www.iFourWinns.com

Was a nice sunny saturday on Lake Michigan, 75 degrees, water about 74, so took a 25 mile trip from our marina down to New Buffalo to meet with some friends. Boat ran fine at cruise speed, but sputtered and ran rough when I tried to go wide open. Stopped picked up our friends, headed back into the lake. Could not get on plane, at all. One of the women asked is there was too much weight in the back end, and of course I said no, but promptly turned around and dropped them back off. Headed back to St. Joe and got about 3 miles when boat would not go faster than 12 mph and I started to hear a tinging metalic noise sporadically coming from the port side of the engine. Shut it down, checked all the plug wires, fuel filter, oil and then had trouble restarting. Again could not get going past 10-12 and the noise started up again.

Turned motor off, called BoatUS, at 5:15 Saturday night knowing we had a 20 mile tow in ahead of us. Turns out the closest boat,had a bad fuel pump, so next closest one was closer to Chicago than me. Ended up back in port just after the Notre Dame MSU game ended at 11:45.

Any guesses as to what is wrong ?? Still hoping for some fall boating to see colors from the lake.

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

Could the tinging noise have been dieseling? Sounds like a fuel related prob.

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

OMC Cobra correct? Dog clutch non King Cobra right?

Could it be the shift interrupt? Sometimes the sift cables can get out of adjustment and cause the shift interrupt to trigger as you try to give it more throttle. It is supposed to have a overtravel switch, but those don't always work right either.

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Current Operational Boats:
'04-Four Winns 180 Freedom 150 HP Evinrude
'72-Chris Craft Commander 31 Sedan Twin-350Qs

More info:

it is fuel injected, it is OMC Cobra, I did empty the contents of the new ( 20 hour ) fuel filter into one of my empty beer cans, and that did not help.

Would shift cable issue cause the sporadic clinking noise on the port side of the engine ? To be more specific, noise was not too loud, sounded like a small ball peen hammer lightly tapping metal, but again it was not a consistant sound.

Asked marina mechanics to take a look.

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

Post a pic of your drive if you can, because the ESA was used for sure on the dog clutch versions, but not on the cone clutch. Yours being a 94 boat, it could have a 93 or a 94 drive system, which could make a difference.

I looked over at http://www.crowleymarine.com
in the parts catalog, and for a 94 you have the joint venture cone clutch, for a 93 is the pure OMC dog clutch that would have the ESA. If you have the dog clutch, then I'd be looking to have someone who knows them really take a good look at the shift cable and ESA.

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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

Pretty sure I have a 93 drive on a 94 boat. Prop was a 15 spline when I needed to replace that and that was for a 93.

Here are a couple of pics that I have, not sure if they help or not, can get a better one in a day or two.







http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/233/boat014.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/29 ... at111.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/15/boat004l.jpg/

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

How does it idle, more so, idle in gear?

My guess is something has gone south in the valve train.

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07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

Well that is not a dog clutch nor a joint venture (Volvo SX), it is the rare OMC cone clutch. No ESA on those. Look at the throttle and shift linkage, a cotter pin may have broken and is allowing the linkage to vibrate. Can you check for any engine codes seeing as how it's EFI....Also if you can get a mechanics stethescope you may be able to localize the sound. Could be a lifter, rocker arm, etc.... Maybe sticking valves (would explain the poor running).

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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

Does the pinging sound like spark knock? You didn't happen to get some of that bad BP gas that's going around in our area did you? It's doing all kinds of crazy things to fuel injected motors, but looks and smells like normal gas. Sometimes it give of a slight burning plastic smell through the exhaust

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Check your spark plugs see if they are tight could possibly be the ticking noise.

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'96 200 Horizon 5.8l VP/SX

I say valve system issue...if it was clunking then I'd say more of a spun main bearing issue....its OK cuz you have winter to repair if needed.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

I say valve system issue...if it was clunking then I'd say more of a spun main bearing issue....its OK cuz you have winter to repair if needed.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

Good thing the ND Michigan game is a night game, so I can go look things over before going to tailgate.

A few other notes,

when I started the boat, it would not stay on unless I quickly put it into gear with a little throttle

when it was running, the RPM's showed 4,000, but motor only sounded like it was going 2,000 RPM.

Plugs looked fine, one on starboard side was a little dirty but sound was coming from Port side randomly.

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

It honestly sounds like an EFI control issue. Does that engine have a MAP/MAF sensor? I also wouldn't rule out your ignition system since it runs ok when it's not under load. Cross arching cap/rotor?

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Next time you crank her up - remove the valve cover caps and see if you have a large amount of pulsating air coming from the side you have been hearing the tinging sound.....easy check.....if so, then you have blow back and you can narrow down cause from there.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi