New to forum-90 Sunsport Questions

[VTwake]

Hi,
New to the supra forums. I am the president of the Virginia Tech Wakeboard Club, and we just got our new (to us) boat a few weeks ago, a 1990 Sunsport. It had been sitting for a few years, so it has a few issues, but it only had 720 hours and ran pretty well in a test drive, and is exactly the boat we need for the price we could afford. It was ready to ride right off the bat, but a few problems are popping up that I would like to take care of. If anyone has any insight concerning the following, I would love to hear.

1.) The starter sometimes doesnt work. Wont even try to crank. This happened yesterday to a couple guys that were out on the boat. Luckily, this forum helped me out. I searched and found the temporary solution of tapping on it with a wrench, which worked. But I would like to figure out the root of the problem. There is corrosion on the starter, and the dealer that sold us the boat told us that they just replaced it. So what would cause the new starter to be corroding already? (All freshwater BTW). Im guessing that is causing the intermittent functionality?

2.) I havent had a chance to check this out-but apparently the boat leaked a good amount of oil yesterday. It was noticed when the plug was pulled after putting the boat away yesterday. I have not noticed a significant amount of oil in the bilge in the 4 or 5 times I have used the boat since we got it, but the level was slowly dropping. (I was thinking it probably was burning some oil, which isnt too uncommon). We just started riding the boat with ballast/full load/full throttle, so maybe that has something to do with the oil leak starting? What are some common/possible causes for oil leaks. This concerns me the most of the problems.

3.) I noticed that the prop shaft spins very slowly when the boat is in neutral, is that normal or a sign that the tranny is dying?

4.) The engine alarm/buzzer likes to go off at seemingly random times and sometimes stays on for extended periods of time. When it does, all gauges read normally and none of the 4 warning lights are on (I think they work, because the gas light caused the alarm to go off one time). The boat will be running normally too. Is this just finicky electronics or is there a possible reason for this that I am totally missing?

Thanks

[chrisk]

VTWake,

Congratulations on the purchase! I'm the president of Mizzou's waterski and wakeboard team and we're actually in the process of making a purchase ourselves, still trying to raise the money. Any ideas for fundraisers that worked well for you guys?

I don't have much to say of your problems other than maybe for the oil problem, take the boat out and inspect the engine while it's running, try and spot the leak. Knowing where it's coming from might help you diagnose it. Maybe it's something as simple as a loose line or a faulty gasket? Just a suggestion

[VTwake]

Nice! I love that the collegiate wakeboard scene is growing. For us, we have struggled with fundraising, and have mainly gotten the money through years of saving. We get some money from the university and also have a little from dues that builds up over time. However a few ideas that we have used or I have heard for fundraising for other clubs include: handing out programs at football games/running concession stands, hosting a competition, searching craiglist for help wanted ads (ie. Old woman needs 6 guys to move furniture, 250$), and raffles.

Back to the topic, I will definitely look for a leak tomorrow when I go out to work on the boat. Im hoping its just a gasket or something. The oil looks fine (golden brown, no milkiness and not black/flaky). One other piece of info that may be useful is that the guys that took the boat out yesterday added just a little 15-40 rotella oil to get the oil back above the add line (it was just below). I hear mixing oils is not ideal, but that wouldnt be a serious problem would it? They recommend between 10w and 40w in the manual.

[wotan2525]

I've had three bad oil leaks from my boat. All were a HUGE pain to troubleshoot.

- I installed a remote drain hose on the bottom when I rebuilt my engine. It sat very close to the hull (apparently too close) and ended up cracking the fitting. Oil went in the top, and out the bottom. No good!

- Valve covers. Especially while surfing and the oil is pooling in the port side vale cover.

- Timing cover. Not quite sure how I installed it wrong, but it leaked out the bottom. Pulled the harmonic balancer, cleaned the gasket surfaces and reinstalled. Never leaked again.

Here's the advice I can give you when chasing an oil leak.... If your engine is old it probably has some oil EVERYWHERE. The first thing you need to do is clean it really, really well. A little oil can get everywhere and make it very hard to see exactly where it is coming from. Then, after you run it, come in and start feeling all over to try and figure out the source. I'd check the rear main seal, timing cover, valve covers, oil pressure sensor, drain plug (if you can reach it), oil filter and every other place you can find. Is the oil starting low or starting high? These are the things that should be able to help you.

Also -- a cup of powder detergent in the bilge before you pull out every time will help clean that old oil residue right out as you drive it home on the trailer.

[docdrs]

Is oil coming from the engine or the tranny? Which one are you having to fill up? Could be as simple as a leaky oil filter, maybe the tranny cooler. Take a volt meter so you can be sure there is battery power to your starter if it is new to rule out the electrical cables or the starter.

[VTwake]

Went out yesterday to do a little troubleshooting. Found the alarm/buzzer problem is merely a loose connection under the dash.

Was going to change the oil but it wouldnt drain...need to pump it out, so we'll take another stab at it next week. Didnt make any progress on a potential oil leak. Starter once again didnt work till we tapped it, then it worked fine. We are probably going to replace it.

[TitanTn]

Sounds like a bad starter. Ask the dealer to help you swap it out under warranty. Shouldn't be a big deal if it truly is a new starter.

[michael hunter]

When a starter does this its usually bad brushes . If you are not comfortable rebuilding the starter just replace it.

[DAFF]

Make sure the starter is getting a good ground. Also check the wires running to the starter for power when the key is turned. If there is a good ground and power running to the starter then it is definitely an internal starter issue.

As for the oil get the engine clean as start inspecting. Do yourself a favor and replace everything in the gasket department. With the raising envirment concerns and the cost of oil it would be a great idea. Only two whould need the engine pulled and they are the main rear and oil pan.

[VTwake]

We got the plugs and oil changed today and looked around for an oil leak. Couldnt find it.

Newest problem (and now most important): The boat runs worse the longer you run it. It seems counter-intuitive. It started after we added sea foam to the gas to try to clean the carb up. After doing so, the boat started easier/idled better, but it runs rough on a plane, as in it surges RPM from 2500-3400 when trying to hold 3200 rpm. Its like the carb is half open then open, then half then open. Pulling the first rider is very manageable but it goes downhill from there. 2nd rider starts to get worse/will take a long time to plane because itll be stuck at 2500 rpm before all of a sudden the carb opens up and it kicks in. By the 3rd rider, it wont plane off, itll be stuck at 1500-2500 rpm at WOT, and then it starts idling rougher too, surging at idle from like 400rpm to 1000. By the time we got it on the trailer today it would barely idle.

I have a feeling I need to have the carb rebuilt...how much does that cost to have done vs. installing a new carb myself? It just puzzles me that the last 2-3 times we took it out, it started running great and got worse the more we ran it. I would think the carb would start cleaning out and it would get better, not worse. Thoughts?

[VTwake]

bump...any ideas?

Im gonna start with the fuel filter, but still thinking its the carb.

[rideevol]

My guess is that your carburetor is flooding your intake manifold, hence the WOT low RPM and the loss of idle. I found my secondarys were dripping fuel and needed to clean the float seat and lower the secondary float level. Unfortunately, this explanation over simplifies, many factors can cause loss of power.