Recently, Mr. E- our 25 year old outboard, developed a cough and was too tired to power the HideAway back to the boat ramp requiring a four person rescue team to put her back on the trailer.
After obtaining a degree of safety in HideAway’s dry slip, Mr E. appeared to run a bit warm - Then he refused to idle. Spark plugs were pulled, examined and tested. Deemed by the Dry Slip Committee as; “Probably OK”- we proceeded down the logic tree to the carburetor.
Nothing brings more fear in the two cycle outboard engine owner than the carburetor. The Carburetor is chock full of tiny parts so particular that they demand special mixed drinks and a degree of cleanliness not often found aboard 40 year old sailboats, nor the ancient mariner who ponders these mysteries.
And don’t ask about the identical choke linkages that only make sense on February 30th.
What Do You Do When Your Nozzle Well Rots?
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| NOZZLE WELL |
I developed a strong, personal, relationship with vintage OEM (Always) 2 cycle outboard parts, and exploded, unreadable diagrams. I came into possession of a new Carburetor Repair Kit, with Float. {Apparently a new float assembly is important to achieve the nirvana of a smooth idle). Later, I developed a fanatical need for a chunk of plastic called a “Nozzle Well” with its all-important and easily misplaced fragile gasket. Not one of these parts came with the slightest hint of instruction, nor could such knowledge be found in all of known cyberspace.
I Made Up My Own Instructions
I disassembled the offending carburetor on my home wood working bench, taking photos, making videos and laying out each piece in sequence of removal. The new Nozzle Well was missing a threaded shiny brass thing with a hole in it that the old one possessed. I cleaned the old one and screwed it into the replacement well. Then I noticed a small rubber hose that ran from the Nozzle Well up to the maze of channels & other unknown stuff before vanishing into the underside of the carburetor top. The replacement hose inside diameter was way too small to fit over the easy to reach fitting-I didn’t want to try the infinitely more remote end. I left the old one alone, keeping the new one “just in case”.
Out of curiosity, I removed a 2” bolt, of unknown function from the top of the carburetor. It was just a bolt. Great, I thought, somebody lost the right part and stuck in this bolt- No wonder it won’t idle. Using a large magnifying glass I studied the exploded chart and discovered the hole was supposed to have just a bolt. Eventually, I put the carburetor together only shy two or three parts that I hoped were with the boat.
Three hours later I had the carburetor installed. I hooked up the gas line, rechecked the plug gaps and pulled the starter cord. Mr. E started on the third pull AND idled perfectly!
I prepared my bill and gave it to my CFO. I included 16.42 hours of labor, at the going rate, along with parts and freight costs. She is still laughing.
Ready to Sail
Sunday is a good day to go sailing because most people sail on Saturdays. Besides, it was the only day we could schedule a launch and both of us wanted to prove that we still could handle the boat. Sunday turned out to be the club race day. I haven’t seen so many witnesses in years.
Let’s do this!
I threaded the rig through the parking lot, one potential victim saw me coming and wisely moved his little sport car, others ran for safety.
New Technology & Old Habits Collide
I backed down the ramp with no issues. Then I started to push HideAway off the trailer, however the boat stopped when an old fender board hung up on one of the brand new trailer guides. I started to pull the boat back on the trailer and realized I needed the power of the winch. As I started to crank I noticed a masked man had jumped aboard, made quick work of the offending fender board and then hopped onto the dock with all the confidence of youth. The crowd cheered. We cheered – HideAway was free at last!
SMALL BOATS ROCK!!
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