B
bob-the-boater
Guest
Howdy,
As in the title, my bow rider has a 1989 2.3-litre 4-cy OMC I/O. In recent weeks it's had:
- ignition tune-up kit, & timing set
- brand new coil, wires & plugs
- carb rebuilt (by me) with OEM rebuild kit and set-up/adjusted by marine mechanic
It runs MUCH better than before. Idles smooth once it's warm, and runs strong and smooth at speed.
But it's still not perfect. And since this is only my second season boating, I'm not sure how perfectly I should expect it to run.
It takes several tires to start from cold. I've tried just turning the key, and also giving it a shot or two of gas by pumping the throttle before turning the key. Always requires at least a half dozen tries before it catches and stays running. Runs super rough for the first couple of minutes, then after a couple minutes starts to idle nice and smooth.
It shifts into reverse just fine now - used to die - and runs in reverse just fine. But when I shift back into neutral, it sputters - sometimes dies. It does, fortunately, re-start no problem every time if it's warm.
I would never accept this kind of behavior from my car. So this is my question - should I expect car-like reliability and performance from a 26 year old boat engine? (Knowing that this is basically out of a 1989 Mustang) Or is this as good as it gets without upgrading?
Thanks.
As in the title, my bow rider has a 1989 2.3-litre 4-cy OMC I/O. In recent weeks it's had:
- ignition tune-up kit, & timing set
- brand new coil, wires & plugs
- carb rebuilt (by me) with OEM rebuild kit and set-up/adjusted by marine mechanic
It runs MUCH better than before. Idles smooth once it's warm, and runs strong and smooth at speed.
But it's still not perfect. And since this is only my second season boating, I'm not sure how perfectly I should expect it to run.
It takes several tires to start from cold. I've tried just turning the key, and also giving it a shot or two of gas by pumping the throttle before turning the key. Always requires at least a half dozen tries before it catches and stays running. Runs super rough for the first couple of minutes, then after a couple minutes starts to idle nice and smooth.
It shifts into reverse just fine now - used to die - and runs in reverse just fine. But when I shift back into neutral, it sputters - sometimes dies. It does, fortunately, re-start no problem every time if it's warm.
I would never accept this kind of behavior from my car. So this is my question - should I expect car-like reliability and performance from a 26 year old boat engine? (Knowing that this is basically out of a 1989 Mustang) Or is this as good as it gets without upgrading?
Thanks.
