Frustrated Jet Owner

[simple]

I have a neighbor who owns a 1981 Jet Boat with a 460 Ford & Berkely Jet. His boat runs for (2 hours or less & then quits. It won't run for hours. Has done this since he bought it. He has done the following:
- rebuilt holley carb twice
- rebuilt pump
- added electronic ignition & all wiring
- new cam & valve job
- 2 new starters
- new battery
- new ignition switch
- has placed (2) fuel filters in line from the tank to the carb
- new fuel pump
- many other pieces
He is besides himself with anger & is going to sell it because it is a lemon. He has taken it to (2) different OC mechanics (specialists) that have not figured it out.
Are there any of you that can analyse this problem & help him? Maybe list a few areas to check. I feel very bad for him because he is a good guy.

[oldbuck40]

I have a neighbor who owns a 1981 Jet Boat with a 460 Ford & Berkely Jet. His boat runs for (2 hours or less & then quits. It won't run for hours. Has done this since he bought it. He has done the following:
- rebuilt holley carb twice
- rebuilt pump
- added electronic ignition & all wiring
- new cam & valve job
- 2 new starters
- new battery
- new ignition switch
- has placed (2) fuel filters in line from the tank to the carb
- new fuel pump
- many other pieces
He is besides himself with anger & is going to sell it because it is a lemon. He has taken it to (2) different OC mechanics (specialists) that have not figured it out.
Are there any of you that can analyse this problem & help him? Maybe list a few areas to check. I feel very bad for him because he is a good guy.what about the fuel tank vents? does it have any? are they clogged up? does it have fuel when it quits? does it have spark when it quits? just replaceing parts at random will not fix it unless he gets lucky and guesses the right part which in this case he has'nt! i would check the fuel vent lines! if they are on this boat they may appeer fine on the outside but i have seen them swell shut on the inside... start with checking this first then look at the other things i suggested! hope it helps....

[Moneypitt]

Without knowing what he has tried on the water when the motor quits, it is tough to advise towards a solution. That said, I would bring along: Jumper wire to "hot wire" the ignition, bypassing all the boats wiring. An extra gas can, about 2-3 gallons to plumb into the fuel system, bypassing the boats fuel tank(s). These 2 items make up 2/3rds of what is needed to run, the 3rd being air. If you have air, fuel and spark, it has to run if it will.....and it wouldn't be on dead on the water unless it ran to get there. There may be a circuit in the boat that overheats, or there could be a fuel delivery problem caused by fuel tank plumbing, selector valves or just pick ups that have rotted and fell off. Use the "bypass" ideas to eliminate those 2 possibilities, one at a time, and you should narrow it down.........MP

[lucky]

does it have a balase resistor ? and remote silonoide ? - balase resistor bit me in the ass before - same symptoms :confused:

[058]

Has he replaced the coil? I had a similar problem on a car, it'd run for up to an hour before the engine just died, it would restart most of the time but sometimes it would need to cool down before restarting. After changing alot of parts I finally narrowed it down to the coil that had a bad internal connection that would only show up when the coil got to a certain temp and the connection broke.

[Racer277]

A buddy just replaced the distributor in his.
Similiar symptoms.
Springs inside were rusty, it would work when cool, but when warm they stuck. It would take a few hours to cool back down.
Rather than clean it he just r and r'd it.

[simple]

The coil was replaced. Does an electronic ignition use a different coil than a points ignition?
The rest of the ideas are very good. I wrote down all of your replies & will hand it to him. The fuel vent clogging sounds good as does an electrical problem.
How do you check for electrical problems? Is there a step by step process using a certain tool?

[lucky]

The coil was replaced. Does an electronic ignition use a different coil than a points ignition?
The rest of the ideas are very good. I wrote down all of your replies & will hand it to him. The fuel vent clogging sounds good as does an electrical problem.
How do you check for electrical problems? Is there a step by step process using a certain tool?
circut tester and ohm meter are your best friends

[78Eliminator]

Does it have an MSD box?
When it dies, can you still hear the electric fuel pump turning when you try to start it agian?

[Moneypitt]

Use the direct power (12 volts) to the coil "hot wire" to bypass ALL the boats wiring. If it re starts, then you know it is electrical, somewhere between the battery and the coil. If it still doesn't run, and you have fuel in the carb(s), it is down stream from the coil towards the dist. I have heard about hidden circuit breakers in stock boats, and those breakers fail, then cool, and work again.....Something is heating up and causing an "open" circuit, that when cool, will work again. These type problems are the hardest to find because they only fail at the worst times, when you are not tooled, (prepared) to chase them down, so be ready. Jumper lead to feed the coil, straight from the + side of the battery to the + side of the coil, and check for fuel in the carb, or fuel pressure gauge. You could also use a volt meter, at the + side of the coil, switch on, 9-12 volts or none?? Process of elimination, the only way to nail it down............MP

[steve d]

The coil was replaced. Does an electronic ignition use a different coil than a points ignition?
The rest of the ideas are very good. I wrote down all of your replies & will hand it to him. The fuel vent clogging sounds good as does an electrical problem.
How do you check for electrical problems? Is there a step by step process using a certain tool?
If there is a condenser somewhere ------change it....Steve

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Only go boating for 1 3/4 hrs at a time Budlight :cool:

[Hallett19]

I had a similar problem with my boat, I replaced the distributor and it went away. I installed new guts (pertronix) in my original distributor, new balast resistor, new coil, new plugs and wires.... and the problem persisted. My problem was a little different, it would run for about 30 min then die for about 20-40 min then run again for about 10-15 min. After putting in the full MSD package, never had the problem again !! :wink:
At this point, just start replacing things that are really old.

[JetBoatRich]

Only go boating for 1 3/4 hrs at a time Budlight :cool:
There is always that thought :wink:
May start cheap, ballast resistor :eek:
Is he running it when it dies? Or turn it off and it won't restart?

[Flip]

I have a neighbor who owns a 1981 Jet Boat with a 460 Ford & Berkely Jet. His boat runs for (2 hours or less & then quits. It won't run for hours. Has done this since he bought it. He has done the following:
- rebuilt holley carb twice
- rebuilt pump
- added electronic ignition & all wiring
- new cam & valve job
- 2 new starters
- new battery
- new ignition switch
- has placed (2) fuel filters in line from the tank to the carb
- new fuel pump
- many other pieces
He is besides himself with anger & is going to sell it because it is a lemon. He has taken it to (2) different OC mechanics (specialists) that have not figured it out.
Are there any of you that can analyse this problem & help him? Maybe list a few areas to check. I feel very bad for him because he is a good guy.
All the above responses are great ideas. However, it'd be nice to get more info from your buddy first. What we really need to know is, when it dies, why won't it restart?
No fuel?
No spark?
Starter won't engage?
None of the above?

[Danhercules]

If its a no fuel issue,look to see where the pick ups are. If they are on top of he fuel tank,I have heard of the pick up tube in the tanks cracking and sucking air. Just another item to add to the list.

[skeepwerkzaz]

We had a sanger that had the same symptoms. It turned out that the fuel filter was about 2 inches off of the bottom of the bilge, just close enough to be wet. A pinhole developed in it, and when there was a couple of inches of water in the bilge it would suck up the water and kill it. Happened the worts while getting on plane, but after a few minutes, it would just die and not re-start. Do like pilots do, drain some fuel from the carb into a clear vessel and look for H2O (bubbles.) Could also be a bad electrical connection to the battery.