Picked up a 2001 challenger 1800 few ?'s

[500whp335i]

So i picked up my challenger a few days ago from a dealership who had it sitting for 2 years, the last owner moved and just left it there. So i had them change fuel water separator, fuel filter, oil, and oil filter. They also put new plugs in and a few other things i forget off hand. The fiberglass was oxidized but i cleaned it up and waxed it and now its looks great. I was told it had only 45 hours on it and i believe it by how clean it is. But it had a full tank 30 gallons of shitty old gas so i siphoned it out today about 27 gallons im guessing, i got as much i could. i put 5 gallons of 93 back in and a whole thing of fuel stabilizer/ injector cleaner. I got the boat to start by manually giving it a little throttle and after letting it rev in forward for a few minutes with water obviously hooked up. After a little bit it seemed to run pretty smooth and rev up nicely with good response. When i would try to let it just idle it would die and i would have to restart it giving it a little throttle manually. Im thinking of putting another 5 gallons in with "dry fuel" mixture to see if that will help. Any other suggestions? Is there a throttle idling screw? Its the 240 m2 by the way... sorry for the paragraph.


Thanks,
Frank

 

[Dr Honda]

Before you get crazy with adjusting the idle... get some fresh fuel in it... and put a load on the engine. Also... once you get a little fresh fuel though it... change the sparkplugs.

At that point... if it still won't idle, then bump the idle. There is an adjustment on the throttle body.

 

[500whp335i]

Before you get crazy with adjusting the idle... get some fresh fuel in it... and put a load on the engine. Also... once you get a little fresh fuel though it... change the sparkplugs.

At that point... if it still won't idle, then bump the idle. There is an adjustment on the throttle body.

ok thanks! i put 10 more gallons in today and some sea-foam. It was like pulling teeth to get it started and when it did start it wasnt running as good as yesterday even once warmed up. Once the sea-foam got through the system it was smoking pretty bad and was making my eyes tear lol. after about 10 minutes running i shut it down to try and restart and it was another pain... the lever right under the flywheel is that the throttle arm? i can only push it a tiny bit but i have to give that a push when im starting the boat or else it will never start... may bring it to a merc mechanic tomorrow

 

[500whp335i]

Before you get crazy with adjusting the idle... get some fresh fuel in it... and put a load on the engine. Also... once you get a little fresh fuel though it... change the sparkplugs.

At that point... if it still won't idle, then bump the idle. There is an adjustment on the throttle body.

just read what you said about sea-foam... should i just fill the tank tmrw to dilute the additive... should i drop it in the water and just run it for a long time to use up all the gas?

 

[Dr Honda]

just read what you said about sea-foam... should i just fill the tank tmrw to dilute the additive... should i drop it in the water and just run it for a long time to use up all the gas?

Yes... I would. Seafoam isn't good in a 2-stroke.

The lever under the flywheel is the timing. The idle screw is on the throttle arm, at the throttle body.

 

[500whp335i]

Yes... I would. Seafoam isn't good in a 2-stroke.

The lever under the flywheel is the timing. The idle screw is on the throttle arm, at the throttle body.

ok so ive been adding timing on start-up to get it to start. thanks i appriciate it

 

[500whp335i]

ok so i just got done pulling the plugs the port side were clean, the starboard, "drivers side" were blackened and gummed up slightly... going to do a compression test on the motor...

 

[500whp335i]

A few pictures to help me figure out whats what... Sorry for the questions and rotated pics idk why they did that...

The line coming from the tank goes to those two things what are they? And what is the thing right below the oil reserve tank?


Is the white can the fuel filter?


Is there a pump in this tube or is it just the fuel gauge sensor?




one of the starboard side plug

 

[Dr Honda]

The thing right below the oil tank is the "Vapor separator." That keeps a clean flow of fuel to the high pressure fuel pump. It's also where you oil mixes in.

