Zane Bridgers
New Member
Hello Folks -
Recently bought a 1997 Challenger with a single 787 for days out on Lake Powell. Bought the boat from a local repair/rental shop which used it to ferry people to their house boats, so they say...
Test run went well, first time out alone it wouldn't start, eventually started but wouldn't plane - revving at ~5000rpm max. Somewhere along the way we lost about a 1/3rd tank of oil, lots of oil in the hull.
Took it to the shop - they were dirt bags, charged us $125 for a compression test (127psi both cylinders @3,500 ft elevation) and replaced spark plugs which were already in the boat - claimed the whole problem was fouled plugs (they were indeed fouled) and there was no oil leak. We thought they were looking at it for free since they'd just sold it to us. I told them I thought the compression sounded a bit low, maybe time for a rebuild, they got hot headed and said I didn't know what I was talking about.
Took it out again twice since, turns over quickly but dies. Takes a few tries and a little throttle to keep it running. Ran well for maybe 1-2hrs, then after idling for just a few seconds, it wouldn't rev past 5000rpm again and will not plane. Unfortunately I don't recall what the max RPM was when it was running strong. Just started it out of water, revved it - it was sluggish, almost died, and a lot of water came out of the exhaust (which I understand is a wet exhaust, not sure if this is problematic). Not much new oil in the hull since taking it to the shop.
Possible problems:
Carburetor I have no idea when it was last cleaned/rebuilt. Seems like a likely culprit.
Rave Valve Took off the covers, they move by hand but feels like there's a spring trying to retract them.
Water Regulator Valve I've read this can lead to low RPM's. Not sure of the condition.
Fuel lines/fuel selector They're not the gray lines, but no idea what condition they're in.
Not sure in what order to try and diagnose this. Maybe it's an entirely different problem. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Recently bought a 1997 Challenger with a single 787 for days out on Lake Powell. Bought the boat from a local repair/rental shop which used it to ferry people to their house boats, so they say...
Test run went well, first time out alone it wouldn't start, eventually started but wouldn't plane - revving at ~5000rpm max. Somewhere along the way we lost about a 1/3rd tank of oil, lots of oil in the hull.
Took it to the shop - they were dirt bags, charged us $125 for a compression test (127psi both cylinders @3,500 ft elevation) and replaced spark plugs which were already in the boat - claimed the whole problem was fouled plugs (they were indeed fouled) and there was no oil leak. We thought they were looking at it for free since they'd just sold it to us. I told them I thought the compression sounded a bit low, maybe time for a rebuild, they got hot headed and said I didn't know what I was talking about.
Took it out again twice since, turns over quickly but dies. Takes a few tries and a little throttle to keep it running. Ran well for maybe 1-2hrs, then after idling for just a few seconds, it wouldn't rev past 5000rpm again and will not plane. Unfortunately I don't recall what the max RPM was when it was running strong. Just started it out of water, revved it - it was sluggish, almost died, and a lot of water came out of the exhaust (which I understand is a wet exhaust, not sure if this is problematic). Not much new oil in the hull since taking it to the shop.
Possible problems:
Carburetor I have no idea when it was last cleaned/rebuilt. Seems like a likely culprit.
Rave Valve Took off the covers, they move by hand but feels like there's a spring trying to retract them.
Water Regulator Valve I've read this can lead to low RPM's. Not sure of the condition.
Fuel lines/fuel selector They're not the gray lines, but no idea what condition they're in.
Not sure in what order to try and diagnose this. Maybe it's an entirely different problem. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
