boat will not idle
 

Hey guys, I am having some complications on the motor not wanting to idle. It will usually die on me or sound like it is running on about 2 cylinders. When the throttle is above idle it runs fine, but it just won't idle right.
Just a quick history, we discovered on the last trip out there was water in the fuel tank, I think Sam's gas was the culprit, but it could have been something else. I emptied out the water seperater and put some heet in and seemed to be better, but still not right. any suggestions, I think turning up the idle a bit would help, but I don't think it would solve the issue. The plugs are also new by the way. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Re: boat will not idle
 

If it is an AFB carb then the idle jets could be clogged

Re: boat will not idle
 

Did you get rid of the watery gas? Simply cleaning out the water separator will only provide temporary relief. If thats okay then your next step will be to dismantle & clean out the carb

Re: boat will not idle
 

not sure what kind of carb it is, other than the factory one in '96 on a 4.3 lx, I have been running it and checking the water seperator. We ran all day yesterday and all that was in the seperator was a small drop, rather than a filter full of water. I have ran some heet in it and a little sea foam. But what is wierd now is if you hold the butterfly just right on the carb, the thing will idle perfect, but as soon as it opens up, even at operating temperature, it will die. We have idled it up a little bit but still not helping.

Re: boat will not idle
 

when you dumped out the fuel filter was there rust and trash..if so pull carb off and clean all passages.trash in carb,water brings dirt faster than gas.

Re: boat will not idle
 

i agree, i just had a similar problem with my boat, was reluctant to pull the carb but in the end thats all that would fix it. and wow am i glad i did it was full of gunk it was definately time to clean it out.

Re: boat will not idle
 

I think its the carb, I deferred this repair to a mechanic. We tried everything we knew, but the idle jets seem to be the common answer, and I just don't like tearing into carbs. There has been some trash in the fuel though, I don't know really if there is anything I can do to prevent it though. Should I put an additional inline filter on it? or does the one on the front of the block that is right before the carb needing changed

Re: boat will not idle
 

I have a 95 4.3lx I assume your carb is probably the same as mine if they are original. They are really not complicated if you are carefull when dismantiling, but its money well spent if "rebuilding" carbs isnt your thing. the only filters on mine is the one built into the fuel pump and there are two screens inside the carb (4 barrel), leading to each bowl. one of mine was completely blocked and the fuel in that bowl was just down right nasty. after a good cleaning she fired right up and idled smooth as ever.

if you do decide on doing it yourself be careful of the springs and there is one ball bearing used in the priming jets that i almost lost when i turned the carb over, i didnt realize it was in there. luckily from experiance i always work over a tupperware bin when i am working on assemblies unknown to me. many hours have been spent hunting little parts that took a trip down to the garage floor never to be seen again.

good luck!

Re: boat will not idle
 

Been there done that, its real fun when you look for things and give up, then find them in the collector of your headers on your truck a few weeks later.
My carb is a 2 barrel, I didn't realize they put a 4 barrel on a v6. We checked the screen where the fuel line runs into the carb, but they are thinking it is the idle jets. There has been a lot of trash in the fuel. It amazes me how it got in there.

Re: boat will not idle
 

ya you wouldn't think it could with the filters and small openings the gas has to travel through. but it certainly finds its way, not to mention the varnish from sitting. I had alot of "jelly" in mine which i contribute to ethonol, i need to make sure i use the fuel stabillizer to prolong cleanings.

i thought the lx version of the 4.3 came with the 4 barrel i guess not.