South and Severn River Adventure

[ChrisBowers]

So I had a bit of an interesting day out there yesterday. We set out at 5:30 in South River, dropped 500' of trotline and our traps. Went to motor back to the start of the line and the motor started bogging down above fast idle. Felt like it was only running on 1 cyl (20hp merc). We took the cover off to check the plugs, and one of the spark plug wires popped out of the coil and into the water! Got a tow in...

We ended up scavenging a spark plug wire out of pile of rusted junk someone at the marina pointed us to and hoped for the best. We got the engine running just barely enough to pick up our gear, but we wanted crabs! Thinking quickly, I gave my future aunt-in-law a ring on the Severn and asked if any of their boats were available. They did in fact have a 22' C Hawk workboat available, so off we went.

Hit the water at 11:30 and right off the bat the crabbing was great. Had a crab in almost every trap (not all keepers, but a great sign!). Kept right up until the tide started slacking around 2. Ended up with almost a bushel of pretty full crabs, going to cook them up right now for a cookout!

As for my motor, I tested it this morning, seems to have spark on both cyls, but still won't throttle up past what I'd say is 1/3. Must be a carb issue, probably off to JAWS Marine!

[POLECAT]

Your perseverance paid off.

Way to go!!!

[Burchbeer]

You got carb flu, But carb also spells crab!

WTG!

[JALOPY]

Check your thermostat. I had a similar issue.

[POLECAT]

Even with a water/fuel separator I managed to fill my carb bowls with water from the second of 3 gas tanks. The gasket on top of the tank allowed rain to get in and I had over 2 quarts in a 6 gallon tank.

This could be your problem on a smaller scale with water in one of the carbs. Worth a look before spending big $$$$$$$$$$ at a dealership.

Drain the carb bowls into a container to see if water is in them. If yes, then check your fuel supply for more water. Good practice to check it regardless.
Good luck.

[gwaud]

glad you enjoyed your day. I agree with them. the motor wont burn water if its in there. Good Luck

[ChrisBowers]

Shouldn't be any water in there, brand new fresh tank of gas. You never know though, I'll give the carb bowl a check. Tricky bugger to get at on this engine. My Johnson 120s on my big boat have claimed a lot less skin on my knuckles for sure.

I'm thinking it's probably just a gummed up carb needing to be rebuilt. This boat is something I was given and I've been fixing up and the motor hadn't been run in several years and wasn't winterized properly I'm sure. Running at my house it seemed fine, but I never brought it above fast idle and it wasn't under load.

[POLECAT]

Chris,
Put the boat in the water, keep it on the trailer if the ramp isn't busy and run a shock treatment of SeaFoam thru the engine. It's a fast and innexpensive method to clean the carbs and innards as well as rid the motor of carbon buildup.