1984 Crusader 350 problems

"Ok, First of all, I'm new

"Ok, First of all, I'm new here and I'm really glad i found you all. So far, just breezing through the topics has given me a lot of great insight. Now, to the problem. Last season I began to have a problem with my port engine in which after running for a short time, when i would bring the rpm's back to idle, it would stall. I had recently bought the boat, so I figured it wasa good time to give the motors a tune-up. I installed brand new fuel/water sperator units, Replaced the mechanical fuel pumps with Holley marine electric fuel pumps, replaced all of the fuel lines, put all new fresh fuel in the tanks, installed new coils (Mallory marine) / points / plugs / wires / caps / resistors / fuel filter at carbs, and changed the oil and cleaned the flame arrestors. The port motor now runs fine, but I recently began having problems with the starboard motor. First, I have noticed that there is some unburnt fuel comming out of the stbd exhaust. I'm guessing i need to adjust the carb. I am also having a problem in which the motor does NOT want to idle. It runs fantastic from 1600rpm and above, but as soon as it drops below 1600rpm it wants to stall. The tach fluctuates drastically and unless i feather the throttle back up, it actually bogs down. My best guess is that it's the carb. It LOOKs brand new, (Rochester Q-jet). I know this is a long post but I could really use any/all input to narrow down the problem(s). Thanx in advance for any replies."

"1. Have a qualified carb man

"1. Have a qualified carb man adjust the carb.

2. If it won't take an idle, rebuild it.

Jeff"

"Ok, Thanx. I had a hunch it w

"Ok, Thanx. I had a hunch it was most likely all in the carb. I was actually thinking of replacing them both with something a little easier to work on/better performing (possibly an edelbrock or Holley). Any suggestions ?"

Only the Holley replacement fo

Only the Holley replacement for a Q-Jet will fit. I'd get the carb that's bothering you rebuilt first. They work well when set up properly.

Jeff

"Sir
Just fixed a boat with a

"Sir
Just fixed a boat with a similar problem, friend I know did all of the things you did, new plugs, etc. Asked me to look at it when he could run above idle but not at idle. I opened up the carb and dumped out a large amount of water and bad gas. The carb has a idle circuit, a low and high speed circuit, the idle circuit is operated by small brass jets. Water will not pass through the jets, only gas. So the water would block the jets at times causing poor idle , then later stop idle all together. If you get above the idle circuit the holes the gas passes through is much bigger, water is less a factor. Q Jet is parts intensive, so have someone who has worked on them take it apart. Should be problem solved. Sometime the body of the carb is bad a should not be rebuilt, good carb man will let you know."

Thanx so much for the info/sug

Thanx so much for the info/suggestions. I'm going to pull the carb this weekend and have it rebuilt. Hopefully that will take care of the problem.

".." Water will not pass t

".." Water will not pass through the jets, only gas. "

Huh? Water is not bowling balls and, being heavier than gas, sinks to the bottom where the jets are.

I suspect a LOT of water was getting into that carb!

Jeff

PS: Blasted marinas! Bad enough we have to pay up to 4 bucks a gallon without buy water as well!"