Carb Trouble??

[First Ski Nautique]

Hi all- We bought a 1992 196 this spring and it ran great for the first 2-3 weekend! Then after pulling our younger kids on tube I shut it down to pull them in and when I restarted the boat it would not idle! This boat was in storage for about 2 years before we bought it and a dealer serviced it and winterized it. I have had the carb gone through and cleaned, still had issues. Then I had the card rebuilt... still issues! The biggest issue is on take off, it either wont idle and bogs down and stalls or when I put it in gear to pull ropes tight it will do that. It is running a lot better but still think its not 100%! Top end is just fine 44-46 without batting an eye! It just a little hiccup in idle or just past idle that is really the trouble now. The mechanic I have had working on it said that Holly carb can be a little temperamental and maybe if we are going to keep this boat long term I should look into an Edelbrock carb. I dont know enough yet to know what carb is best for this boat and looking for some help? BTW it has a ford 351 with I think 255 hp and 4 blade prop. We absolutely love this boat and are really hoping this is a very temporary problem as she has only 483 hours on her! Hope someone out there can help!! Thanks!

[swc5150]

I'm not a carb expert either, but I can tell you that being a Holly is not the problem. The guys on correctcraftfan.com could be a great resource for you, or wait for Tim (TRbenj) to comment - he seems to know his stuff on the older boats.

[shag]

Carbs are not too expensive in the whole scheme of things. Chances are, there may still be a blocked passageway in the old carb somewhere. Did the mechanic use an actual "marine" renew kit when he rebuilt it? If you put a regular kit (street) and a marine next to each other, there are a lot more pieces/parts. I learned this the hard way. Even then, sometimes you can't get everything clean. Ethanol fuel compounds the problem even more.

My .02
Good luck, and welcome to the Nautique family!

[Sell]

Buy a new Marine Holley. Bolt it on & go boating. Once these carbs get old they can be trouble.
Your mechanic is giving you poor advice telling you to swap out from the Holley, there are literally thousands of Holley Marine carbs running boats sucessfully.

[shag]

I would agree with Sell. Holley knows what they are doing. Bad fuel and sitting will affect any carb.

[Full-Force]

Or go Holley Marine EFI. I think its under 1200 bucks.

My 96 SN is doing the same thing. Idles like its got a monster cam in it. Up and down up and down. Usually if I blow it out one time real good it clears it up.