Some of you might remember my issue with both motors on our houseboat. The problem ended up being the distributors, and while we were at it we upgraded to electronic ignition. Along the way we had the carbs rebuilt, changed plugs and lots of other little things until we figured out it was the distributors.
All worked fine at the end of the past boating season. Now this year I've had an issue with my starboard motor. It appears to be fuel related but at this point I'm not sure of anything.
Symptom is when we begin our boating day the motor starts up just fine and runs to wherever we are going, whether that be 3 miles or 20 miles away. Once we get to our destination I turn it off. All is okay. Then when we go to head back I'll fire up both motors. Again, no problem. She starts right up. But once she runs for a few minutes she dies. She won't start again. If I bump up the gas she'll start for a second, rev and die. She won't start the rest of the day. Even if we have a two hour cruise home, she will not start after sitting even that long ( I try to start her up at that point just to assist with docking. It's hard to dock with one engine ...especially if it's windy.)
I've tried treating her as if she was flooded and put the throttle all the way forward. Nothing. Aggressive pumping of the throttle does nothing. She doesn't even fire. But inevitably, the next morning she fires right up and runs as if there is no issue.
Both motors usually start with the simple turn of the key. After sitting for a week or more I have to give em a little gas normally. But once started up for the weekend and ran daily just turn the key and they fire. Lately the starboard one (problem engine) does require me to pump more gas to her before she fires. Not sure if that is important to this issue, but figured it was worth mentioning.
For the first few weeks of the season, she only did this maybe once a weekend. Otherwise she ran fine and brought us home without issue. Now this past weekend she has this exact symptom every day. Same story.
Any ideas on things to try to diagnose this issue?
All worked fine at the end of the past boating season. Now this year I've had an issue with my starboard motor. It appears to be fuel related but at this point I'm not sure of anything.
Symptom is when we begin our boating day the motor starts up just fine and runs to wherever we are going, whether that be 3 miles or 20 miles away. Once we get to our destination I turn it off. All is okay. Then when we go to head back I'll fire up both motors. Again, no problem. She starts right up. But once she runs for a few minutes she dies. She won't start again. If I bump up the gas she'll start for a second, rev and die. She won't start the rest of the day. Even if we have a two hour cruise home, she will not start after sitting even that long ( I try to start her up at that point just to assist with docking. It's hard to dock with one engine ...especially if it's windy.)
I've tried treating her as if she was flooded and put the throttle all the way forward. Nothing. Aggressive pumping of the throttle does nothing. She doesn't even fire. But inevitably, the next morning she fires right up and runs as if there is no issue.
Both motors usually start with the simple turn of the key. After sitting for a week or more I have to give em a little gas normally. But once started up for the weekend and ran daily just turn the key and they fire. Lately the starboard one (problem engine) does require me to pump more gas to her before she fires. Not sure if that is important to this issue, but figured it was worth mentioning.
For the first few weeks of the season, she only did this maybe once a weekend. Otherwise she ran fine and brought us home without issue. Now this past weekend she has this exact symptom every day. Same story.
Any ideas on things to try to diagnose this issue?
