coopercarl
New member
Hey everyone,
I've got a 1977 Pacemaker, 32' with twin Crusader 220's. The engines are original but were rebuilt and have only about 500 hours on them.
Both engines start right up and sound great. However, after about an hour of cruising, the port engine RPM's drop out and the engine stalls. This happens at cruising speed and at idle. Doesn't matter. After five minutes, the engine starts right back up, but the idle is very low. It'll run for another 5 or 10 minutes then conk out again. The next morning, everything is AOK. Starts right up, runs for an hour or so and then the same problem again.
A few more details- The previous owner installed electronic ignition and new fuel lines (apparently he was trying to solve the same problem). I had the boat serviced when I bought it a few weeks ago. New plugs, lines, filters, etc. I had the fuel tanks drained and new fuel added. I removed the port carburetor, and thoroughly cleaned it (didn't rebuild it though). There was a little gunk in the carb, but it's gone now and I still have the same problem. I just ordered a new carb and will install it this weekend.
Also, the oil pressure gauge for the port engine seems "stuck" at about 28-30 PSI. It doesn't fluctuate with the throttles. I'm thinking the sender is bad. The reason I bring this up is that someone mentioned that I may be having an oil pressure "switch" problem. (is the switch the same as the sender??).
Regarding idle- when I start the engines, idle sounds great and is right around 8-900RPMs. After a while, the idle starts to fluctuate anywhere from 1500 down to 600 (where is usually stalls if I don't give it some throttle).
The main stalling problem happens both while at idle and at cruising speed. Not sure if the idle fluctuation problem is related, but I bet it is..
I have a few ideas and could use your opinions:
1. The carb could be having problems that the cleaning didn't fix. If this is the case, the new carb should fix the problem.
2. Vapor lock- not sure how to fix or diagnose this.
3. Oil pressure- if there is a switch, maybe its bad. Is the switch the same as the sender? I read something about an oil pressure relief valve sticking. I don't know if I have this relief valve on these engines. Could this cause the problem?
4. Fuel pump? But, if its the FP, what causes it to work fine for a while, then die after an hour?
5. Electrical? same problem as the fuel pump- why would the problem occur only after an hour, then die out?
Any other ideas?
Thanks everyone, any thoughts would be very much appreciated. -Carl
I've got a 1977 Pacemaker, 32' with twin Crusader 220's. The engines are original but were rebuilt and have only about 500 hours on them.
Both engines start right up and sound great. However, after about an hour of cruising, the port engine RPM's drop out and the engine stalls. This happens at cruising speed and at idle. Doesn't matter. After five minutes, the engine starts right back up, but the idle is very low. It'll run for another 5 or 10 minutes then conk out again. The next morning, everything is AOK. Starts right up, runs for an hour or so and then the same problem again.
A few more details- The previous owner installed electronic ignition and new fuel lines (apparently he was trying to solve the same problem). I had the boat serviced when I bought it a few weeks ago. New plugs, lines, filters, etc. I had the fuel tanks drained and new fuel added. I removed the port carburetor, and thoroughly cleaned it (didn't rebuild it though). There was a little gunk in the carb, but it's gone now and I still have the same problem. I just ordered a new carb and will install it this weekend.
Also, the oil pressure gauge for the port engine seems "stuck" at about 28-30 PSI. It doesn't fluctuate with the throttles. I'm thinking the sender is bad. The reason I bring this up is that someone mentioned that I may be having an oil pressure "switch" problem. (is the switch the same as the sender??).
Regarding idle- when I start the engines, idle sounds great and is right around 8-900RPMs. After a while, the idle starts to fluctuate anywhere from 1500 down to 600 (where is usually stalls if I don't give it some throttle).
The main stalling problem happens both while at idle and at cruising speed. Not sure if the idle fluctuation problem is related, but I bet it is..
I have a few ideas and could use your opinions:
1. The carb could be having problems that the cleaning didn't fix. If this is the case, the new carb should fix the problem.
2. Vapor lock- not sure how to fix or diagnose this.
3. Oil pressure- if there is a switch, maybe its bad. Is the switch the same as the sender? I read something about an oil pressure relief valve sticking. I don't know if I have this relief valve on these engines. Could this cause the problem?
4. Fuel pump? But, if its the FP, what causes it to work fine for a while, then die after an hour?
5. Electrical? same problem as the fuel pump- why would the problem occur only after an hour, then die out?
Any other ideas?
Thanks everyone, any thoughts would be very much appreciated. -Carl
