priming the pump because it would not pull gas on its own (using my old mechanical pump), I am now getting fuel to the carb...took a quick look at the incoming hose on the carb...

I did have to bypass the opss in order to have it prime...

So I am excited because I have eliminated the pump and coil from being an issue...Now it's down to my spark...I bought a cheapo Harbor Freight multimeter to test some things tomorrow...I did not end up changing the plugs yet which I usually do...A good idea to change those too while I'm at it anyways...

Little by little I will get this thing started!

I should have bought a compression gauge while at Harbor Freight to run compression tests with...
__________________
1971 Tartan 34C Sloop "NOVA LUNA", Rebuilt (2019) Fresh Water Cooled A4 (Bought boat in 2014)
1968 Tartan 27 Yawl "Destinada", rebuilt Old Lyme freshwater A4 (Sold boat in 2014)
Reply With Quote
  #5   IP: 76.118.109.66
Old 04-11-2014, 08:35 PM
southcoasting's Avatar
southcoasting southcoasting is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Fairhaven, MA
Posts: 141
Thanks: 15
Thanked 22 Times in 13 Posts
Great news is, I got her going today!

So the fuel related issue ended up being an ignition related issue after the fuel feed issue was fixed...

Replaced all ignition parts but I believe my issue was mainly revolved around the ignition wires where they were a mixed up...it was to go through this though because I got to learn a ton about ignition and now have extra parts in case something goes wrong...As Don says, 90% of ignition issues are primary ignition based

I took a video but don't have youtube but I have it up on my one drive

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...t=video%2c.mp4

PS: There were a few helpful posts that helped here:
http://www.moyermarine.com/newsletters/spring2011.html

http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7861
__________________
1971 Tartan 34C Sloop "NOVA LUNA", Rebuilt (2019) Fresh Water Cooled A4 (Bought boat in 2014)
1968 Tartan 27 Yawl "Destinada", rebuilt Old Lyme freshwater A4 (Sold boat in 2014)
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
coil, fuel pump, opss

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Fuel Shutdown Issue gdasw Fuel System 17 06-20-2013 08:53 AM
Engine won't start and I'm at my wits-end ChicagoNewport27 Troubleshooting 64 07-23-2011 12:47 AM
Fuel-Related Engine Shutdowns Don Moyer Fuel System 32 02-18-2011 04:36 PM
Engine won't start - fuel delivery problem gary gerber Fuel System 7 05-24-2009 05:09 PM
Facet fuel pump notes rigspelt Fuel System 3 01-03-2009 01:31 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:42 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


Universal® is a registered trademark of Westerbeke Corporation

Copyright © 2004-2024 Moyer Marine Inc.

All Rights Reserved