marke14
Member
Hello everyone,
Earlier this year, we purchased a Porta-Bote, a folding plastic fishing skiff type of thing. You can look them up online if you are interested - cool concept especially for those looking for car-top portability. We bought ours thinking we would tow it behind our 25' sailboat as a dinghy but we haven't used it like this yet.
Anyway we got a great deal on the Porta-Bote which included a 2005 model year Nissan 6 HP 4-stroke, standard shaft. The thing looked new, and the owner ran it in a big trash barrel full of water, putting it into forward and reverse.
He did mention that he'd never serviced the water pump / impeller. That was not exactly confidence-inspiring in terms of overall maintenance, but he did say that it had never been run in salt water, and that it had provided many years of reliable service, though it had only been used once or twice a year in the ten years he'd owned it.
Anyway we took our Bote out a few times and found that the motor started and idled well, and ran great in forward and reverse at lower speeds - say, up to about half-throttle. When we finally did have occasion to take it out where we could open it up, at half-throttle, the engine RPMs dropped way off, as if I had twisted the throttle grip closed, rather than open.
I experimented a bit with that and managed to actually kill the motor at one point. We were in the Long Beach harbor (Long Beach, California), and it was a little intimidating since we had to make a choice, row it all the way back in the channel into Alamitos Bay, or to the beach and then split up for one of us to stay with the boat while the other set out on foot to go get the car. Fortunately we were able to restart the motor and get back in.
Finally this week I received my carburator gaskets and I removed, disassembled, spray-cleaned (did NOT use true "carb dip" solvent), blew canned air through, and reassembled and installed the carb. I haven't had a chance to take it for a test run yet so perhaps my problem is now solved.
My brother, who is a mechanic and a boater, suggested I look at the timing advancement if the cleaning didn't do the trick. Not sure about all that!
I read through many posts in this Tohatsu/Nissan forum, and there seems to be a consensus regarding varnishing from E10 gasoline, which may be the culprit here since there was a tiny bit at the bottom of the float chamber. The float chamber gasket/O ring, which I also replaced, was a bit varnishy/gunky. I suspect the previous owner was not running the gas out at the end of his days, and certainly he had never disassembled it.
Any other thoughts here? I also read here about suggestions around the fuel tank line, how the line has O rings and check valves near the priming bulb that can dry out and allow air to enter the fuel line under higher RPMs, thus introducing air into the fuel.
Thanks in advance,
-Mark
Earlier this year, we purchased a Porta-Bote, a folding plastic fishing skiff type of thing. You can look them up online if you are interested - cool concept especially for those looking for car-top portability. We bought ours thinking we would tow it behind our 25' sailboat as a dinghy but we haven't used it like this yet.
Anyway we got a great deal on the Porta-Bote which included a 2005 model year Nissan 6 HP 4-stroke, standard shaft. The thing looked new, and the owner ran it in a big trash barrel full of water, putting it into forward and reverse.
He did mention that he'd never serviced the water pump / impeller. That was not exactly confidence-inspiring in terms of overall maintenance, but he did say that it had never been run in salt water, and that it had provided many years of reliable service, though it had only been used once or twice a year in the ten years he'd owned it.
Anyway we took our Bote out a few times and found that the motor started and idled well, and ran great in forward and reverse at lower speeds - say, up to about half-throttle. When we finally did have occasion to take it out where we could open it up, at half-throttle, the engine RPMs dropped way off, as if I had twisted the throttle grip closed, rather than open.
I experimented a bit with that and managed to actually kill the motor at one point. We were in the Long Beach harbor (Long Beach, California), and it was a little intimidating since we had to make a choice, row it all the way back in the channel into Alamitos Bay, or to the beach and then split up for one of us to stay with the boat while the other set out on foot to go get the car. Fortunately we were able to restart the motor and get back in.
Finally this week I received my carburator gaskets and I removed, disassembled, spray-cleaned (did NOT use true "carb dip" solvent), blew canned air through, and reassembled and installed the carb. I haven't had a chance to take it for a test run yet so perhaps my problem is now solved.
My brother, who is a mechanic and a boater, suggested I look at the timing advancement if the cleaning didn't do the trick. Not sure about all that!
I read through many posts in this Tohatsu/Nissan forum, and there seems to be a consensus regarding varnishing from E10 gasoline, which may be the culprit here since there was a tiny bit at the bottom of the float chamber. The float chamber gasket/O ring, which I also replaced, was a bit varnishy/gunky. I suspect the previous owner was not running the gas out at the end of his days, and certainly he had never disassembled it.
Any other thoughts here? I also read here about suggestions around the fuel tank line, how the line has O rings and check valves near the priming bulb that can dry out and allow air to enter the fuel line under higher RPMs, thus introducing air into the fuel.
Thanks in advance,
-Mark