Challenger 1800 twin, first ride issues.....

[Ricot83]

Finally got the boat back after 2.5months.... Long story short, had a friend that works on skis and boats take it and rebuild carbs, replace fuel pump, do regular maintenance, wear rings, etc....

So today I get it on the water, carbs need adjustment for sure, as the motors will not idle unless I move throttle up,, which makes it a huge hassle to shift since it will only shift in the idle position. So we take off from the dock and notice right away the throttle levers are not synced at all, no biggie, then notice starboard engine won't rev passed 5000rpm, while port engine revs right up to 7000 with almost no throttle input from the lever. So we are basically limping around, one engine seemed to do all the work(port engine). We turned back around and I noticed I had to have the wheel at full lock to keep the boat going straight. Fast forward to the dock, getting ready to trailer the boat, I have almost no control of the boat, between the steering and the idle issue I couldn't do much, so we tied a rope and basically pulled the boat to the trailer. Get it out of water and notice reverse gate linkage isn't bolted up, and steering linkage nut is almost falling off. I put some stainless hardware on the reverse gate link and tightened up the nut on the steering linkage.
Both engines have good compression and new spark plugs.

Here are the cliff notes.

1. Neither engine will idle, is this just a cable adjustment issue?
2. Engines are not synced at throttle control. Also an adjustment?
3. Port engine seemed to freely rev and surge with minimal throttle input. Could this be because the reverse gate was freely floating up and down, not bolted to the starboard side? Or something else?
4. Starboard engine would not rev passed 5k rpm. Carb adjustment?

Thank you in advance.

 

[hotrodssnova]

Sounds like you already have a good idea of what needs done. 2.5 months to do that little bit is a bit long IMHO. I am a hands on guy, and you sound like you have a grip on what's going on with the boat. I would start with the simple things like the reverse gate and getting the steering worked out.
Get a manual, and read up on here. Almost every question I have had, has been answered by reading this forum. I even go to the pwc section. They have some great information over there as well. A lot of the information is cross platform, so it does benefit all of us.
Make sure you update what you do, as it helps others.


1. Neither engine will idle, is this just a cable adjustment issue?

Hard to say. Since the carbs were worked on, could be.
1. We're they warmed up? Have you put fresh gas in since it was in the shop for so long?

Might want to break down the issues, and start a separate thread on each.

 

[Ricot83]

Im a car and small engine guy.... I've done almost everything you can imagine so I can figure anything out, pretty much.

That being said, reverse gates and steering are all set.
Game plan; run the boat on trailer with hose hooked up and adjust idle up to 3k rpm as per manual on both engines, then see what I can found wrong with throttle cables of anything obvious and go from there.


I try to get a grip on the functions of everything, as I do not like feeling helpless, especially when I have my family with me.... Part of the reason we got a twin engine boat.

 

[Dr Honda]

Finally got the boat back after 2.5months.... Long story short, had a friend that works on skis and boats take it and rebuild carbs, replace fuel pump, do regular maintenance, wear rings, etc....

...................

Here are the cliff notes.

1. Neither engine will idle, is this just a cable adjustment issue?
2. Engines are not synced at throttle control. Also an adjustment?
3. Port engine seemed to freely rev and surge with minimal throttle input. Could this be because the reverse gate was freely floating up and down, not bolted to the starboard side? Or something else?
4. Starboard engine would not rev passed 5k rpm. Carb adjustment?

Thank you in advance.

So.... is he not your friend anymore? (is he still helping you?)



1) No... it's not a cable adjustment. You set the idle at the carbs. There is a stop screw that you set. SO... put the boat in the water, and adjust the engine RPM's to 1500. You really can't do it out of the water since you need the load.


2) You have 2 throttle levers for a reason. The engine will almost NEVER be sync'ed, since mechanically they are never the same. But since one engine isn't getting past 5000 RPM... I would make sure the throttle cable is right. (it's important for the oil pump adjustment) SO... push the throttle levers to full, and adjust the cable, at the carb, so the linkage is open full, but not quite touching the stop. If it's hitting the stop, pressure on the levers can stretch the cable, and eventually break it.


3) It could. But it sounds like there could be a severe cavitation issue. BUT, we won't know until you test the boat again. (since fixing the bucket)


4) Could be from #2 above. Check it out, and let us know what you find.

 

[Dr Honda]

Im a car and small engine guy.... I've done almost everything you can imagine so I can figure anything out, pretty much.

That being said, reverse gates and steering are all set.
Game plan; run the boat on trailer with hose hooked up and adjust idle up to 3k rpm as per manual on both engines, then see what I can found wrong with throttle cables of anything obvious and go from there.

I wouldn't bother too much with setting the idle out of the water, since you will still have to do it again, once in the water. SO, take it to the lake... leave it on the trailer... put the ass end in the water... and set it there. BUT, do the cables at home, since they have nothing to do with the idle.

I try to get a grip on the functions of everything, as I do not like feeling helpless, especially when I have my family with me.... Part of the reason we got a twin engine boat.

I understand about what you are saying... but that's why I haven't even had my bout out this summer yet. After being parked all winter... I take it out by myself, and make sure it's running right BEFORE I allowthe fam to enjoy it. Otherwise, it's just a day of frustration, since the kids will be yelling along with me trying to work on things.

 

[Ricot83]

I wouldn't bother too much with setting the idle out of the water, since you will still have to do it again, once in the water. SO, take it to the lake... leave it on the trailer... put the ass end in the water... and set it there. BUT, do the cables at home, since they have nothing to do with the idle.




I understand about what you are saying... but that's why I haven't even had my bout out this summer yet. After being parked all winter... I take it out by myself, and make sure it's running right BEFORE I allowthe fam to enjoy it. Otherwise, it's just a day of frustration, since the kids will be yelling along with me trying to work on things.

So earlier today I set the idle on the trailer based on the service manual, while hooked up to a hose. I need to dunk it and see what happens now as far as idling and getting on plane since now both reverse buckets are at least attached to each other. Then once that's all set I can really start to figure out the cable settings. If I can't launch it tomorrow I will like adjust the linkage as dr Honda has suggested in other threads, as that seems to have worked for others.


My friend, yes we are still friends, but after 2.5 months and he never launched the boat to test I am hesitant to have him take it as I am worried I won't get it back until the season is over. He has a full time job on top of working on skis and also racing them. He looked over the whole boat while on trailer and changed all standard maintenance parts, new wear rings also and one of the pumps that was on the boat wasn't even for this boat/engine setup. So without him if have had many many more posts on the forum just to get to the point I am at now. I was hoping I could get it going or at least most of the way there so if/when we take it out together he can quickly adjust whatever needs adjusting.

 

[Ricot83]

He should be taking the boat tomorrow or Saturday morning to adjust and run it on the water. I've been working double shifts so no time for boat until Monday possibly, if I fix my truck quick enough. So whether or not he does anything to it I will at least launch it quickly to see how it stands after adjustments I've made.