Issue getting on plane and engine turning off under load.

Good Morning,
Let me start by saying I am not very experienced when it comes to engines and feel that with with my limited knowledge I am vulnerable just going to a mechanic and having them tell me what is wrong with my boat. So all advice/suggestions is very much appreciated.

I have a 1995 19ft commander open bow with a 454 and jet drive.
The boat has not been in the water in 2 yrs as I have has financial hard ship and could not pay for the repairs.
The last time I had it out, it ran fine out of water. As soon as I put it in water, and have it some throttle, it would die.

Prior to that, when it was in the water running, when ever I gave it throttle, it would seriously take a couple min to get up and plane out, like the engine was not producing enough power to get up on plane.

I have heard this could be a Carburetor issue. The boat has an 4 barrel quadra jet carb.
Does the carb sound like the issue? Should I replace the carb since they do not make quadra jet anymore?

Thanks in advance!

Sound like Carb to me as it has been sitting. You could get carb rebuilt or put a holley on. Where's your boat located? We have a lot of good shops on this site that could help you out. Welcome to Hotboat.com

Sounds like carb issues. Obviously can't say for sure without seeing it but the symptoms suggest carb or fuel issues. Nothing wrong with a quadrajet. They can be rebuilt and continue to work for a lot of years.
I understand the hesitancy to take it to a shop and be told you need to spend a bunch of money. I'm not sure where you are located but I would be happy to take a quick look at it for you at no charge. Maybe it will be something simple. Once we know the problem I can fix it for you or would be happy to give you advice on how to do it yourself.

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Originally Posted by WMC

Sound like Carb to me as it has been sitting. You could get carb rebuilt or put a holley on. Where's your boat located? We have a lot of good shops on this site that could help you out. Welcome to Hotboat.com

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Like wmc said. There are a lot of good shops on this site. You should be able to find someone you trust. The good shops aren't here to rip anyone off. We just want to see everyone on the water.

Thank you for the welcome!
The boat is actually being stored in Long Beach but I will be moving it to Rancho Cucamonga in the next couple of weeks.
Menace, that sounds good.Are you in the So Cal area?
In regards to the carb. If I chose to buy a new Holley, would you recommend a 750 or 850 for a stock 454?
Hopefully here, I can slowly learn more about engines and power...Thanks for the advice!

We are in Valencia Ca. As far as a new carb I would say the 750 is plenty but the 850 would work as well. Proper tuning is more important than a 100 cfm difference. If you go with a new carb keep in mind fresh fuel and clean fuel filters are equally important. Also remember at this point without actually witnessing the problem we are all just taking guesses as to the cause. Maybe a plug wire is bad or timing is off. Based on your description I'm betting on carb but I can't make any guarantees without seeing it.

With all the sitting...how old is the gas???

I havent put new gas in and it was drained. The issue was prior to storing it. Could gas cause such an issue?

I have experience with this exact year, model and motor. The foot throttle drywall screws bent and the top of the pedal was hitting the back of the front open bow seat.

Just curious ....do you have a pic of the boat?

Sent from my hemDROID

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Originally Posted by Cigalert

I have experience with this exact year, model and motor. The foot throttle drywall screws bent and the top of the pedal was hitting the back of the front open bow seat.

Just curious ....do you have a pic of the boat?

Sent from my hemDROID

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:headscratch: Now you got me thinking.

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Originally Posted by Hotboat

:headscratch: Now you got me thinking.

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Sy ruined a few perfectly good weeks tank testing the boat and saying everything was fine. The more the throttle was hammered the worse the problem got. I finally yanked the plastic cover off the motor while underway. My buddy was driving and I pinned the throttle linkage by hand. Easy to trace from there but a real crappy rigged boat. When I say drywall screws I'm not exaggerating. 3" screws and about 1/4" of the screw was buried.

BTW, I'm interested in seeing the boat cause I was pretty loaded up in Needles when I fixed that thing....with the original screws. Might be my rigging to blame.

