985crabs
Captain
2000 V1900 Bay Series, Yamaha 150 Carb. 2
Posts: 1,309
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Post by 985crabs on Jun 22, 2020 8:04:13 GMT -6
Saturday was a momentous day. I got to fish for the first time since February!
After much running around and some spotty catching, I told my buddy it was time to go. Oddly, the motor would not start. Would not cough, would not do anything. Just fruitless cranking. Time to call Sea Tow.
I'm thinking fuel pumps or primer bulb have failed and it's not holding pressure. Yesterday afternoon I decided to hook it up to the hose and see if I could get it started. I turned the key and it turned over and coughed once. Then more fruitless cranking. I put it in neutral, added some throttle and let it crank for about 5 seconds. It coughed again. Repeat twice more. One the 4th crank it sputtered and started running rather roughly on its own then it puked and settled into a decent idle at 6-700 rpms.
When I say it puked, I mean it literally barfed out a cloud of gray/black smoke, uncombusted fuel and this nasty viscous black crap that looked like what you'd get if you gave an outboard motor liposuction. It shot out all over an umbrella stand behind the boat in my driveway and coated the inside of the prop hub.
I started that motor 5 more times 30 minutes apart with just the touch of the key and it ran just fine. What kind of bizarre episode was this? Did an exhaust valve get clogged, KO'd the motor and then finally it broke loose and purged itself? I should add that while fishing I did notice that the idle was low, like 4-500 rpms rather than the usual 6-700 rpms.
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Post by Juan on Jun 22, 2020 9:28:08 GMT -6
Glad you got her up and running again.  How was the Sea Tow experience? I've had them for 20 years and never had to call (yet) As for the cause, that could have been any one of many things, bad fuel, valve stuck, weak spark, etc. so I won't even make a guess. I'd check the plugs, fuel and water separator for starts then if you have or can get a compression tester, check the compression and if you suspect the valves, maybe run some Sea Foam through it. |
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985crabs
Captain
2000 V1900 Bay Series, Yamaha 150 Carb. 2
Posts: 1,309
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Post by 985crabs on Jun 22, 2020 10:45:22 GMT -6
Good suggestions. Sea Foam goes in tonight then, I'm going to try to start it daily this week and see how it behaves. New filter for separator is a no-brainer. If all goes well, I'll take it on a long run to really push some fuel through it and change the plugs.
My Sea Tow experience was excellent. I called, they verified me and they told me they had a guy about 15 miles away. 15 minutes later I got a text saying the captain had been scrambled. 5 minutes later the captain calls me and says he's in the water at a marina at the opposite end of the fishing grounds and he'll see me in 30-40 minutes. He showed up right on time, hooked a tow line to the bow eye and we took off.
When we got back to the marina where I launched he said go get your trailer in the water and as long as I don't get another call, I can help you get her loaded. He got it cranked up and perfectly positioned and said I'm clear to pull out. I gave him the $40 I had in my wallet, thanked him for showing up so quickly and waived goodbye. He told my buddy that ours was his quickest and most pain free rescue he's ever had. He did a great job.
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Post by freezerfiller on Jun 22, 2020 18:24:25 GMT -6
My only sea tow experience went well too. They seem to care when you are all they have to worry about, but don't think they will hang out to get the boat on the trailer if another call comes in. And I don't blame them.
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985crabs
Captain
2000 V1900 Bay Series, Yamaha 150 Carb. 2
Posts: 1,309
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Post by 985crabs on Aug 2, 2020 19:52:47 GMT -6
Okay, here’s the follow up.
I finally got back on the water after running the motor with no issues on ears half a dozen or more times. I put Sea Foam in the fuel and ran ‘ Carbon Eliminator’ through the carbs. Idled just fine
She started just fine and I warmed her up for at least 5 minutes before taking off. We ran out 12 miles and fished. We moved 3 times and fished more. After stop number 4, she did not want to start at the touch of the key. After jamming neutral throttle to the top and cranking for 5 to 10 seconds at a time, she finally started. Happened l8e this a couple times after stops 6 to 10. Eventually started and ran just fine at WOT 15 miles home.
WTF? How can we start at the touch of the key on the ears at home, run for miles at high rpms and then just not want to start again?
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Post by Juan on Aug 3, 2020 4:14:47 GMT -6
Weird! All guesses but I'd start with the main three.. Air - Fuel - Spark, I'm still guessing it's a carb adjustment issue (especially since you said it started with neutral throttle advanced.) Sounds to me like it might be getting more fuel than it can burn efficiently which would cause some carbon build up and the puking it did.
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985crabs
Captain
2000 V1900 Bay Series, Yamaha 150 Carb. 2
Posts: 1,309
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Post by 985crabs on Aug 3, 2020 10:19:28 GMT -6
Weird! I'm still guessing it's a carb adjustment issue (especially since you said it started with neutral throttle advanced.) Sounds to me like it might be getting more fuel than it can burn efficiently which would cause some carbon build up and the puking it did. I'm easily confused, but if it's getting too much fuel, why would adding throttle get it to work? Isn't that bass ackwards? |
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Post by Juan on Aug 3, 2020 12:13:29 GMT -6
Weird! I'm still guessing it's a carb adjustment issue (especially since you said it started with neutral throttle advanced.) Sounds to me like it might be getting more fuel than it can burn efficiently which would cause some carbon build up and the puking it did. I'm easily confused, but if it's getting too much fuel, why would adding throttle get it to work? Isn't that bass ackwards? Again, I'm just a shade tree mechanic and I don't know much about carburetors but the more throttle you give it, the more the choke plates should open, allowing more air into the carbs and fuel burning better. If the choke plates aren't open all the way, you get less air in the carbs and more fuel. But I'd think you'd see some smoke and it wouldn't run right at WOT if the plates weren't open. Since the problem seems to be at start up, maybe the plates are stuck open? |
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985crabs
Captain
2000 V1900 Bay Series, Yamaha 150 Carb. 2
Posts: 1,309
|
Post by 985crabs on Aug 3, 2020 12:56:38 GMT -6
Okay, the choke plates opening with throttle makes sense. I can hear them snap closed when I turn the key on so I don't guess they're stuck open. I'll have to do some more reading.
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Post by freezerfiller on Aug 3, 2020 16:01:17 GMT -6
Make sure your kill switch isn't to blame. I've had a number of issues where that has been the problem.
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How was the Sea Tow experience? I've had them for 20 years and never had to call (yet) As for the cause, that could have been any one of many things, bad fuel, valve stuck, weak spark, etc. so I won't even make a guess. I'd check the plugs, fuel and water separator for starts then if you have or can get a compression tester, check the compression and if you suspect the valves, maybe run some Sea Foam through it. 
