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40 hp 3 cyl carb/rough idle issue

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  • 40 hp 3 cyl carb/rough idle issue

    All,

    After much searching I thought I would just ask... Have used this forum in the past to great success. Here is the issue:

    C40TLRV, 1997 40 hp 3 cyl 2 stroke. Used more in winter. Started idling rough toward end of hunting season. Occasional misfire at idle. Sometimes but not always stalled in idle, only when in gear.

    Didn't investigate that much on water. Brought it home to do annual maintenance. Put on muffs and miss became a little more regular. Stays running as long as I want it to and starts up no issue though. Temp sensor input for the warm up appears to be functioning normally. Started at the beginning of the periodic maintenance section in service manual to stay organized. I have:

    1) Replaced fuel, checked lines, bulb, filter, pump, etc. Then ran some decarb.

    2) Checked and ever so slightly adjusted throttle linkage (from control) and timing pointer following manual (probably could have left alone, adjusted 1 or 2 turns each).

    3) Did the link and synch

    4) Adjusted idle stop screw (although it is basically right back where it was)

    5) Checked compression: 118, 121, 118 from top to bottom

    6) Good spark on all 3 coils


    All the adjustments etc above helped some and it is idling better. Misfire back to being only occasionally perceptible, but still doesn't sound quite right. Below are the specific issues that raise concern that I am seeing. I am thinking there might be more than one issue at play, and wanted to get the experts' advice about what to target and in what order to troubleshoot.

    1) Top cylinder gets a little hotter than other two. I do not have a non contact thermometer but it is obvious. Not a huge difference, but obvious. Also, none of the plugs are too hot to touch after idling for 10 minutes or so.
    What should op temp be?

    2) There are pretty good amounts of oil in all 3 cylinders, and plugs 2 and 3 are wet after idle.

    3) I suspect I will need to clean carbs and idle circuits may be clogged (WOT is fine on water), although this doesnt really explain wet plugs. Seems like opposite would be true. As a test I slowly closed each carb's pilot screw to document effects. None showed much effect much till I got pretty close to closed (1/2 to 1/4 turn out) Carb 1: motor stalled and died. This seems normal. Carb 2: seemed to actually run a slight bit better with screw seated. Carb 3: Right when I got to seated the engine slowed and acted as if it wanted to stall, but the effect was nowhere near as dramatic as Carb 1.

    So, it seems maybe Carb 1 (or cyl 1) is carrying much of the load, Carb 2 (cyl 2) may actually be detrimental to idle, and number 3 is contributing some, but not much.

    Question is: other than cleaning carbs with special attention to idle circuits, is there something else I should target. More specifically, does it sound like the poor running on cyl 2 and 3 come from a common issue, or am I looking for causes independent to each cylinder? It seems the effect of closing pilot screw on number 2 may indicate something with the prime start. Other than turning off and on manually is there a way to check the pump part other than disassembling? Valve part seems to be functioning correctly.
    Last edited by bedwar44; 03-24-2017, 11:30 AM. Reason: made a mistake that might have been confusing

  • #2
    do the carb cleaning and follow link and sync after putting the cleaned carbs back on.
    check fuel pump also and flush the lines before putting the carbs back on

    Comment


    • #3
      Plus 1 ^^^. The carbs are very likely the issue.

      Have you been using ethanol and if so, any fuel stabilizer?

      Fuel goes bad in as quickly as a month and with the small orifices, clog up, get restricted pretty easily.

      You may want to drain the carbs, catch what comes out and inspect for crap.

      I would also suggest running Yamaha's RingFree fuel additive. It cleans both the fuel system and top end. As your engine is still running half-ways decent, it may be enough to clean out the carbs/restriction and save a carb tear down.

      Re the temps, when was the last time you R&R'ed the water pump? Especially with the smaller engines, old impellers, besides taking a set, are more likely to have pieces break off, get in the block, etc... Wouldn't hurt to ppull and test the thermostat either...

