www.iFourWinns.com

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

Mechanic says the coupler ? is stripped and needs to be replaced ??

What does the board think ??

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

No.

The engine would run just fine with a stripped coupler.

....although with EFI does the engine have a rev limiter?

If the coupler is stripped the motor would rev up just fine then start to slip once the RPMs/power/torque reached the point that the coupler started to slip. Typically the motor would then continue to rev with no increase in speed.

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

If the coupler failed, you would have a no drive issue, and also it should have overheated since on the Cone Clutch Cobra the driveshaft turns the raw water impeller. Also you usually would smell burning rubber if it fails. The engine would still run OK till it got too hot.
If you can, have a compression test done and a leak down test, those should tell the tale. The coupler will take an engine pull to fix, you want to know whatever is wrong with the engine first and get it all done at once so you don't waste labor.

BTW, to make the coupler last, if it is bad, what you do is pull the drive each season, lube the splines and check alignment. I've been doing my own for about 5 seasons now and its not hard really if you build a stand to support the drive (heavy).

here is a cut away pic of the Cone Clutch drive, see the impeller at the very end of the horizontal drive shaft?


http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/kcobra.jpg

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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

You guys were right !!! Coupler was fine, one of the cylinders was not firing, changing plugs, wires even though they are only 125 hours old as we speak. Testing compressing on the one cylinder. Hopefully nothing too bad.

Gave marina your other suggestions. It's a long time marina, but I am wondering about their ability on my engine ?? They are more of a Merc shop.

Tech thinks the computer also may need to be reset ?? said the Ford 351 has an OBD engine controller that he needs to check out, and of course they do not have the correct diagnostic tool for that, so he is getting one.

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

Let us know outcome, it could also be a fuel injector issue in addition to the plugs, etc.
BTW I have never run plugs in my engine that long, not because they wouldn't last long enough, but when the engine is fogged for winter storage, it fouls the plugs so I do clean em up in the spring but if they still look fouled to me I just change em. I'd guess I change em every other season. With fuel injected engines you usually don't fog it the conventional way so your use may be fine. Wires, check them to make sure none of them has too much resistance. Also look at the dist and rotor. I usually change those every other season because my boat sits on a salt water mooring and you get green corrosion on the terminals.

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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

Plugs were put in new this past March, we've been busy on the water our first boating season !!. Turns out one of the plugs had a crack in it, so may have been the pinging / tinging noise I heard as it was randomly firing.

Marina said they ordered the proper OBD tester for my boat and will let me know what they find out when it arrives. Like I said, they are more of a Merc shop and did not have a tester for my old 1994 Ford 351 motor. Tech said on our motor, it is an auto based control as opposed to a marine based one ??. I did some research, and it looks like mine needs an OBD-I series as opposed to the new OBD-II which was common after 1996. At least they are willing to work on it, and they guy who is, used to work for a Ford dealer, so said it should not be a problem with the proper test equipment.

I'm Jonesing for a boat ride !! Weather is low 70's this week and I'd love to see the fall colors from Lake Michigan. ND is off this weekend, so hopefully boat will be ready.

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

Just got a call and our boat has been repaired. Originally said it was a stripped coupler, it was not. Then a cracked spark plug. They also found sand had trashed the thermostat ( which was only 40 hours old ). They flushed the system out, installed new thermostat and replaced the cracked plug.

They told me because the thermostat was stuck open, the control for the fuel injection was trying to send more gas into the motor to warm it up, thereby flooding the engine so it would not come up to speed ??? ( Not sure I buy that ). In addition, when I asked if they changed the impeller because of the sand in the thermostat, they said no, because since the thermostat was open, water was flowing thru. I'm thinking if there was sand in the thermostat, then the sand had to go past the impeller and therefore that may be damaged or worn as well ?

What would you do ?

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

How did it get sand in it ?

I would change the impeller immediately, and flush the whole system a couple more times to be safe.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

+1 on changing the impeller, sand and rubber do not mix. Did you do some boating in shallow sandy areas before this problem? Sounds like ya sucked up a lot of it thru your drive.

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

Lake Michigan has a sandy bottom where we boat, I do remember churning some sand the time before all of the problems started. The lake Michigan sand where this happened is more of a sandbox sand as opposed to silty sand like most inland lakes.

They said they flushed the system thoroughly and wondered if I had gone up river as opposed to the lake. We had not because the water has been low all summer in the river.

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1994 235 Sundowner w/351 Ford

If there was sand in the Thermo you most likely would see slow warm up and not reaching normal temp because of the sand not letting it close. How was your operating temp? It should be between 160-175. I would replace the impeller if you sucked up sand. I have heard that they are hard to find for cone clutch Cobras(not the joint venture models). If you née one and can't find it try SeaWay Marine in Washington State, they have a stockpile of OMC parts, one of the biggest nation wide.

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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