OK, I spent the weekend trying to get my A4 started again. I can't. I am sure it is something very small that I am overlooking. Here's what I did. Drained the aqualift by taking out the screw in the bottom. Got all the exhaust pipe I needed and installed it. Cranked the engine. Nothing. In fact, water again backed up the exhaust pipe at least to the exhaust manifold. When I crank the motor no water exits the exhaust out the back. Can a muffler get clogged with corrosion from a bad pipe? If so how can I get it unclogged? I have spark. I have compression. There is at least some gas as I can smell it once it floods and also when I take out a spark plug. I have tried cranking with the water intake closed and open. I have taken the exhaust pipe off the manifold and tried again. I do get vapor that smells like gas out the manifold in that case. I tried all of this until the batteries discharged. What am I missing?
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
J
Jeff Walker
Good A4 site
http://www.geocities.com/atomfour/ Rick, I'm no expert but this site has some good ideas from folks that couldn't get their Atomic 4's started. Good luck, Jeff
http://www.geocities.com/atomfour/ Rick, I'm no expert but this site has some good ideas from folks that couldn't get their Atomic 4's started. Good luck, Jeff
R
Rob Rich
Sailnet A-4 Mailing List
Sign up for the A-4 e-mail list at sailnet.com. Post what you have done so far (in detail) and some very knowledgable people will be happy to help you out. Are you sure you have spark on all four cylinders? Sounds like you have gas and compression, but you may have weak spark or another distributer problem. And yes, you could have corrosion blocking the muffler outlet. Have you tried direct discharging the cooling water into a bucket, with the exhaust pipe off? If you can discharge water out of the jacket and into a bucket, then you know you are pumping okay, and the blockage lies in the muffler. In that instance, try a product called Marsolve, which is a solvent specifically designed to remove depsosits in marine cooling jackets and engine plumbing. Best of Luck! Rob
Sign up for the A-4 e-mail list at sailnet.com. Post what you have done so far (in detail) and some very knowledgable people will be happy to help you out. Are you sure you have spark on all four cylinders? Sounds like you have gas and compression, but you may have weak spark or another distributer problem. And yes, you could have corrosion blocking the muffler outlet. Have you tried direct discharging the cooling water into a bucket, with the exhaust pipe off? If you can discharge water out of the jacket and into a bucket, then you know you are pumping okay, and the blockage lies in the muffler. In that instance, try a product called Marsolve, which is a solvent specifically designed to remove depsosits in marine cooling jackets and engine plumbing. Best of Luck! Rob
G
Garry@S/V TASHTEGO
A4 Timing
Well, if you have spark and gas and, presumably, air then the only other possibility is that the timing is off and the spark is not arriving at the proper time. To check the timing remove the spark plug from the number one cylinder (the front plug unless you have a V drive), place your finger over the spark plug hole and turn the engine by hand until the number one piston is coming up on the compression stroke. You will feel it pushing air out through the spark plug hole under your finger. Turn the engine over until the crank pin on the shaft sticking out of the flywheel at the front of the engine is vertically in line with the timing mark on the flywheel cover. If you go past top dead center (TDC) go two full turns back to TDC. The points in the distributor should then be just opening. To check, remove the distributor cap and observe the points. Loosen the cap screw in the hold down clamp at the base of the distributor. Slowly turn the distributor until the points are just beginning to open. There is an easy-to-make tool for this which consists of a small, two-wire, 12 volt bulb in a socket with alligator clamps soldered onto each wire coming out of the socket. Attache the clips to the points assembly on opposite sides of the points then turn on the ignition and as you move the distributor the points will open, turning on the light, then close, turning it off. You can make one for a couple of bucks and it will make life a lot easier. You can also use a volt meter the same way. With the points just opening at TDC tighten the cap screw on the hold down clamp. At this time look at the rotor on the top of the distributor shaft and mentally note where it is pointing. Put the cap back on and make sure that the wire at which the rotor is pointing is the wire to the number one spark plug. The firing order is 1 2 4 3. Both the rotor and the wide protrusion in the side of the distributor points plate (which fits into a slot in the distributor cap to align it) should point at 9 o'clock (looking down on the top of the distributor while facing the flywheel). Make sure that the plug wire for #1 cylinder goes in the 9 o'clock postion, #2 plug wire goes in the 12 o'clock position, #4 plug wire goes in the 3 o'clock position, and #3 plug wire goes in the 6 o'clock position. Check to make sure that all of the wires are firmly stuck into the distributor cap and the coil. It is very easy to get a plug wire (or four) misplaced if you have taken them off for any reason. If you have a Cat 27 as I do, God bless as it is a contortionists nightmare to get at the distributor and everything has to be done one handed. Please be very careful when you can "smell gas." This is a great way to blow your boat up and you with it. Turn the blower on and leave it on when cranking. Good luck.
