Two engine problems I would like some help with please

[offshoreanorak]

Hi everyone,

My name is Tony & I am new to the boating world & would appreciate "some words of wisdow" regarding my boat.

I have a Maxum 2400 SCR (year 1999) with a petrol 4.3l engine.

About 6 weeks ago whilst at work, a friend showed me a video of his boat as it was up for sale, to cut a long story short I brought it & with my teenage son thought it would be great fun learn to sail etc.

As there were a few running issues with the boat, I decided the sensible option was to get it home (borrowed a trialer) & work through the whole boat so I firstly would understand it & have a chance to fix all the little issues. I am electrically minded, but the mechanical side was a steep learning curve.

The boat had orginally had a gas conversion, so we completely removed this, removed & re-did all the wiring, so the engine compartment was clean, tidy & all connections etc were good. Watching U-tube videos on the ipad in the boat, we completed a full engine service to the engine (oil, plugs, dist cap & rotar etc) & a friend with a garage rebuilt the carb as the choke was jamed on & the injectors blocked. We then replaced all the oils for the trim tabs, leg lift, power steering & checked all the pipes, then I was quiet happy the engineer compartment was sorted.

Once again using the Ipad (after visiting the marine shop) removed the leg, replaced the impellor, gearbox oil change, cleaned up & put back together.

Worked throught the wiring under the helm & redid nearly all the connections that were showing 10 years of seawater wear.

At this point the wife was fed up with the boat being on the drive ( i had promised it would take 2 weeks ) as 4 weeks had past.

I had my work guys fit an intruder alarm, tracking device, cctv system with remote monitoring & Ham radio station into the cabin & we were ready to go. (I have a security company, so intend to see if theres a market for fitting alarms & CCTV onto boats, that was the main reason for buying the boat)

Now the boat is back in the water at Burham on sea, Essex UK I have a couple of problems that I can not find the cause for.

From cold the boat engine will always start first time & sounds lovely & quiet, with loads of power. Once the engine is warm as I here it change note when the choke opens, and we are ready to go the problem usually appears.

Going to gear the engine seems to lose power & then stall after a few seconds, restarting it & trying again a few times the same may happen, then it will engage into gear & run smoothly for the whole boat trip with plenty of power for crusing about. Coming in to park the boat the engine will work fine at low rev's for parking, but trying to put the boat into reverse will stall it & then it is very difficult to start again.

I have noticed that the engine cut out switch (for the gear box) is sometimes a factor in this switch lifts up & seems to get stuck there until i put the boat into reverse, then neutral. But I do not think this is causing the above problem as the engine does not died immediately but takes a few seconds.

If I leave it to cold down for an hour or so, everything will be fine & off we go again.

PLease could anyone offer advise please.


Regards

Tony 26th Aug 12

[pascavone]

your right, it was a long story!

sounds like a carburetor problem.

1. float or needle valve sticking.
2. sounds like flooding when you go into reverse, so mixture is to rich.
3. main throttle body is binding or sticking.
4. accelerator pump is bad, they used to be made of leather, but the new ethanol gas eats them away.
5. Get a marine mechanic to hook a error code reader to the engine to make sure its not your , air senor, or something like that.

dose not sound like electrical short, because it happens to consistently.

[ss3964spd]

I concur - probably an issue with the carb. Idle speed adjustment, float level adjustment, mixture screws adjustment, ensure the choke is completely open when the engine is up to normal operating temp. Also verify the timing is set correctly.

Dan

[offshoreanorak]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your thoughts,

The Carb has been checked for points 1 2 3 , but not sure what the "accelerator pump" is ???

The engine does not have a hook up for readings errors and it has electronic ignition.

Best regards Tony

[ImRich]

Accelerator pump is part of the carburetor, it inject a burst of fuel as you push the throttles forward. If it is not working right, your engine will run lean (fuel starved) as u push the throttles foward too quickly.