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Honda Bf50A no idle

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pgshields

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I have a Pre 97' Honda BF50A and had my carbs removed and cleaned last year. At the end of the season, I drained the carbs and also drained the fuel line running to the boat. The first time I took the boat out this year it seemed to run fine(As good as a 20-year-old engine would run after sitting for 5 months). The past 3 times I have gone out I don't have an idle anymore. The boat runs fine if I start it in neutral and then jerk it to about 2k rpms but if I try to go back to idle it slowly dies out. It kind of shakes and sounds like its choking out. Do you guys think the carbs could have already gotten reclogged? I asked one of my buddies and he said to check the tubes to make sure a carb tube didn't come undone. I checked and everything looked fine.
Please let me know what you guys think.
 
I came to find out I had forgotten to put my fuel gauge sender back on and there was no seal, sealing the gas tank. Could this cause my engine to not idle?
 
The fuel tank being open to atmosphere shouldn't cause your engine to die out. Opening the tank vent achieves the same thing after all. NOT opening the vent and sealing the tank so that a vacuum occurs WILL cause the engine to stall.

Your problem might be related to the carbs but I think you should go over all your fuel line connections to ensure that no air is entering the system AFTER the tank.

Is it possible you disturbed something else or left something else loose while you were working with the gauge?
 
Your carbs need to be balanced to ensure they are all drawing the same. If not, you will experience the sputtering / shaking symptoms at idle you describe. Balancing is not hard, but requires a set of vacuum gauges.
 
pgshields said:
I have a Pre 97' Honda BF50A and had my carbs removed and cleaned last year. At the end of the season, I drained the carbs and also drained the fuel line running to the boat. The first time I took the boat out this year it seemed to run fine(As good as a 20-year-old engine would run after sitting for 5 months). The past 3 times I have gone out I don't have an idle anymore. The boat runs fine if I start it in neutral and then jerk it to about 2k rpms but if I try to go back to idle it slowly dies out. It kind of shakes and sounds like its choking out. Do you guys think the carbs could have already gotten reclogged? I asked one of my buddies and he said to check the tubes to make sure a carb tube didn't come undone. I checked and everything looked fine.
Please let me know what you guys think.
Click to expand...
. U need to check the slow jet in side of each carb look for small crack in the tubes
 
Yes to all the above.

Many times in older motors (Honda or others), after the carbs are cleaned and all is put back together, the one thing neglected is to change the fuel lines on the engine. The older hoses, sometimes may have very small pieces break loose and clog one or more of the jet sets.

140johnson's comment on the cracks is a good one too....you may need a magnifying glass to see the cracks....fairly common on the older 50's.

The little speck of dirt could also come from the fuel tank. If you read any on what ethanol can do. .....it can dissolve small amounts of debris and allow it to pass through the fuel filter, then it reappears at a later time inside the carburetors. Just like Star Trek.....

Once you get this ironed out, but sure to use a good fuel treatment with every fill up like PRI-G, Stabil Marine, etc. They help counteract the effects of the ethanol, as well as other things.

Mike

Mike
 
Thank you guys for the input, I appreciate it. Not really sure what was going on with it. Its running good now. Or as good as a 20 year old motor can run. Thanks for the help
 
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