Running problem with my 2005 Regal 1800 w/ 3.0...

[4thehardway]

Hi everyone.

Figures, my first post here as a Regal owner is with a motor issue. Guess it happens to everyone at some point?

Well, I recently purchased a 2005 Regal 1800 with a 3.0 Mercruiser and 2.0 Alpha drive. I got it with 27 hours and she now has 47 hours. Never had a problem until the other day. We started it up and went to go out and "brrrr, brrrrr...stall". It just bogged down and stalled. Couldn't get it restarted and had to get towed back in. So I got a set of earmuffs and got it running on land after putting in some dry gas and cleaning out the fuel filter (right at the carb). Thought that was it. Went and filled up the tank today (initial problem happened at 1/2 a tank), put her in the water, started right up, got out of the no wake zone and "brrrr, brrrrrrr...stall" AGAIN. The only way I was able to get it restarted was to pump the throttle like it was some old 70's muscle car...then it would only stay running if I kept feathering the throttle. So I tached it up to about 3k and put it in drive and limped back to the dock.

So, if it's not the fuel filter, and seemed to run fine on land with the earmuffs, what next? Could I have a bad fuel pump that's intermittent? It's just weird to me since it idled fine on land for like 10 minutes...but in the water under power, uh-no. I just wanted to try and fix it myself before bringing it to the Marina and pay $95/hour.

Thanks in advance.

Greg
Mt. Arlington, NJ

 

[sugilbert]

No expert, but it sounds like it's starving for fuel at higher rpm's. Could be as simple as a loose fuel connection somewhere in the line allowing air to get in. have you replaced the fuel/water separator? If so, did you slick up the gasket with motor oil? (you need to) Check all fuel connections/hose clamps/separator for tightness.

Otherwise, might be the carb (if it's carbed) or fuel pump; but that's over my expertise.