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Idle speed drops when placed into gear

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Brian Sinclair

Guest
"Crusader 454's with Roche

"Crusader 454's with Rochester carbs
When I put the port engine into gear, the RPM's drop and the engine stalls. When returning to dock, I had to run the engine at 1000 RPM when not in gear. As I placed the boat into gear the RPM's dropped to 700. This worked OK for docking, but this is the first time I've had this issue. I warmed the engines up for about 20 minutes. Any Thoughts on cause?"
 
You better check to see if you

You better check to see if you hooked a crab pot or have someones anchor line on your prop shaft.
 
The boat had not been out for

The boat had not been out for about 6 months. The last time she was out -- she ran fine. This issue started on the way out that day. The engine stalled while pulling out of the dock. This created a huge problem with current and wind. I figured out how to compensate in open water before attempting to pull back into dock that night.
 
You better check to see if you

You better check to see if you hooked a dock line or have someones anchor line on your prop shaft.
 
"Ethanol fuel?

Check prop a

"Ethanol fuel?

Check prop and shaft first. Then engine timing, cap rotor points if you have them, plugs etc. Vacuum leak in carb or base plate? Lots of stuff can cause this but props are #1, Timing #2"
 
"454's can run with lots o

"454's can run with lots of stuff wrong with them. I find they can mask problems simply because of the engine displacement, you dont notice small problems righ away then they build and then they start showing themselves. Therefore when going through your motors, and I would go through them both, you may find lots of small problems.

I have been chasing a loss of power with my starboard motor for a couple of years, 2-300 rpms lower than the port one and uses about 20% more fuel. I found many small problems, none of which took care of the issue at hand and all of them should have made a big difference on a smaller motor. Anyhow Still chasing it but I think there are only a couple of things left.

Chasing problems and learning and corresponding with others is as fun as running the boat, at least for me."
 
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