I would add re-wiring the harness and any wires to the coil and engine. Moyer sells a kit for that or you could just buy some marine cable. I was having trouble with my engine stalling and not wanting to re-start for an hour at a time. I really could identify with your stranded situations. It turned out to be a bad wire...
You could really be out of this for far less than you think. I know the feeling of just wanting it fixed. I was at that point this year because of poor idling and blamed the A4 being an old technology. I replaced the carb with a rebuilt I had done when I first bought the boat and before I bought the moyer and she run like never before. It does seem like an electrical issue though. Honestly, the Moyer swap would not cost $10,000. The best thing about this old technology is how easy they are to work on. If you take the initiative, remove the engine, then replace all hoses and filters and make sure the tank is clean or replaced while waiting for the new A4, the $ for $ investment would be very close between that and the outboard. I've heard of people using their boom to hoist the engine up onto the dock. I think these things weigh about 300 - 350lbs. Moyer will deliver to the marina and send you a crate to send the old one back. The up side is you gain a huge amount of insights into your boat and engine and you would still be able to salvage September and October!! Or, for far less but you could do the wiring and fuel system with the engine in place and see if it fixes the issue. When the engine does run, does it run well? If so, it isn't the engine, it is some support system, i.e. fuel or electrical, of the engine. In the end you will be a better A4 mechanic than anyone you'll be able to find. You just don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. the 3 things an engine needs to run is good spark, Fuel and compression. take those one step at a time, check the compression. You can get a cheap compression tester from Harbor freight or the like. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=compression+tester You can check spark the old fashioned way of pulling a spark plug and with the wire attached hold it near the block and crank. This you may have to do again during an episode of not wanting to start. I think you will need to replace the fuel system and clean the tank anyway if you were planning on feeding the out board fuel from the existing on board tank. So this you should probably just do. Again, most of this is parts changing, out with the old in with the new and some peripheral vision during the process will help clean up some questionable issues along the way. The problem with a "profession Marine Mechanic" that I have seen is, the cutting of corners and tunnel vision. They just want to move on to the next project and call the current one done and don't tend to address adjacent problems while they are "in there." I do far better work that anyone I have EVER hired to do work on my boat. I have a very recent, long story about hiring professional that cost me 6 weeks of this season because they were sure they were right and I was wrong. If they had done the job right over the winter and tested their work I'd have been sailing in May... I think you should step back, take a breath, put your frustration aside, roll up you sleeves and re-wire that puppy and re-place all your fuel lines and filters and get that tank clean. How do you get it back running after a non-starting episode? I've heard about floating debris in the tank causing issues, blocking a passage during operation and then floating away after a while of non operation. Or (as in my earlier case) as the systems heat up and expand, a faulty wire losing its, connection due to expansion and cooling and contraction repaired the conduit so it could start again until it warmed and expanded again... Danny ---------- Original Message ---------- From: Burt Stratton via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: "'John Pennie'" <j...@svpaws.net>, <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List follow-up on outboards Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2014 08:03:52 -0400 Paul If the block is OK and you have good compression and this hasn't been done yet, I would get a price to upgrade to electric fuel pump, electronic ignition, rebuild the carb (professionally), Install a good fuel filter / separator and smaller in-line fuel filter downstream from the separator, empty the fuel tank and change ALL fuel lines then refill with fresh treated fuel. All that can be done with the motor in the boat. Take your time and find a good mechanic that has experience with this motor. Can't imagine that would be more than a couple $K. Certainly less than a refit to an outboard. Just about any engine can be made to run reliably. Since the advent of ethanol, fuel has become a persistent problem. Getting rid of the points will remove the potential for a few problems, too. Just a suggestion. Good luck! -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of John Pennie via CnC-List Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2014 7:46 AM To: Paul and Darlene Clarke; cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List follow-up on outboards Paul: I hear you and feel you pain. Been there. Just don't underestimate the cost of the outboard route. Even with a combination of yard/DIY/Ebay I can't see this being less than a 4k project and will easily top 6k yard alone. That includes removing the A4, removing all the associated systems and filling in some pretty big holes. Beef up the transom, buy an electric start outboard, a decent bracket and engine controls. None of this will add a dime of value to your boat. Electric is interesting but really doesn't like being away from dockside power for more than a night. That is likely an 8-10k project. as you still need to remove many of the components and upgrade both your charging system and batteries. Repowering with diesel is going to be in the same range. at least At the end of the day, I suspect the choice really comes down to a total rebuild vs. time to sell. Just an opinion. John _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album Email address: CnC-List@cnc-list.com To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
