I have a 1980 Chris Craft Commander 410, with twin 454's.
The boat had been sitting neglected for a LONG time. We rebuilt the carb on the port engine and got it to start - but it had a bad rattle the sounded like valve lifters. Replaced those, then had a series of issues that kept us from getting the engine to start for weeks...
Finally got to the point that we were able to check compression, and discovered that the exhaust tube from the port and starboard exhaust manifolds to the aqua-lift muffler was completely full of water. (Not sure it's an "aqua-lift" brand - but it's a big fiberglass vertical cylinder that the exhaust pipe feeds into, then goes to a wet exhaust hose that goes overboard.)
We've drained the water in the exhaust pipe (and are also repairing a crack in that pipe). Next will be to see if we can finally get a compression reading.
QUESTION: Is there a reasonably simple way to ensure that the exhaust port exiting the boat (and aqua-lift) aren't plugged up? (I have no idea what's in the water muffler - is it just a big cylinder, or are there baffles, etc? The path from the muffler to the exit has several turns - so it isn't obvious to see whether it's blocked or not.)
We had cycled and cycled the engine many times playing with timing, etc, trying to get it to start, without the engine actually running. Could that be what caused all the water to build up in the exhaust tube? I'm confident I didn't have water coming into the exhaust from outside.
The boat had been sitting neglected for a LONG time. We rebuilt the carb on the port engine and got it to start - but it had a bad rattle the sounded like valve lifters. Replaced those, then had a series of issues that kept us from getting the engine to start for weeks...
Finally got to the point that we were able to check compression, and discovered that the exhaust tube from the port and starboard exhaust manifolds to the aqua-lift muffler was completely full of water. (Not sure it's an "aqua-lift" brand - but it's a big fiberglass vertical cylinder that the exhaust pipe feeds into, then goes to a wet exhaust hose that goes overboard.)
We've drained the water in the exhaust pipe (and are also repairing a crack in that pipe). Next will be to see if we can finally get a compression reading.
QUESTION: Is there a reasonably simple way to ensure that the exhaust port exiting the boat (and aqua-lift) aren't plugged up? (I have no idea what's in the water muffler - is it just a big cylinder, or are there baffles, etc? The path from the muffler to the exit has several turns - so it isn't obvious to see whether it's blocked or not.)
We had cycled and cycled the engine many times playing with timing, etc, trying to get it to start, without the engine actually running. Could that be what caused all the water to build up in the exhaust tube? I'm confident I didn't have water coming into the exhaust from outside.