OMC 38 no power at high RPM

"OK I have an 84 Regal Empress

"OK I have an 84 Regal Empress and I've had alot of fun on this boat, but this past couple weeks she has been giving me a real headache, and I was surfing the web and found this site, and I think I'll find my answer here as there seems to be some very smart people here.

A little background:

84 Regal, 84 OMC 3.8 - repowered 4 years ago, Stringer 800 outdrive, 14 1/4 X 23 prop (also have a 15X17 and a 15X19)

She ran great when I put her in the water this year but now she won't get up on a plane, and is having power problems at higher RPM's

In the past 2 weeks I have replced Cap, rotor, plugs, and wires, coil, I had the carb rebuilt, installed electric fuel pump, and new filter setup, replaced points and condensor (set to 19 degrees) checked the fuel pickup,seems ok no blockage, and verified the timing, now I'm stuck.

I keep hearing about this ESA...do I have one? She shift hard, but always has and I'm ok with that, but could that be a problem?

I just need a few hundred more RPM's and she'll be good to go, but something is wrong. Who can lend any idea's other then pulling the drain plug, lol

Thanks in advance for any help."

I don't understand "po

I don't understand "power problems at high rpm". I you are getting to the high RPM's the engine has done it's job.
If you mean you cant get high rpm's then look at the fuel system. Anti siphon valve in the fitting coming out of the fuel tank a common issue.
What size is your boat? A 23P is too much pitch unless it's under 17 feet long. The 23P could be the problem. If you have been lugging the engine with that prop you may have started melting valves. A compression test would be the ticket to check that out.
You should prop the boat for a wot speed of 4600 rpm.
Why an electric fuel pump? The 3.8 should have a mechanical pump. That OMC spin on can setup on the 3.8 is awesome.

"Sorry for not being clear, wh

"Sorry for not being clear, when the boat is in gear it will not go above 2800RPM's, in neutral no problem with high rev's it's only when I'm in gear, also when i switch props I still cannot get onto a plane, but it does change the maximum RPM I can achieve.

i will look into the anti-siphon valve you mentioned, but when I replaced the mechanical fuel pump with the electrical I was getting great flow."

"Also the engine "breaks u

"Also the engine "breaks up" once it gets to the point it should plane, which is why I have replaced all the parts I have already, i was looking into replacing the points and installing a HEI setup but I cannot find one for the 3.8..."

"OK I have replaced the anti-s

"OK I have replaced the anti-sipgon valve and I also replaced the fuel line from the tank to the pump, so know on the fuel side I have replaced the anti-siphon valve, all fuel lines, fuel pump, filters, and had the carb rebuilt, same result (The reason I replaced with electric is that it's easier to test, easy to install, and seemed like an upgrade only cost $80 to replace that and add a new fuel filter setup with water seperator. Also the fuel filter can you mentioned was not in good condition and required alot of work to keep from leaking.

I also switched props to the 15X17 and the problem still exists just at a higher RPM now it will not go above 3400RPM and still will not plane.

I don't have a compression check tool but I will get one this week and give that a try, but like I said she runs fantastic until I put a load on her.

Thanks again in advance for your help."

"Hi Torrey, Have you checked t

"Hi Torrey, Have you checked the timing advance weights in the distibutor? They can rust up and jam due to the damp enviroment. They did on mine and you would not believe the difference it makes."

"Hi Pat, thanks for the info -

"Hi Pat, thanks for the info - how do I get to the weights? When I had the distributor open, I saw and replaced the points, and condensor, but I didn't see weights...

I'm assuming they are below the points and condensor since there isn't anywhere else for them to be, is there a way to access them?

I really hope this is the problem, I'd be psyched

Torrey"

The weights are under the plat

The weights are under the plate that the points sit on.Remove points / condenser and then the plate that they sit on. You should be able to see the weights under there. Should be a spring connected to each weight that controls the amount of advance according to engine RPM.If they are jammed/rusted you should be able to free them with some penetrating spray then lightly lube them. Hope this helps.This may not be exactly the right process for your engine but it worked for me. Good luck and let us know how you get on

"I checked the weights and eve

"I checked the weights and everything looks good. After speaking with some of the guys at the club, it may be growth on the bottom causing a large load on the boat and therfore causing it not to plane, I'm going to pull it when I get a chance and see what happens."