Sent from my hemDROID

Would tend to agree with Menace and others re the potential Carb issue , most commonly the accelerator pump circuit could be a problem (cough and die out) , Quadrajets were OEM Carbs in Gm products from late 60s to mid 80's and can actually work well with stock applications (I actually worked on these at Cadillac :shock:) . The fact that this boat sat for 2 years is a complicating factor as modern fuels have a very short "shelf life" and they also tend to attract and moisture .moisture can over time gather in the low reaches of the float and accelerator pump well (inside the carb) and create white powdery corrosion which reeks havoc with carb internals Very likley you may have to clean and kit the carb as a starting point Tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cigalert

Sy ruined a few perfectly good weeks tank testing the boat and saying everything was fine. The more the throttle was hammered the worse the problem got. I finally yanked the plastic cover off the motor while underway. My buddy was driving and I pinned the throttle linkage by hand. Easy to trace from there but a real crappy rigged boat. When I say drywall screws I'm not exaggerating. 3" screws and about 1/4" of the screw was buried.

BTW, I'm interested in seeing the boat cause I was pretty loaded up in Needles when I fixed that thing....with the original screws. Might be my rigging to blame.

Sent from my hemDROID

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Im looking for a pic through a bunch of old Disks. Ill post one when I find it.

Here is a pic of the boat on the trailer as well as the carb...When I pulled the carb off, I noticed some residual card board like material where the gasket would, be stuck to the engine. Any tips on removing it? Is this a bad thing???? I am new to all this so thanks for all the advice.

Interesting colors...looks awful close but they made so many purple/teal boats around that time frame. Did you peak under the drivers side and see if the carpet on the back of the front seat was worn?

And the only carbs I know about are in bread.

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Originally Posted by Cigalert

Interesting colors...looks awful close but they made so many purple/teal boats around that time frame. Did you peak under the drivers side and see if the carpet on the back of the front seat was worn?

And the only carbs I know about are in bread.

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LOL at colors, it is a work in progress. The caret is not worn under the seat. However, after reading the previous comments, I went home last night and unscrewed the foot throttle and found that the front seat was stopping it maybe about 3/4 of the way now. Needless to say, I will be moving it further back....

This may explain the planing part but not the boat dying when under load in the water. Based on the looks of the old carb, I am going to purchase a new one. Thinking this will be the key.

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Originally Posted by riverrunner1984

LOL at colors, it is a work in progress. The caret is not worn under the seat. However, after reading the previous comments, I went home last night and unscrewed the foot throttle and found that the front seat was stopping it maybe about 3/4 of the way now. Needless to say, I will be moving it further back....

This may explain the planing part but not the boat dying when under load in the water. Based on the looks of the old carb, I am going to purchase a new one. Thinking this will be the key.

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Nice, I know the carpet was worn on the back of the front seat and the screws holding the pedal bent because the performance gradually got worse on my buddies boat.

And probably a good call on the new carb too. My 1990 454 looks like Telly Sevalas' head compared to yours.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by riverrunner1984

Here is a pic of the boat on the trailer as well as the carb...When I pulled the carb off, I noticed some residual card board like material where the gasket would, be stuck to the engine. Any tips on removing it? Is this a bad thing???? I am new to all this so thanks for all the advice.

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Re the "residual gasket material" protect the plenum area with a shop rag and carfully scrape the gasket off the intake as well as the carb, just an observation on the carb , Marine OEM QJs are often painted Black, the top cover and base on yours is black but the float bowl/chamber/main body looks to have been "boiled out" or replaced perhaps ? , in any event of the outside condition is an indicator of the inside the carb likley needs to be cleaned and kitted , Tom

Little late, but if there is anything in the jet (ie a stick or piece of debris) the boat will struggle to get up on plane. How does the impeller look? When you hit the gas does the motor respond? Hope you have it figured it out by now but if it isn't the carb I would take quick looks inside the pump just to make sure everything is ok.