Well, if you have spark and gas and, presumably, air then the only other possibility is that the timing is off and the spark is not arriving at the proper time. To check the timing remove the spark plug from the number one cylinder (the front plug unless you have a V drive), place your finger over the spark plug hole and turn the engine by hand until the number one piston is coming up on the compression stroke. You will feel it pushing air out through the spark plug hole under your finger. Turn the engine over until the crank pin on the shaft sticking out of the flywheel at the front of the engine is vertically in line with the timing mark on the flywheel cover. If you go past top dead center (TDC) go two full turns back to TDC. The points in the distributor should then be just opening. To check, remove the distributor cap and observe the points. Loosen the cap screw in the hold down clamp at the base of the distributor. Slowly turn the distributor until the points are just beginning to open. There is an easy-to-make tool for this which consists of a small, two-wire, 12 volt bulb in a socket with alligator clamps soldered onto each wire coming out of the socket. Attache the clips to the points assembly on opposite sides of the points then turn on the ignition and as you move the distributor the points will open, turning on the light, then close, turning it off. You can make one for a couple of bucks and it will make life a lot easier. You can also use a volt meter the same way. With the points just opening at TDC tighten the cap screw on the hold down clamp. At this time look at the rotor on the top of the distributor shaft and mentally note where it is pointing. Put the cap back on and make sure that the wire at which the rotor is pointing is the wire to the number one spark plug. The firing order is 1 2 4 3. Both the rotor and the wide protrusion in the side of the distributor points plate (which fits into a slot in the distributor cap to align it) should point at 9 o'clock (looking down on the top of the distributor while facing the flywheel). Make sure that the plug wire for #1 cylinder goes in the 9 o'clock postion, #2 plug wire goes in the 12 o'clock position, #4 plug wire goes in the 3 o'clock position, and #3 plug wire goes in the 6 o'clock position. Check to make sure that all of the wires are firmly stuck into the distributor cap and the coil. It is very easy to get a plug wire (or four) misplaced if you have taken them off for any reason. If you have a Cat 27 as I do, God bless as it is a contortionists nightmare to get at the distributor and everything has to be done one handed. Please be very careful when you can "smell gas." This is a great way to blow your boat up and you with it. Turn the blower on and leave it on when cranking. Good luck.
B
Bob Sawyer
Carb Clogged?
When my A4 wouldn't start it was due to my carb being clogged with a white powder. There's a small steel cup just prior to the carb. Put a rag below it, unscrew, and remove. Be careful not to spill too much gas. If there's a white powder at the bottom of the cup clean it out with wd40. Replace the cup and mannually pump the carb until the cup is full again. (There's a U under the carb that lets you hand pump and you can tell it's full when pumping becomes difficult.) Wipe up any spilled gas. Run your blowers!!! Then start the engine. If this is your problem, then it's going to happen again. I'd recommend putting a Racor water/gas separator
When my A4 wouldn't start it was due to my carb being clogged with a white powder. There's a small steel cup just prior to the carb. Put a rag below it, unscrew, and remove. Be careful not to spill too much gas. If there's a white powder at the bottom of the cup clean it out with wd40. Replace the cup and mannually pump the carb until the cup is full again. (There's a U under the carb that lets you hand pump and you can tell it's full when pumping becomes difficult.) Wipe up any spilled gas. Run your blowers!!! Then start the engine. If this is your problem, then it's going to happen again. I'd recommend putting a Racor water/gas separator
R
Rob Rich
Gary, Bob, I copied your posts and printed...
This is great stuff - Gary, your post was so easy to read that I will be putting it in my A-4 manual. Bob, I am going to do the same with yours. Yet another reason why this site is so damned cool!
This is great stuff - Gary, your post was so easy to read that I will be putting it in my A-4 manual. Bob, I am going to do the same with yours. Yet another reason why this site is so damned cool!
- Status
- Not open for further replies.