I was out last week, boat seemed to be running good. Took it out the next day, and after about 15 minutes of running at about 3000 rpm, the engine starts to sputter and cough, then die! I get it restarted, and it will idle. I throttle up and it dies. A friend tows me in. While he's towing me, I remove the fuel line to the filter, and it's dry. I then pull the floor panel, and remove the fuel pickup. There was a little junk on the screen, but it wasn't plugged. I clean it, blow the pickup, and the lines out. I put it back together, and by the time I get back to the dock, it seems to be running ok. I idle around for a while, then tie up. I rev it to 3000 rpm, and hold it for a while with no problems. I decided to change the fuel pump because it's the only old part left on the engine. I go back today with a new fuel pump, and filter, change them, and start the boat up. Now it's idling real rich, and fuel is coming out of the boosters. The carb is a Rochester with the high flow needle and seat installed. Question is, What happened??? Could the better fuel pressure from the new (stock) pump be pushing the needle open? Maybe I had the float a little too high, but it didn't show up with the old pump. The float level is set at 21/64". Is this correct with the high flow needle and seat? I'll be checking fuel pressure when I get back to the boat during the week. Any ideas why this happened? I know a faulty pump might cause excessive pressure. Anything else?

It is possible you got some junk that made it to the needle & seat and is preventing it from closing. Where was the location of this filter you changed? Was it at the carb's fuel inlet, or further down the fuel line? It is also possible you simply have a bit too much fuel pressure from your new pump, only a pressure test will verify this. Generaly for needle & seats the pressure should be under 9-PSI.

Roby

That's possible. That's why I took the carb off and brought it home. I'm also checking float height as well. The carb looks mighty clean inside. I found no junk. I changed both filters, and I'll be checking the pressure some time this week.