engine won't start when hot???

protec?

sorry if I sound dumb here but what do you mean by protec. The engine is a pcm 351 with a prestolite distributor. I have read that the pionts should open up to .018 but mine dousn't open up anywhere near that. Maybe .005

I'm in Ft Myers Fl. The last time I used the boat was in dec. It was around 80 degrees. I need to replace the wires because when I was setting the timing they shocked theh crap out of me when turning the distributor. I will order a new set but I am still unsure what to do with the distributor. Order a tune up with new points/condensor or get the electronic conversion. I thought of vapor lock but there is plenty of fuel coming into the carb when you open the throttle.

Joe, bring it to the river run. Odds are 1 or 2 guys with a wrench will show!

Otherwise, you should have a screw on the base plate of those points to set the gap. I'd also check the timing.

Joe - .005 is not even close for dwell. The timing must be way off too. Fix the obvious things 1st before you tear into the carb or buy a new dizzy.

Put in new points as long as you are messing with it. Set gap, timing, idle speed, & idle mixture & it will probably run like a top!

joe
correct me but you went through a stringer job in this one? if so how did it finally turn out?

Thanks for all the feedback. The carb has been rebuilt in the last year and no the engine won't start if you hold it open. I used to be able to drain both bowls on the carb and it would then restart but lately this hasn't been working. I can't wait to figure this out because it is a pain in the ass getting into a wakeboard while breathing exhaust fumes. Where/when is the river run your talking about. I can't find any info about it on the site. Kapla, the stringer job is done and turned out very well even though I think I put enough foam in it to float the boat without a drain plug in. I will post some pictures soon.

Link to St John River Run

When the motor is hot, up to temp. Open the motor box and take the arrestor off. Turn off the motor and look down in the carb.
Does fuel continue to flow into the carb ? If so, it is flooding.
If not, it is something else. It is really easy to see the fuel continue to flow in the carb if it is indeed flooding.
If flooding, I would check Float levels again.

I had the same issue last year as well, with my 351w motor. Would start up fine and idle perfectly until it got to temp for say 15-20min then it would have a hell of a time re-starting. I don't have points anymore completely electronic ignition, new wires, fresh carb. We did some metering and found that the coil would only get 9ish volts during crank, and about 6v when running. Which is fine/normal. But as stated before when the wires get warm they have a hard time conducting the current to the plugs. First change the wires, and maybe the cap, if you getting shocked when adjusting the timing it could be either one.
I ran a wire with a diode, to stop return voltage, to the + side of the coil in a such a way so it will only see 12v during crank. Then when the key is set to "RUN" it will go back to the 6-9v or so.
The coil cannot be ran at 12v all the time or it will burn up.
Hope this helps some, may not be your problem but something to look into.
Ryan

I can vouch for Chris (79Nautique). I put in EI last year & left the ballast resistor in at first.   I got the dizzy 'New Obsolete' from Ebay & it didn't come with instructions.

After getting advice from this forum, I took the resistor out & it does run better without it.

From what I understand, the electronics will limit the coil current in place of the ballast resistor.    It also allows full current flow at high speed.

With a points system, the coil can get overheated at idle due to long current dwell, which is why you need a resistor.   At higher speeds, the resistor is a disadvantage because the coil doesn't have the long current dwell (& doesn't overheat), but since it is there it still limits current flow thru the coil.   Or do I have this bacerds Chris?

The E-spark unit I believe is one that does require a resistor, But again each one is a little different so you need to double check and read the instructions that came with it.

Also if your coil has a built-in resistor and your using a ballast resistor too that's not good and the ballast needs by-passed. Coils are of two types, resistor and non-resistor.

critter wrote: Good point Chris, I had an E-Spark and a Coil with resistor so I needed to bypass my ballast resistor.

YES if your coil has an internal resistor then you don't need the ballast resistor.

I'm interested to find out how you go as I'm having the same issue with my 89. Starts great when cold, but if you shut it down whilst changing riders, I have to hold the throttle wide open to get it to start. From the previous posts its indicating its flooding, but will need to confirm this when I take it out next. I've ordered a swag of parts from skidim including new leads and a tune up kit so will fit those aswell.

It would not suprise me if the carb needs a freshen up as on 2 recent occasions something on the carb is sticking open and wont go back to idle. When this occured I put it in neutral and disconnected the throttle cable from the carb and it still was around 2000rpm. So eliminating a stuck throttle cable. Not sure if its the choke or throttle shaft sticking, but moving the shaft back by hand solved the problem both times.

Well that was easy then....thanks. Whats the fix for it as it isn't happening all the time, twice in about 50hours?