[Public-List] The A4 motor mystery??

[Jacques Dusseault]

Dear Atomic 4 devotees,

 

I have had a mysterious problem with my A4 this summer and have not yet
found the cause.  I posted here earlier this summer and received some good
advice early in my A4 mechanical journey.  Because of my work outside
Canada, my Alberg 30 was on the hard for 3 seasons.  It was well covered and
looked very good this spring.  We installed three new group 27 gel batteries
and launched her.  To our surprise the engine would not start?  The engine
has never had a mechanical problem in its 40 yr. life.  Upon inspection we
discovered that there was no spark.  There was a current to the coil with
the ignition switch on.  The assumption was that there was a problem with
the coil.  We also changed the points, condenser and distributer cap.  We
ordered a new coil and when it arrived we installed it and discovered that
the main wire from the distributer cap to the coil was heavily corroded and
fell apart when being removed.  We order a new wire and assumed that it was
at the route of our problem and not the new coil.  It was probably time to
renew the old coil after 40 years.  We then tried to fire up the engine but
with no success.  Again no spark from the coil wire or sparkplugs.  After
considerable advice and testing we finally found that although there was
current (ground) to the coil when the ignition key was turned on, that was
not the case when we further turned the key to engage the starter.  This
explained the lack of spark when trying to turn the engine over to start.  

 

To quickly bypass the problem we grounded the coil directly to the engine.
It then started on the first turnover and ran smoothly for a couple of
minutes then abruptly stopped!!  It would not start again until we waited
for about 15 to 20 minutes.  It would then start and run for a minute or
two????  The consensus of interested parties and myself was that the
carburetor must be the problem???  (Before leaving the boat on the hard for
the 3 years we had filled the tank to full.  Before launching this spring we
emptied the tank and refilled it with fresh gas.)  I then brought the carb
home and cleaned it and adjusted the floats as best I could, expecting that
this would finally solve the problem??  When I tried to run the engine with
the cleaned carb I again had the same result.  It would start and run for a
minute or two and then stop abruptly.  At this point we had missed half the
season so in desperation I order and installed a new carborator.  Again the
same result???  The best guess from me and the interested parties was that
the carb was not getting enough gas from the tank.  To test that hypotheses
I disconnected the gas line and ran it up to a separate gas container.  When
I started the engine it repeated its previous problem and ran for only a
minute or two???  

 

The only component we have not yet touched is the fuel pump.  Should I
replace the fuel pump with an electric one and believe that this will solve
my problem?????  The container I drew the gas from was higher than the fuel
pump and I would expect that gravity would feed the gas through the pump to
the carb. even if the pump were defective  ???? .

I should also add that I checked the compression.  It tested evenly across
the 4 cylinders at about 107.  They tell me that this is good.  The engine
does not burn any oil that I can measure.

 

I'd be interested in any advice you all might have on: a) how to fix my
problem and b) does it sound like a fuel pump problem???  My next step is to
seek a religious intervention??

 

Thanks,

Jacques Dusseault

Kilwinning #446

613-220-2230

dusseaultj at gmail.com

 

 

 

Jacques M. Dusseault

President, 

Synergem Management Inc.

Tel: 819-561-1268

Cell: 613-220-2230

Email: jdusseault at synergem.org