www.iFourWinns.com

I bought the carb from National Carburetor, and it is supposed to be idle adjusted, and "plug and play". They supposedly adjust it on an engine before shipping, etc. We didn't reuse the distributor (points) and went with a new AC Delco Marine distributor, coil, wires, etc. Came with everything. So I am hoping we wont have to adjust it! But, you never know.

I guess we will try running off an aux tank and see if that makes a difference. Either way, the carb has to go back because of the leaking accelerator pump. I am going to open up tank today and look at sending unit and make sure that isn't blocked by anything and is clean, and then take a gas sample into a jar to see if there is water separation. Its about 3/4 full, so if its bad gas, that about 37 gallons or so to deal with...that will take a long time to run through lawn mower and snow blower lol!

http://www.nationalcarburetors.com/marine/fourbarrelrochester.aspx

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1988 215 Sundowner 5.7L OMC

With the new distributor, will that work with the Cobra ESA system? That has to work or you will have trouble shifting into neutral on the water.
If you can pull a sample of gas out of the tank, put it in clean glass jar and let it sit, see if there is a layer of water on the bottom, if so I would get the tank cleaned out.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Yes, in the wiring instructions, it explained how to wire it up to use the ESA system, and that's what we followed to wire it up. Definitely wanted to make sure to use that system for the longevity of the drive. Hopefully it works as planned!

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1988 215 Sundowner 5.7L OMC

So have some updates. We got permission from the company we bought the carb from to open the top and look inside. Low and behold, there were missing pieces. The float was not connected to the pin that controls the flow of gas into the carb, so it was running itself dry after running for a few minutes...it was also a bit gunky inside. We let them know, then asked for a new one to be sent out. We received that, and put it on. Ran well the first time we ran it, we set the timing, then have been working on other things. Started it last night, and it ran pretty rough and the carb was leaking again from the accelerator pump and from the top of the carb. Using a flashlight to look inside, there is a loose screw down inside one of the barrels that is stuck and we could not get out. I was hoping to splash this weekend for a test run, but it looks like we will need to send both carbs back, and buy from another company. We are really frustrated.

Moral of the story, despite being in business for nearly 60 years, National Carburetors seems to do crappy work and we definitely won't be doing business with them again. We will check locally and see if we can get by the weekend, or just order another online, perhaps Summit Racing. They have rebuilt Rochester Quadrajets with OMC linkage. Any other recommendations?

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1988 215 Sundowner 5.7L OMC

Just ordered an Edelbrock 1409 from Amazon. It will be here tomorrow in time for the weekend sea trial I had my heart and mind set for! The other two will be shipped back this weekend.

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1988 215 Sundowner 5.7L OMC

Hope it works out for you this time. Im not a fan of getting a rebuilt carb over the net, there are too many things (esp on a complex carb like a Q-Jet) that can be done wrong. I have the OE one on mine still. Its been rebuilt 2x in the 11 years I have the boat, once right after I bought it and the second time about 3 years ago. I have a very good local marine mechanic that I buy many of my parts from. If I need something done that I can't do myself, or don't really want to attempt just yet, I ask them and they are very reasonable. Rebuilt the Q-Jet for about 160 including the price of the kit. If you want to learn yourself, there are some good vids on boatered.com that are posted on youtube if you still have the original carb.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Updates: got the carb installed and it ran great, but wouldn't get up and go when sea trial done. It was sluggish out of the hole. We checked the timing, and it was 7 degrees at idle, then at 2500 rpm it dropped to 4 or 5 degrees! The marina we bought the distributor from replaced the module, and then we got 24 degrees at about 2300 rpm. Did a sea trial tonight and it popped out of the hole and ran great, although we couldn't open her up past 3000 RPM because of the 1-2 swells. But you could tell she was all there.

Has a Vessel Safety Check performed by Coast Guard Auxiliary and passed with no issues, so I am ready to take the whole family out soon! Also bought a handheld battery VHF spare radio and loaded up all the equipment. Very happy with the setup so far, and looking forward to a great summer on the water. We plan on finding a nice, calm Saturday to take her over to the Vineyard.

Below are a few pics from the iPHone. I am going to get better pics this weekend.

At the dock, you can see the strong current in Bass River hitting starboard side.


Used 3M Cleaner & Wax with buffer to get a good shine, she looked great when finished!


Heading down Bass River to Nantucket Sound.

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1988 215 Sundowner 5.7L OMC

Nothing like the taste of success!........congratulations......great looking boat........

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2005 Four Winns Funship 214 VP 5.7/Duo Prop

Awesome! Glad ya got all the bugs worked out....just in time for the season too. Great looking SD.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X