engine idle

I have a 1990 ski W/351 4b. The problem I have is after running about an hour, when the boat is brought back to idle the engine sputters and finally dies out. If we can get it started the only way it will keep running is if we go at skiing speeds, otherwise it just dies out. Any help would be appreciated

I'm not sure but that sounds like a carb problem. while running at skiing speeds your carb feeds more gas to the engine, but when you slow down or stop the float bowl on your carb fills up with gas and floods the engine. A carb adjustment will fix the problem if that is what is wrong, good luck

sincerely- drowning in gasoline

66polyhead wrote: What's wrong with breaker point ignition? Mine works fine, and I might wager my boat can pull your boat backwards.

ok lets hook em up.
you know why they dont put them on cars and boats since the 80s? depedability ! when i took mine off it cleared up all kind of problems. they are nothing but junk!! why in the f**k wouldnt you want full power going to your spark plugs?

i keep the ol' points and rotor cam as spares in the boat as back up. i'm not much on paddling one in anymore.

back to the point ( no pun ) in question. 'runs for an hour' sounds pretty intersting. as 88 suggested a good general tune up may solve your issues, but then again beauty is only skin deep. there are numerous advantages to electronic pick ups, but you can slap in a set of points to see if that is your problem. a 90 would have the pro-tec system anyway.

your idle circuits may be clogged, but that would not rear it's ugly head after an hour of use. your fuel pump may be sucking on a restiction in your fuel line or tank that is only overcome by reving it up. check your check valve ( or remove it ), filter and fuel pick up.

your coil(s) may be weak and suffering from heat stroke. see if you are getting a nice blue spark at all plugs.

the old 302 had similar issues and it end up being a loose intake manifold. (24 ft pounds) she ran well at start up, but after the motor expanded it would create a vacumme leak.

worst case senario, other possibilities are blown head gaskets and/or cracks in your block and heads ( small ones that open up as the motor warms.) if you are getting a lot of blow by, it will pump air through your pvc valve enough to lean out the motor to the point that it will not run at low rpms.


damn fords.

pretty big difference in 100.00 for electronic ign and 1800.00 e.f.i but that is why they stoped putting them on cars. why dont you take your car that you drive in traffic everyday and put that holley or carter on it. oh and put points in it too. and when your sitting on the side of the road broke down i can giggle at you.

your right fileing points on the side of the road or river is cool. file on! oh and keep them feeler guages close by! oh yeah no body has answered why dont you want full coil power to your plugs? oh yeah cause its better.

I with Mr. P. I'd love to go 0-50, sounds like fun to me. Mr. 882001, I've got a nice long, 3/4" diameter rope, if you can haul that bad, EFI, full power coiled boat, to Sandusky. Dinosaurs Forever! As to answer your question, with a question, Why wouldn't you want a dual point distributor, and a double wound coil? Wouldn't that give you a second post spark to burn all of your fuel, and give you extra power thru your coil?

I have the same problem in my 1986! What did you do to fix it?

gonautique@charter.net

I went ahead and ordered all new ignition and electrical parts. This is a cheaper start than replacing the carburetor. I ordered everything from Ron's Marine in Ohio. Hopefully it's only the coil or points. Will post results of my repair this weekend.

Tyran- Pro-tec didn't come out till 91