      Is the engine used in salt water and if so flushed regularly?
      Scott
      1997 Angler 204, Center Console powered by a 2006 Yamaha F150TXR

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for the tips guys. To answer questions: only been in saltwater a couple times since I have owned it. I get non-ethanol when I can but not not always. From October through about now I'm using it at least once a week with a 6 gallon tank so the gas gets cycled through pretty regularly. I use stabil or seafoam in the gas. Impeller is due to be serviced for sure.

        Unfortunately, looks like I may have bigger fish to fry... I wanted to re-confirm the results of testing I did to see what happened when cutting out the idle circuits on each carb with the pilot screw one by one then killed motor immediately after. Checked fuel pump quickly again and said, "crap I guess it was bad after all, well that's easy." But... it was not gas that came from the hole that usually goes to crankcase. There were a couple of drops of water that came out! Pumped bulb more and after that everything seemed tight and leak free as before on the pump, so I guess water is coming from crankcase? This does not seem good... Glad I caught it, but how would it get in there? Back through intake ports? From bottom seal?

        I checked plugs to see what they looked like and the bottom 2 had water on them. Not a bunch, but some. Guess I missed that before because I let it idle for a while after the test. By shutting it down right after I closed the carb screws I guess whatever was in the cylinder last didn't get burned and stayed around.

        Oh well. Looks like gasket time. At least. Pulled exhaust cover and it was pretty funky in there in the water passages. Didn't pull cylinder head yet so no visual on that side.

        Couple more questions: 1) the motor is a 1997, so would it be worthwhile to just buy the whole gasket and seal kit and redo everything? e.g., stuff like upper oil seal etc that may never get changed on some motors. It looks pretty straightforward and my bolts and anti-corrosion paint are all in great shape. Not too heavy or anything so definitely seems doable with the right tools and enough beer. Any common blunders to watch out for? 2) If I'm already doing that, I will likely replace the thermostat as well. Any other parts known to give out after a couple decades I should target? What about the recirc checks and hoses? Do those fail regularly?

        Thanks again, guys. After I get that out of the way I will move on to the carbs if it is still needed. I kin of suspect it is not...

        Comment


        • #5
          If your positive that the water you found in the fuel pump is not from the fuel system (and it could have made it's way to the plugs via the pump/carbs), I would do a leak down test.

          For the two stroke, your only really testing the rings, piston, cylinder head, head gasket. For each cylinder test, you'll be pressurizing the combustion chamber (crank locked up so it doesn't spin over).

          If the head gasket is bad, corroded head, etc, it should leak down and you may very well be able to hear it. I would do that BEFORE tearing into anything.

          And a compression test isn't good enough as the engine can build compression real quick but we may have a slow leak(head gasket, etc)...

          As for a gasket kit, I would solve this issue first. it is a 20 year old engine, bolts like to seize and break, etc... Water passages crappy looking also lends itself to corrosion (and to a likely 20 year old head gasket failure).
          Last edited by TownsendsFJR1300; 03-25-2017, 10:42 AM.
          Scott
          1997 Angler 204, Center Console powered by a 2006 Yamaha F150TXR

          Comment


          • #6
            OK. Thanks for tip on the leak down test. I'm about as close to 100% that I can be the water wasn't from the fuel system. I drained everything and got fresh gas in an empty tank before I set out to do the annual tuneup procedure.

            Fortunately my bolts are all in really good shape, so hopefully it will be straightforward replacement of the gasket if proves to be needed. Just from visual inspection the exhaust cover gaskets looked to have gone bad at some point. Still haven't taken the cylinder head off yet so cant say on that.

            Comment


            • #7
              Finally got some free time to pull off the head cover and indeed the gasket was going bad near cylinders 2 and 3. Also, the exhaust cover had corroded to the point that it had some tiny little pinholes in it. New gaskets and exhaust cover en route, looks like a simple repair. Thanks for the suggestions and help.

              Comment


              • #8
                Great! Plz post back after your water test..

                Good luck.
                Scott
                1997 Angler 204, Center Console powered by a 2006 Yamaha F150TXR

                Comment

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