Yes... the white can is one of the filters. (and water separator) You also have a filter on the bottom of the high pressure pump (just a screen) and there is a filter before the electronic fuel pump. (just under that thing with the SAE 1171 sticker on it)

Yes... that tube has the sender in it.

The plug looks OK to me.

 

[500whp335i]

The thing right below the oil tank is the "Vapor separator." That keeps a clean flow of fuel to the high pressure fuel pump. It's also where you oil mixes in.

Yes... the white can is one of the filters. (and water separator) You also have a filter on the bottom of the high pressure pump (just a screen) and there is a filter before the electronic fuel pump. (just under that thing with the SAE 1171 sticker on it)

Yes... that tube has the sender in it.

The plug looks OK to me.

ok great thanks... and on the bottom of the water separator filter "white one" there is a wire... what is that? i went to go wiggle it to see if it was tight and i barely touched it and the wire fell out...

Should i unscrew the white oil separator to see if thats gummed up? i would really love to get this thing running today

 

[500whp335i]

is it weird that one side of the motors plugs were really clean and the other side were more oily looking... And if i go to restart later is there a way to use a remote tank to make sure its not fuel in my tank

 

[500whp335i]

is there suppose to be an air filter? lol

 

[Dr Honda]

Nope... generally, boat's dont' have an air filter. They only have a flame arrestor... and the Merc engines don't seem to have one of those either. Probably because the power head was originally for an outboard engine.

The wire on the bottom of the water separator/filter is a water warning sender. If that wire sees a ground... then there is water in the fuel.

If you want to verify that the fuel is good, getting to the engine... just hook a hose to the bottom of the electronic pump, and put it in a fuel jug. That will pump fresh fuel into the system.

Yes... the engine uses 6 coil packs. Each one has a CDI built into it.

Regarding your PM... it almost sounded like the boat wasn't running at all. If it will start with a little throttle... then give it some throttle. It's not a big deal. Also... if your cables are still hooked up... then you can just turn the steering full to one side, and that will add a little throttle also. But as above... I wouldn't play with the idle until you get it in the water, and put a load on the engine.


Last thing... the Merc engines are a little goofy, and I highly recommend getting the factory manual for it. If you become a premium member here (I think it's $10) you can down load the manual, and it helps fund this site. FYI... you don't have to stay a premium member if you don't want to. So... pay the $$$ get the manual, and cancel after the month.

 

[500whp335i]

Nope... generally, boat's dont' have an air filter. They only have a flame arrestor... and the Merc engines don't seem to have one of those either. Probably because the power head was originally for an outboard engine.

The wire on the bottom of the water separator/filter is a water warning sender. If that wire sees a ground... then there is water in the fuel.

If you want to verify that the fuel is good, getting to the engine... just hook a hose to the bottom of the electronic pump, and put it in a fuel jug. That will pump fresh fuel into the system.

Yes... the engine uses 6 coil packs. Each one has a CDI built into it.

Regarding your PM... it almost sounded like the boat wasn't running at all. If it will start with a little throttle... then give it some throttle. It's not a big deal. Also... if your cables are still hooked up... then you can just turn the steering full to one side, and that will add a little throttle also. But as above... I wouldn't play with the idle until you get it in the water, and put a load on the engine.


Last thing... the Merc engines are a little goofy, and I highly recommend getting the factory manual for it. If you become a premium member here (I think it's $10) you can down load the manual, and it helps fund this site. FYI... you don't have to stay a premium member if you don't want to. So... pay the $$$ get the manual, and cancel after the month.

Thank you very much, i will become a premium member... Great news, after flushing the gas tank (again) draining all the fuel lines and checking the filters filling up with 93 octane and no fuel additives. Primed the lines a few times to get the gas flowing through the system i hooked up the line to the vapor separator primed it one last time. i put a small 2mm shim the size of a small washer under the bump stop of the throttle arm i turned the key and fired right up! idle was still low at 700-800 rpms, i put another small washer under neath and idled at 1000 rpms and idled smooth and minimal smoke.

Now to get my gas gauge to work... lol