[Public-List] Trials and tribulations...

[Marcelo D. Gentinetta]

Hi Gordon,
Thank you for sharing your diagnostic and therapeutic experience with the A4. I will keep that in my memory bank for future reference. Sorting out ignition vs fuel problems can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. The great feature of these engines are their simplicity.
Take care,
Marcelo
#441

> On Aug 11, 2021, at 12:25 PM, Gordon Laco via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello friends,
> 
> I may have mentioned that last year’s big sailing expedition was bringing my old friend Fred’s recently purchased Invader 36 down to Midland from Gore Bay up on Manitoulin Island.   I told one and all that I was delighted to have finally got him off my boat and into his own… but the truth is he’s been the best sort of shipmate these past forty-odd years and while I’m glad he took the plunge and bought his own boat, I miss him as crew.
> 
> This summer we’ve started cruising in company… I’ve told him that the day I stop offering truthful advice when he asks me questions about sail trim and rig tuning, will be the day he knows he’s getting good and I’m getting worried about being able to keep ahead of him while out sailing.  His boat is much like ours, but larger in all dimensions so eventually will be tough for us to handle.  When that day comes that we find I can’t keep up, well, I’ll just have to resort to evil misinformation and convoluted tactics.
> 
> But we’re not here yet.
> 
> Last weekend we piled gear into both boats, including our sailor-girl wives as crew.   Upon casting off, I immediately noticed a difference in SURPRISE’s Atomic IV engine.  Instead of the usual electric-motor smooth power, it sounded like a diesel and was gutless.   The throttle setting which normally gave us our cruising speed of 6.2knots, wide open was only 5.3 and rough running.  Hmmm.   
> 
> We sailed most of the way over to Methodist Point, but whether the engine was running or not, I was thinking about what could be wrong.   Once the hook was down I took the carb off, thinking that perhaps I had a clogged jet.  The engine sounded perfect when in neutral… it only chugged when it was under load.  I cleaned the carb thoroughly and put it back on.    
> 
> We sailed off the hook as we like to do, so it wasn’t until the wind failed up by Watcher’s Reef that we sparked up the mill and eased it into gear.  The problem was still there.  We motored all the way up to O’Donnell Point light and entered what I call ’the zig zags’ through 12 Mile and across Starvation Bay on up to Wreck Island, the destination of many fall Misery Cruises.   Coming up to the anchorage I throttled back to an idle for the intricate approach, and tried to rev the engine a bit while setting up to come alongside Fred… Hmmm, full throttle now was answered by only a sullen mutter from the engine… barely 2 knots of speed.  Something was really wrong down there.
> 
> Secured, I jumped down into the cabin and took off the motor covers… AHA! The throttle linkage had fallen off.  I hadn’t put it back on properly after reinstalling the carb.  Phew.  I did another carb clean, then removed each spark plug looking for trouble.   Plug #1 closest to the fly wheel was black… hmmm… that must be it.  I cleaned all of them, put them back in place and tried the engine again. No joy.   I got one of the old rusty plugs from last year, put it in #1, no joy.  
> 
> I was now imagining all sorts of expensive trouble.  Stuck valve?  Head gasket? I convinced myself that low compression must be what was causing #1 not to fire.  We limped home and put the boat away.  I wrote an email to my friend Rick, who taught with me at Georgian College’s School of Marine Tech years ago.  I was what he called the ‘artsy fartsy sailing rig prof’ while he was the ‘meat and potatoes marine engine prof’.   He’s always very generous with his professional skills.   I described everything, he phoned me as soon as he got my email.  He said ‘Well it could be really bad, or it could be something minor.’   Great… how do I know which it is?
> 
> Well apparently if the problem is low compression, and that’s caused by a valve sticking, either intake or exhaust will result in backfiring.  There was none.  Worn rings results in oil burning or at least oil loss, there was none.  Gasket trouble results in water in the oil, there was none.  He said ’So why do you think it’s low compression?’  I said I couldn’t think of what else it could be, and that I was getting a gauge to check it with.
> 
> Rick said ‘before you do that, do this’.    I waited…  ‘Get the engine going, and put it in gear at the dock with a bit of throttle on to put it under load.   Those engines have such low compression normally, they’ll spin quite happily on even two cylinders, so you need to put it under load.  Put on a glove, and then pull spark plug leads off one at a time FROM THE DISTRIBUTOR END until you notice a difference in the beat of the engine’.   Why that end?  ‘Because if you pull at the spark plug end, you’ll have a live wire in your hand’.  Oh, said I, and you’d get a heck of a shock from that’.    He replied ’No I wouldn’t, YOU would’.  (Rick has a dry sense of humour)  He went on ’then you’ll know for sure which cylinder is the problem’.
> 
> So last evening after supper I went down to the boat and sparked up the mill.   I put it in gear and eased it up to 1,000rpm.  The problem was still there - the elves hadn’t fixed it for me.   I put on my glove and pulled the lead for #1 at the distributor cap… hmmm, the beat of the engine slowed.  So it was firing there... the problem was NOT #1.  I continued until I got to #4 and sure enough, when I pulled #4 there was no change.  So #4 was the problem.   I replaced THAT plug with an old one from last year… presto, the engine ran smooth as silk under load with the old terrific grunt power.   I yodelled.
> 
> I phoned Rick and told him I owed him eight beers and thanked him for his generous advice, yet again.  He congratulated me, and said ’never stop looking for the problem at the first clue you find; that one is rarely the real one'.   I thanked him again and said goodbye.  In my recent despair, I had already started thinking about buying a Moyer rebuilt engine… the money was already spent in my imagination.   Hmmm…. maybe now that I’ve suddenly got all that cash back, virtually speaking of course, maybe I’ll order a dodger with some of it…  Then I heard my wife’s voice reminding me that the roof of the house needs reshingling before winter.  Rats, that’s no fun, but I guess that’s what I’d better do...
> 
> Gordon Laco
> www.gordonlaco.com
> 426 Surprise
> 
> 
> 
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