Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Atomic 4 comes to life.

PO owned the boat for only 2 years.  The A4 ran for the first two months and then died on him. His solution was to bolt an outboard to her transom.  

Time for the clean gas, strong spark and good compression troubleshooting method that works with any internal combustion petrol engine.

Zero compression in 2 cylinders, and carburetor bowl was full of gunk.  No wonder she did not start for the PO.  Peering through the spark plug holes as I turned her over with the hand crank, it was clear that I had some valves stuck in the up position (open).
  • Liberal application of Marvel Mystery oil into all 4 cylinders.
  • Let it soak in overnight.
  • Turned engine over manually many times with hand crank and coil disconnected.
  • Used bent screwdriver to help valves move down and seat themselves.
Got "thumb" compression on all 4 cylinders.  Now, time to see if she will come to life.
  • Fresh gas from portable outboard tank.
  • Fully charged battery.
  • New plugs, points, rotor and distributor cap.
  • Double check all electrical connections.
Turned the key and she fired up after a few seconds.  HUGE cloud of black smoke belched out of her.  Big smile on my face.

More detailed explanation of my troubleshooting on the Moyer Marine forum here: