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Rough Idle

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hgput17

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Ok...I'll admit, I've had a few hang-nail type items plague me this year. First, worn out plug wires were leading to an engine miss. Fixed and ran perfect. Then a faulty oil pressure shut off switch was intermittently cutting off power to my fuel pump. Fixed and ran perfect.

Now I believe I'm battling water in my fuel. Boat ran great for several outings and many hours. Then, this past weekend out trolling noticed a rough idle, but not too bad. Later coming into the harbor it would barely hold an idle. It was all I could do to get her into her slip.

Went down today, replaced the fuel/water separating filter, poured some sea foam into the tank. Started her up and she purred like a kitten. Took her out for a spin and ran great. Brought her back into the harbor and she began to run rough again but not as bad as the other day.

Concerned my carb is gummed up, but hoping it does not need to be rebuilt. Do I keep replacing the water separator until it passes?

Spoke to the mechanic and he said fuel/ethanol/water problems are the #1 cause of repairs this year, with at least 12 other boats in the marina with similar issues.

Thoughts or other suggestions? Thank you.

Crusader 454XL Holley Carb
 
Are you sure that this is the culprit ? Are you seeing the water or separation in your effluent mix out of the separator. Jeff has a great photo of the goo that is removed by the separator. I'd say that most of those issues showed up 2-3 yrs ago but I SURE this problem is far from over. If this is the problem and it affects your performance that much NO additive can resolve it. You may need to drain the tanks and cleanup the slop inside.

How old is the current fuel fill, are you in the northern winter storage areas? Does your Marina supply the fuel to those other vessels?
 
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Yes, CT. Had the boat hauled to my house w/only 1/2 a tank of fuel. Perhaps a mistake. Picked up another 80 gallons from the fuel dock recently (after it re-opened) and suspect that perhaps it was not the freshest fuel either.
 
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