Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by jodypalm on 07/20/18 - 7:32 PM

Hello All,
I have a 1986 Revenge with a 1999 Johnson 150. I am new to this boat. Previously owned by State of Md fresh water boat. We fully serviced the motor cleaning and rebuilding all 6 carbs. New water pump. Then my one mechanic customer at my car lot died. Sad but can't ask him any questions. Ran great with water ears on but one side runs about 20 degrees higher than other. Thought we would put it in the water and see if that made any difference. In the water same thing but cooled down over 2000 rpm and runs great but 1 side heats up at idle. Cooling water really sprays out hard. That is problem 1.

Surprised by 75 gallon fuel tank. Bypassed oil injection as it was all gummed up and didn't feel it worked correctly. Been adding the oil to Ethanol free midgrade. Ran great for first 2 outings and we ran a lot. Would run a little hot at idle so tried to keep rpms up and it ran cool at higher rpm. After running all day when coming in check engine light came on, and the engine started missing. Wasn't running hot. I stopped it and checked the fuel bulb. Not much pressure. If my son kept squeezing it we could make it back to our dock about 20 mins at low speed. Today I put 5 gallons of same gas in. Squeezed the bulb and I had pressure. Thought I had the problem solved. Ran the boat and was running great...5 mins later the ck engine light came on again. I turned around and got back to the dock. I emptied the water separator, pumped the bulb back up, started it and again thought I had solved the problem and went pretty far out of the river. Light came back on and it was missing again. Emptied the separator again, didn't look like much water in and the light came on couple mins later and no pressure on the fuel bulb.

Do you think the fuel pump is bad? fuel pickup dirty, Is there another filter? Fuel restriction? Any help would be greatly appreciated on these 2 problems.

Edited by jodypalm on 07/20/18 - 7:33 PM

Posted by Vances Revenge on 07/20/18 - 11:09 PM

Hi Jody,

OMC in the later years of the two strokes restricted the cooling flows at lower speeds to keep the temperatures up. My 1992 Johnson GT 200 has always ran warm at idle up to almost 1/2 throttle. I installed temperature gauges on both banks of my motor and one side does heat and cool quicker than the other bank.

There is quite a bit of controversy over premixing or using the VRO, I haven't ran a VRO on my motor for well over 20 years. My certified OMC mechanic recommended me to take it off when my first VRO pump went out. Just count every 6 gallons as you fill it and add 16 ounces per 6 gallons and 8 ounces on the 3 gallons. Not a big deal at all and I like knowing the motor has oil and my $5,000.00 power head will not burn up because my $450.00 fuel pump went out.

My motor is still running strong after all of these years. But, I use a Yamaha 9.9 High Thrust kicker motor for trolling and never troll with the main engine idling for extended periods of time. On my river boat I run a separate tank for my 4 stroke Kicker motor...Everything will be separate on my Revenge that I'm restoring as well, fuel tank, battery etc. That way one problem doesn't kill both motors while on the water leaving you stranded.

Everything you mentioned about your fuel system could be the fault and more...Sounds like you could possibly have a leak in your fuel system somewhere. I had a similar problem as yours. It took me a long time to find it but finally found that one of the guys that rigged it used a 1/4" fitting instead of the necessary 3/8" and it was not only restricting flow but after time began sucking air.Made the change to the correct size on my fitting and I was good to go.

It is best to check your entire fuel system. Not sure if Boston Whaler did it in the days of your boat but there may also be a check valve at the fuel tank that can cause a similar issue. I have been told Inboards had to have them by law but outboards did not. I found my 1980 22 foot Revenge did not have a check valve on the fuel tank when I replaced it.

I highly recommend that you look around to find an older mechanic that cut his teeth on the older OMC motors and have him take a look at your motor before you run it much. Inspect, De-carb it and run a compression test. The younger mechanic's don't know these motors and they cannot be learned out of a book.

If you get that motor running correctly they are very strong motors and very dependable. Drink a lot of gas, but you can buy a lot of gas and 2 stroke oil for way below the price of a new motor. You also will never get your money back out of your boat if you install a new motor on it. In most cases, your new value of your boat will be around the price of your new motor. What you paid for the hull and trailer will most likely be lost.

Edited by Vances Revenge on 07/20/18 - 11:32 PM