Blue in Yarmouth
New Member
O.K., so I joined this site a year ago after purchasing a boat from a man who I have since decided knowingly ripped me off (then moved away). I have had the boat for over a year and have still yet to get it running properly. So far I have : Changed a starter, had one engine rebuilt, hard carbs on same engine rebuilt, and basically just told the mechanic to find what the hell is wrong with the boat and fix it.
I got the boat back from the most recent attempt to rectify the problems and this is what I have now:
One engine (that if the guy I bought it from can be believed... was rebuilt just prior to me purchasing it) seems to be running fine. It gets up to 7000 rpms with no problems at all. The other engine (that I just had rebuilt and the carbs as well) will not exceed 4000 rpms and is pretty sluggish getting there. Also there doesn't seem to be any top end on the throttle, as I basically hit 4000 rpms at 3/4 throttle and the last quarter gets nothing.
Having found these things out we have done the following things to try and find the problems:
Checked compression on the effected motor (150 in each cylinder)
Checked spark in each plug (good spark in one, poor in the other)
Trimmed back spark plug cable on effected plug (resulting in good spark at plug)
Check electrical connections for corrosion (everything in the box looks like new, honestly must have been recently redone because it literally looks like a brand new setup).
These things have produced no results in terms of fixing the problem with the rpms
I spoke to a mechanic on the phone yesterday who said to do the following:
Check the rave valves and make sure that they open and close freely and check the bellows (I'm not sure what I am checking for with the bellows, he wasn't clear)
I forget the name of the other thing he told me to check (potentially the pressure regulator) but it has a cap just like the rave valve and is on the exhaust. He said to check for the same thing (that it is opening and closing freely and the bellows).
I checked those things and since I have no experience with this stuff, I pulled the caps off the ones on the working engine to try to compare. There was a definite difference in the way the rave valves on the effected engine felt in comparison to the ones on the working engine. It almost felt like the ones on the effected engine felt gritty when I was lifting them and letting them go, definitely not smooth like the other ones. I also noted that the red center of the cover was about 1/8" deeper on the effected engine than the working engine. Not sure if that would be considered normal, but I thought I'd mention it.
For the other thing (pressure regulator I think) I did the same thing and compared it with the other side. Again it seemed to move much smoother on the working side than the effected side. It also seemed that there was a lot more play in the effected side (it was not as tight feeling as the in the working side) and I could pull it up a good 1/4" further than the one on the engine that was working. The screw adjustment on the two were pretty similar, but the one on the working side was a pretty much flush with the top while the one on the effected side was a few turns in. Again, I didn't know exactly how to get the assembly out so I couldn't inspect the bellows, but that is what I was able to see.
This is a bit of a side note. When removing one of the rave valve covers from the working engine I found some oil on one of them. Not a lot, but definitely some oil there. Is that a really bad thing or does it not mean anything?
Basically I'm stuck. I want to get this thing in the water so my wife can stop telling me what an idiot I am for buying this (even though I know she's right at this point). Does it sound like I am on the right track or am I wasting my time checking these things? Also, if anyone can tell me how to get at the bellows in the rave valve and the regulator I would appreciate it.
Finally, now that I see that the rave valves on the effected side are not working like on the working side, what the heck do I do to try to fix it? Sorry, I must sound like an idiot, but I'm trying to learn on the fly here and things aren't coming too easy.
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond.
I got the boat back from the most recent attempt to rectify the problems and this is what I have now:
One engine (that if the guy I bought it from can be believed... was rebuilt just prior to me purchasing it) seems to be running fine. It gets up to 7000 rpms with no problems at all. The other engine (that I just had rebuilt and the carbs as well) will not exceed 4000 rpms and is pretty sluggish getting there. Also there doesn't seem to be any top end on the throttle, as I basically hit 4000 rpms at 3/4 throttle and the last quarter gets nothing.
Having found these things out we have done the following things to try and find the problems:
Checked compression on the effected motor (150 in each cylinder)
Checked spark in each plug (good spark in one, poor in the other)
Trimmed back spark plug cable on effected plug (resulting in good spark at plug)
Check electrical connections for corrosion (everything in the box looks like new, honestly must have been recently redone because it literally looks like a brand new setup).
These things have produced no results in terms of fixing the problem with the rpms
I spoke to a mechanic on the phone yesterday who said to do the following:
Check the rave valves and make sure that they open and close freely and check the bellows (I'm not sure what I am checking for with the bellows, he wasn't clear)
I forget the name of the other thing he told me to check (potentially the pressure regulator) but it has a cap just like the rave valve and is on the exhaust. He said to check for the same thing (that it is opening and closing freely and the bellows).
I checked those things and since I have no experience with this stuff, I pulled the caps off the ones on the working engine to try to compare. There was a definite difference in the way the rave valves on the effected engine felt in comparison to the ones on the working engine. It almost felt like the ones on the effected engine felt gritty when I was lifting them and letting them go, definitely not smooth like the other ones. I also noted that the red center of the cover was about 1/8" deeper on the effected engine than the working engine. Not sure if that would be considered normal, but I thought I'd mention it.
For the other thing (pressure regulator I think) I did the same thing and compared it with the other side. Again it seemed to move much smoother on the working side than the effected side. It also seemed that there was a lot more play in the effected side (it was not as tight feeling as the in the working side) and I could pull it up a good 1/4" further than the one on the engine that was working. The screw adjustment on the two were pretty similar, but the one on the working side was a pretty much flush with the top while the one on the effected side was a few turns in. Again, I didn't know exactly how to get the assembly out so I couldn't inspect the bellows, but that is what I was able to see.
This is a bit of a side note. When removing one of the rave valve covers from the working engine I found some oil on one of them. Not a lot, but definitely some oil there. Is that a really bad thing or does it not mean anything?
Basically I'm stuck. I want to get this thing in the water so my wife can stop telling me what an idiot I am for buying this (even though I know she's right at this point). Does it sound like I am on the right track or am I wasting my time checking these things? Also, if anyone can tell me how to get at the bellows in the rave valve and the regulator I would appreciate it.
Finally, now that I see that the rave valves on the effected side are not working like on the working side, what the heck do I do to try to fix it? Sorry, I must sound like an idiot, but I'm trying to learn on the fly here and things aren't coming too easy.
Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond.