Hi Larry,
You are possibly right about the floats, although in preliminary discussions with
outboard mechanics, they point the finger at the extremely fine jets in the 4-stroke
engines. One mechanic said gasoline dries to a powdery residue, which then can
become imbedded in these jets. This problem seems peculiar to 4-stroke engines.
My former 2-strokes never needed a carburator cleaning or rebuild. Why is this
sensitivity of 4-strokes one of the world's greatest secrets? I would have taken
extra pains to run something like 'Stabil' through the carbs before storing the engine.
I might have not bought a 4-stroke if I thought they would be so problematic. I
checked the engine today and gas is definitely coming out of the hose that supplies
the carborator. I will probably have to get my boat towed to the nearest mechanic.
I hope they don't have to remove the engine from the boat to do this job.

Sherwin D.

Larry wrote:

sherwindu wrote in
:

or fully cover the air inlet to assist in getting fuel to the engine.
Is that a good idea?


Wanna bet the inside of the float carb looks like it's coated in shellac
from the evaporating fuel left in it? Running it until it stalls only gets
part of the gas out of the float bowl. The rest turned to shellac and
clogged the jets so it runs way too lean.

Government bureaucrats and Greenies made this worse by demanding
manufacturers limit how far you can screw the jets in and out...as if that
made any difference in the pollution of the planet from jet aircraft and
power plants and solar wind. So, you can't unscrew the main jet any more
until it melts the shellac away like you "ustacould way back". The main
jet isn't even adjustable and the idle jet only turns half a turn.....how
stupid.....

--
Larry

Lionheart has a 5hp Nissan driving a 12' Fold-A-Bote. You're right about
the tiny carbs. Too tiny. The throat of it is about the size of a pencil.
All the components are very tiny, indeed, including jets. Diesel-fuel-in-
a-can like Stabil is nonsense. Save money and just put diesel fuel into
the float...same stuff. Gas doesn't "go bad" unless you let the tank
breathe in and out so the lighter elements can escape, leaving behind the
heavies. There's a 1987 Honda 5KW genset in my shed that has gas in it
from Hurricane Hugo in 1989 in a STEEL tank. The tank is kept full with
new gas, probably a pint. It will crank on the 2nd pull on 1989 gas.

If you're going to run the engine a lot and leave it in place, 4-stroke is
fine. Running it will keep the tiny float carb clean. But, if you're
going to transport it a lot or use it infrequently, I think a SIMPLE 2-
stroke that doesn't have some damned computer that requires a systems
analyst with special equipment to repair is much better. Premix gas has
OIL in it. OIL doesn't evaporate when the gas does, keeping the carb all
greasy and protected. The 10:1 in that Seagull protects everything from
the tank to the exhaust, covered in a film of motor oil. Doesn't take a
rocket scientist to see why.



sherwindu wrote in
:

Hi Larry,
You are possibly right about the floats, although in preliminary
discussions with
outboard mechanics, they point the finger at the extremely fine jets
in the 4-stroke engines. One mechanic said gasoline dries to a
powdery residue, which then can become imbedded in these jets. This
problem seems peculiar to 4-stroke engines. My former 2-strokes never
needed a carburator cleaning or rebuild. Why is this sensitivity of
4-strokes one of the world's greatest secrets? I would have taken
extra pains to run something like 'Stabil' through the carbs before
storing the engine. I might have not bought a 4-stroke if I thought
they would be so problematic. I checked the engine today and gas is
definitely coming out of the hose that supplies the carborator. I
will probably have to get my boat towed to the nearest mechanic. I
hope they don't have to remove the engine from the boat to do this
job.

Sherwin D.




--
Larry

sherwindu wrote:

One mechanic said gasoline dries to a powdery residue, which then can
become imbedded in these jets.

I though smoking dope in outboard shops was prohibited. It is
corrosion or other residue clogging the smaller jet size. It comes
down to what Larry said but there's no such thing a powdery residue
from clean gasoline evaporating.

In article .com,
wrote:

sherwindu wrote:

One mechanic said gasoline dries to a powdery residue, which then can
become imbedded in these jets.

I though smoking dope in outboard shops was prohibited. It is
corrosion or other residue clogging the smaller jet size. It comes
down to what Larry said but there's no such thing a powdery residue
from clean gasoline evaporating.

The old highest-test Sunoco (260?) blue dye regularly gummed up Mikuni
carbs on motorcycles. (that was back in the 70s, when Sun had 7 or so
different grades.)

I doubt that any of the current dyes are so coarse or injectors would
foul, but a small 4-stroke carb could be pretty sensitive. Still, I
suspect the mechanic was remembering the bad old days.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Jere Lull wrote in news:jerelull-
:

I doubt that any of the current dyes are so coarse or injectors would
foul, but a small 4-stroke carb could be pretty sensitive. Still, I
suspect the mechanic was remembering the bad old days.



Put 3" of brand new gas in a gas can.....

Sit it out in the sun so the gas will boil off like it does in your float
carb....

Notice it's STILL GAS that leaves shellac in its wake....

--
Larry

Larry wrote:

Put 3" of brand new gas in a gas can.....

Sit it out in the sun so the gas will boil off like it does in your float
carb....

Notice it's STILL GAS that leaves shellac in its wake....

But not powdery residue - unless it's been used as a solvent for other
illegal purposes in said shop. :-)

wrote in
oups.com:

But not powdery residue - unless it's been used as a solvent for other
illegal purposes in said shop. :-)


Very true.....more like stickum.

--
Larry