by David Trammell
(Bryant Arkansas )
Carb bowls were leaking at the bottom where the small “bb” seals a passage in the bowl. I cleaned the area off and sealed with 3bond engine rtv. Nothing else was touched and carbs were not removed. Prior to this the boat ran great, good hole shot and around 5100 rpm at 56-57 mph on a Cobra 188 DC. Not sure what rpm it should be at WOT but at any rate, ever since I sealed the fuel leak the motor does not want to idle in gear or launch from and idle. Engine bogs and will die. I can get out of the hole by pressing the key to choke it and once it gets past that point she takes off and runs great. At idle in gear it sounds as if it’s dropping cylinders. It just doesn’t sound right and seems to have more vibration than normal. Again all that was done was sealed the lower bb hole of the plastic carb bowl and carbs remained on the motor. Coincidence? I’ve been a service tech for Chrysler for 30 yrs and worked on my fair share of outboards as well but this is puzzling me.