1998 Ski Nautique

[SilentSeven]

I'm a spray nine convert. Typically dilute it about 4:1 and it's still wicked strong. I'm sure there are other good cleaners but the nine just delivers.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[SilentSeven]

I did want to report that a concern from earlier in this thread, the possibility of a cracked block due to water int he oil when I first got the boat, seems to not be a concern. I have run it multiple times now, twice out driving it and numerous times tied up to my dock, and the oil is still perfectly clean with no water intrusion.

Man Jeff, you're living the good life... How does an engine oil system mysteriously fill with water yet turn out to not have some bad leak...? That's crazy.



Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[NautiqueJeff]

I'm pretty sure this boat sunk on the trailer (PO left the drain plug in), and water went down the carb, into the cylinders, and made its way into the oil pan. I have had several that this has happened to, and normally I can get them back up and running just fine.

[Scooter G]

Good find on the ignition wires (moisture & electrical). Have you narrowed down which cyclinder is on the miss?
Glad you got your evening workout in, paddle paddle little grom
With all that you have going on, your neighbors must be enjoying the cheap entertainment. Mrs Kravitz, "what's he doing now?"

[NautiqueJeff]

Ok, had a few minutes between storms today to troubleshoot this engine a little bit.

Checked firing order (1,3,7,2,6,5,4,8), and it was correct.

Hooked up timing light, and got a voltage reading on my screen, which is good, but no other information, which is really weird. Checked all of my connections, and everything was right. Tried again, and nothing. Weird! No RPM reading or anything.

Finally I realized that maybe #1 (where the line for the timing light goes) was my dead cylinder! I hooked it up to #2, just to see if I got a reading, and sure enough, there it was. Of course, #2 can't be used to time the engine, but at least I had a reading.

So, I have no spark to #1. Tried swapping the plug wire used for #2 to the #1 positions, and still nothing on #1, so it isn't the wire. Swapped it back. The cap didn't look TOO bad the other day when I checked it, but maybe I'll replace it and see if that fixes it. Plugs are new. Coil is good, so it must be the cap, right? We'll see.....

Placed this order today. Parts should be here in a couple of days, and then it is time for a GOOD test run.

[jpwhit]

Yes, most likely the cap. You can't always see hairline cracks in distributor caps that can channel the spark to weird places.

It could also be a bad spark plug. That's quite rare, but it does happen. The plug would have to have a short to ground to cause your timing light to not pick-up high voltage on the spark plug wire.

Another pretty rare possibility, if the distributor has a reluctance wheel and electronic pickup, there can be an issue with the reluctance wheel tooth that matches up with cylinder 1

[NautiqueJeff]

New cap and rotor going on this afternoon! I'll check the timing, too. I doubt the timing is off, but I'll check it anyway. Hopefully this does the trick!

[NautiqueJeff]

Hmmm... Well, cylinder #1 came back to life, so that's good. Engine sounded much better at idle. Set the timing (and it was significantly off), and engine sounded even better. Took it out for a ride, and it still wasn't right.

Brought it back to the dock, and checked spark on every cylinder. All are firing except #8. Here we go again...

New cap and rotor, so it PROBABLY isn't those. I swapped the wires for #7 and #8, and #8 still didn't have any spark.

That left the plug. Swapped the plugs for #7 and #8. STILL no spark to #8!!!

I'm going to throw a set of plugs and a set of wires on it, but then I'll probably have to look into the distributor. Maybe jpwhit is right and I have an issue with the wheel.

[jpwhit]

Since it's moving around to different cylinders it may be the pickup and or ignition module that's marginal. They can do really strange things when they are on the verge of failing.

[SilentSeven]

NautiqueJeff Theres a decent number of reports of odd GT-40 running issues that have been fixed with a distributor swap.... including some with my last boat. The hall sensor seems to fubar up with age...

You can save $$ if you buy a rebuilt unit. I posted some number of years ago the Ford part numbers for a replacement. IIR a rebuild unit was about $100. I'd do it.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[NautiqueJeff]

Found that I had another module in the distributor of the 1996 SNOB that I have. That engine is in pieces, so I have no issue pulling parts from it right now, at least for testing.

Here's the one currently on the 1998:



Here's the one I just pulled from the 1996:



I'll swap that out this afternoon and see if it makes any difference.

[bturner]

That looks like a Pertronix 1. You may want to consider calling them and see if exactly what you have. The Pertronix 1 has a tendency to frying itself if the key is left on. The Pertronix 2 and 3 have circuitry that prevents this. I had this happen to the one in my 70 Mustang. About anything can happen after they get damaged but mine would just stop working entirely. Turn the key off and on again and it would be fine for a while them just stop working agian.

[jpwhit]

I highly recommend upgrading to this module and coil. I put this setup in essentially the same engine a couple of weeks back. Made a noticeable improvement in performance and smoothness. I know it says out of stock at the moment for the ignition module at Amazon, but I ordered one from there just a couple of weeks ago for around $150. So I'd expect it'll come back in stock pretty soon. But if you can't wait, you can also get them from summit racing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

[NautiqueJeff]

OK, swapped in the unit from the 1996, and the engine really didn't like that. It just barely started, and only ran on a couple of cylinders.

Put the original unit back in, and it sounded pretty smooth. Tested cylinder 8, and it was getting spark.

Tested the rest, and found that, once again, cylinder 1 was NOT getting spark.

Seems to be switching between these two cylinders.

Do we think a new ignition module is the next step?

[jpwhit]

If you've checked the shaft in the distributor for play, then yes I would replace the module with the Pertronix one I posted above. Much more robust due to modern electronic components than the original one. If there is any side to side play in the distributor shaft, then I'd just replace the whole distributor.