Ran aground! Need some troubleshooting advice.

[ruby23m]

Hello to all,

I was out on my birthday last week and decided on taking a shortcut through a bay to avoid a long no-wake zone. (Hudson wake bay, if you're reading this Wotan) I was doing about 30 mph and ran aground into a shallow spot in the bay, roughly 18 inches of water. Of course the engine cut out within a few seconds of first impact, luckily almost no damage to the prop as it was mostly sand and weeds. I ended up being stuck pretty good, had to find a jet ski to pull me out of the shallow spot. So once I get out I was able to start the boat right away, no problem. My wife was waiting on shore and was brought back on the jet ski, and as soon as she came aboard, the engine died. Couldn't start it back up after that, so I get towed back to the launch and take it home. I take apart all the hoses, inspect the impeller, pop off the thermostat, and drain and flush the manifolds just be sure I didn't have anything get sucked up. I turn the key on the hose, boat starts up right away. So, I figure everything is fine, right? I take it out today and I have trouble starting it and keeping it running. Once I get it running fine, I take off and for a few seconds it seems as if all is good. But, just as I start to plane out, engine cuts out and dies on me. It takes a good 5 pumps of the throttle to prime it to start again, so I idle to the beach, dumbfounded.

So, since I ran aground it seems like I have some sort of fuel delivery problem. Keep in mind I spent the entire morning on the day of my birthday wake-boarding, with absolutely no issues. In fact, I haven't had any issue since a stuck carb float 2 years ago in which I ended up rebuilding the carb. Normally starts up almost right away as well with just a small amount of priming. What could possibly have happened since I have ran aground? I am totally stumped on this one, I'm hoping someone has an idea on where to start.

Let the discussion begin!

[DAFF]

Wonder if the timing got knocked off a tad from the sudden jolt. Traveling at 30 mph the engine had to be turning around 3000 rpm and to make it stall out at this speed is somewhat hard on the internals of the engine. I would bring #1 up to TDC and pull the distributor and check its position. While here also make sure a spring never came off and the internals look good. If you have a timing light you could also check it that way.

[michael hunter]

I would look at it as if you never ran aground. Are you still running points? You have to determine when it dies whether its fuel or spark and go from there

[villain]

Start with what daff recommends. If timing and spark is good, check the fuel pump. If you have a mechanical pump, the diaphragms can be rather weak.

[wotan2525]

That's pretty funny because I wrecked my prop in almost the same spot last week. I was being a good samaritan and pulling in a disabled boater, decided to take the short-cut, went waaaaaay wide of the sandbar and somehow hit rocks in front of the beach. I didn't even know that their were rocks in that bay! I had to jump out to push it off the rocks, idle in and then swear at my prop for a few minutes.

Water is painfully low.

I sort of agree with the timing issue. I'd probably just try to loosen the hold-down screw and rotate it a few degrees in either direction to see if it gets better or worse. I'd also inspect your rotor as I have broken them before when the cap slid off the top of the dizzy.

[ruby23m]

Well I don't feel quite as bad now! I knew it was a bad idea before I started though. I've also heard from my folks about a lot of people running aground right off of St. Mary's point in the past month.

Ok, so at this point I have to admit I know absolutely nothing about timing, points, distributors, and what kind of ignition system I even have. Like I mentioned, I have had 5 summers of basically trouble free boating up until this point, so my lack of knowledge exists. Can anyone tell me what I have based on the pics? I read labels, it looked like a Mallory distributor and Prestolite ignition. In the meantime I think its time for me to start watching some YouTube videos...

IMG_20130829_164838_896.jpgIMG_20130829_164853_588.jpg

[villain]

From the looks its the original system with points.

[Kma4444]

Definitely points setup unless there is a big surprise under the cap, there isn't going to be. If you have 5 years and haven't touched the points then you have done very well. Just spend some time and figure out how to replace the points and condenser. It will be the right place to start whether it's the ultimate culprit or not.

[wotan2525]

Yep, looks original with points. I think it's time for a tune up kit. I'd offer more help but mine had an HEI system installed when I got it and I've always replaced all my points distributors with HEI instead of working on them. I'm sure you can figure it out, though.

To adjust timing, loosen this bolt and then turn the entire distributor one way or the other. Judging by the looks of it, it probably hasn't moved in a while so I suspect you'll find something off with your rotor instead of with your timing.

[CornRickey]

before you do anything throw a timing gun at it to see where you are at.