engine trouble

[rocky1]

Took the boat out this morning ran fine. 1 hour into trolling it starts to spit and sputter and then quitting. I got a tow in and while at the dock i noticed that one side of the engines plugs were fouled. I changed the plugs but that only lasted a little while before doing the same thing. I checked to the oil and it looks good was wondering if possibly a coil or points or carb needs rebuild or cleaned. Any ideas as to what could be the problem?

[borderline 350]

Dear Rocky I,

Need more info year make, model of engine & drive please!!!

Sincerely,

Jet Boat Bill

[rocky1]

1985 penn yan i/o with 3.8 6 cylinder omc.

[Trap Jaw]

I would have to say it's something mechanical, maybe a bad gasket.

Reason is, the carb feeds all 6 cylinders, as well as the ignition. If something went bad with them all 6 would be fouling out, not just one bank. Same goes for the valves, if it doesn't have an overhead cam, which I would think it doesn't.

Are you sure it's fouling out all 3 on one side?

[rocky1]

All the plugs on one side were wet and the other side were dry.

[rocky1]

Turned out to be the distributor plate was corroded, the guy who fixed it for me cleaned it up and now is running good. Although he told me that the same problem would happen again if i do not replace the plate because there are a couple rivets in the plate that are corroded. He also recommended that i switch to a electronic ignition so i never have to worry about this problem again. Just wondering if anyone else has done this.

[rustyrat]

I did it on my old starcraft. Worth the money for sure. I think it cost me 400 bucks or so. It ran flawlessly after that.

RR