717 stalling at idle

[mlebauer]

Continuing saga. 2 weeks ago my right engine started acting up, stalling and not holding speed. Turned out the carb had come loose and gasket was falling apart. Just got gaskets and put it back together.

Result: engine no longer stalling at speed, but it stalls whenever RPMs drop below 2000 and doesn't seem to be running smoothly. :banghead: So far I've only tested on the hose, not a load test. Spark plugs are new, so it's not that. Left engine is running well.

What should I check next?

Also got a compression tester so checked compression on both engines: 130 on right rear cylinder, 133 right front, 134 left rear, 130 right front. Since they're close I'm guessing that's good. That it's not 150 is probably just the gauge.

 

[Dr Honda]

OK... can be a few things... BUT... your out of the water idle is 3000 RPM. SO... if you are trying to get it down to 2000 rpm's out of the water... the carbs are being closed WAY more than they were meant to be. With that said... don't even try to set the idle out of the water. If you do... once you get into the water... you will just be doing it again.

The other thing is... when you put the carbs back on... did you check the carbs to make sure they are in sync? There is enough movement in the bolts that they can be out. SO... if that happens... the PTO carb can actually be closed, and you are trying to idle on the MAG jug.

 

[mlebauer]

Ok, that makes sense. No, I didn't do anything to the cables, just put the carb back on. One thing, the new gasket is thicker and made aligning the screws on the flame arrest housing and the bracket that connects to the engine head difficult. I had to loosely attached the 4 screws connecting the bracket to the housing and the 2 screws connecting the housing to the carb, then tighten them a little at a time to get everything screwed down. Could that have contributed?

I also overtorqued one of the bolts mounting the carb. They had come loose before, and service manual says torque to 20lb-ft, so I did. Either my torque wrench is off or I misinterpreted, but you definitely don't want to go that high. Had to take off the washers to get it to hold ...ordered a helicoil so will to go back in to fix the manifold threads...ugh, it's always something:banghead::banghead:

Next I'm in the water I'll check the cables. It's just that the left engine idles well at about 2000 out of the water. Sounds like it needs the idle set too. It idles at 1500 in the water.