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Revs in neutral but not in gear


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A friend has a 2003 Supra launch and she took it out yesterday for the first time this season. Boat sat since July of last year and had a full tune up then. I am not certain but i assume tune up consisted of plugs, cap rotor, impeller. Today the boat started and idled fine but when she put it in gear, it stumbled and would only get to 12-13 mph. Any idea what the culprit might be?  My thought was bad gas or fuel filter but if that was the case would it idle fine and not run under load?  Any input is appreciated.  

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Sounds fuel related, if injected perhaps the injectors need cleaning.  You are pointing in the right direction on the troubleshooting at least as a starting point.  Other clues - was it missing under power or just not pulling, how much throttle were you giving it, any raw fuel smell out the exhaust, engine temp okay?  Also, does it store any codes, fuel injected or carbureted, how much fuel in the tank and was it stored that way, are you in a humid environment or is it pretty dry (water in fuel).  Answer to question - yes, very easy for an engine to idle fine on poor fuel, much more difficult under load.

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1 hour ago, Woodski said:

Sounds fuel related, if injected perhaps the injectors need cleaning.  You are pointing in the right direction on the troubleshooting at least as a starting point.  Other clues - was it missing under power or just not pulling, how much throttle were you giving it, any raw fuel smell out the exhaust, engine temp okay?  Also, does it store any codes, fuel injected or carbureted, how much fuel in the tank and was it stored that way, are you in a humid environment or is it pretty dry (water in fuel).  Answer to question - yes, very easy for an engine to idle fine on poor fuel, much more difficult under load.

I had mine on the water this weekend and it was doing the same thing. Seemed to idle OK, but would bog down and was missing under power.  I could smell raw fuel out of the exhaust/ blower as well.  I have a carbureted engine.  Went and got new plugs (popped them out and they looked bad/ inconsistent) It backfired a few times, leading me to believe lack of spark too.  After a minute, it seemed as if another cylinder started to fire too, so hoping plugs/ new fuel work.  I was keeping a close eye on the dash cluster to be sure I wasnt hurting anything, and didnt want to run very long. 

I'm not an engine guy necessarily, so any input is very helpful!

Edited by todens22
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@isellacuras:  Also, I suggest calling the person that tuned the boat and find out exactly what they did and parts they replaced.  Very good chance your issue may be in an incorrect part swap or install, as @oldjeep notes.  Most times a problem is related to the last thing done (incorrectly).

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i was not on the boat so I'm not exactly sure what it was doing. I'm just going by what she said. I told her to start over and do cap, rotor, plugs, fuel filter, new gas and maybe wires. I figure if cap/rotor, plugs are good, she will have a spare set for next time. She is recently divorced and her x had a friend of his do the work. I don't think they're on the best of terms so chances of finding out what the last guy did is slim to none. I have her set up to see a guy i know that works on boats on the side so she will get taken care of one way or another. I don't have time to look at it for her but just wanted to see if i could help her narrow it down a bit. 

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On 5/16/2018 at 8:50 AM, oldjeep said:

I'm going to guess that they put the plug wires back on wrong.  Amazing how well an engine will run with the wires or distributor 180 out with no load on it

Try this first.

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I got word that the problem persisted before the tune up but was never checked after the work had been done. Apparently the boat sat a long time before getting worked on last year. I told her to start with new fuel and a filter first. I've never been on this boat so i don't know if it's carbed or FI. She's trying to get it working before Memorial Day so i figured I'd try to check a couple things that don't have to get a shop involved. If fuel doesn't work, it's off to the mechanic. 

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