Ran aground! Need some troubleshooting advice.

[Blackntan90]

You know the sudden jolt could have pushed some sediment from the fuel tank somewhere it should not be. Take it to the lake, fire it up on the trailer and when it dies see if you still have spark. If so, check for a fuel delivery issue. When is the last time the fuel filter was changed? I second the electronic ignition conversion- VERY easy to do and trouble free so far for me going on 5 years.

[ruby23m]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. It sounds like I need to update to electronic ignition, regardless if that is the issue or not, I want to order. I ended up removing the entire distributor anyway because I got curious and probably really screwed up the timing if it was even close before. Can someone point me in the right direction as to what I should be looking for? I've searched Ebay, but not sure if I should get a conversion kit or just buy a whole new unit. In the meantime I'm going to change the fuel filter (have a few summers on the current) and also take off the bowl on the carb and check to see if the float got stuck.

[CornRickey]

If you remove the bowl be prepared to replace the gasket for it.

[92SupraComp]

buy a D.U.I. all in one electronic dizzy, great little thing...

[ruby23m]

UPDATE: Like I mentioned before, I planned on pulling the carb to check the float. Before I did this I started the boat in the driveway, shut it off and saw that fuel was POURING into the carb a good 20-30 seconds after shutdown. Perhaps this is why it's been hard starting, and flooding the engine under load? Pulled the front bowl, adjusted the float to a lower level, started her back up and no more fuel pouring after 10 shutdowns. I really hope this was all that caused my issue, will need to do a real water test. Also, since I had been dumping so much fuel into the intake, a coworker suggested I check my oil to see if the level had risen. Sure enough, It looked like a had gained about a whole quart of oil since summer started! It seemed like the oil had a different look and feel to it than normal as well. I suppose I'll head back out after she cools off today to check my plugs, I'm guessing they are fouled. Then I think its time for an oil change!

[Blackntan90]

Glad you found it to be a simple fix!

[ruby23m]

Well, not so fast... Since the boat is running good now, I had it out yesterday for some cruising and wakeboarding. After my session I decided to open her up full throttle for a minute or so and noticed a vibration I didn't have before once I got past 30 mph. Top speed was down to, from 41 to 38. Took a look underneath today and noticed the shaft strut was bent toward the left side of the boat. Normally as most of you should know, the shaft will show just to the right of offset rudder. Mine now ends up almost directly in line with the rudder. I can't believe I didn't notice this right after running aground, but the vibration definitely tipped me off. So now what? In this case would the shaft be bent as well? Also, am I looking at straitening the strut or replacing?

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[92SupraComp]

AH! you could really mess up your tranny! Transmissions hate out of alignment more than anything!

[wotan2525]

I thought I saw you out the other night!

Pull the shaft and the strut and take it up to marine associates (I think they are called St. Croix Gear now). They were the original manufacturer of both items. They can check the shaft for straightness, straighten the strut and hook you up with some new bearings (as long as it's off.)

I'd check your transmission alignment when you put it all back together.

[bens250ex]

Its just about as cheap to buy a whole new strut from skidim.com i looked into straightening mine but after the cost of installing bearings and getting it straight it was going to be more just as much as a new one.