Carver Owners Forum

I just purchased a 33' 1979 carver, twin 350 engines run great but it will not get up on a plane. Cleaned bottom, checked timing , new fuel and filters. any suggestions. I have it in boat yard trying things at $95. per hour. Ouch!

Has it ever planed, or is this a new symptom?
What is the rpm at WOT?
What has the yard done so far other than what you've mentioned?

Did you have the boat surveyed? That model year Carver is a completely cored boat and may be saturated below the water line. This may be an extreme reason, but it is something to check/have checked. The extra weight of all that moisture will definitely keep the boat from planing. We had that issue with a boat here (although not a Carver).

I didn't want to mention about the cored hull. I sure hope it was surveyed!

Thanks for the replies. No I did not have the boat surveyed . Only did what I mentioned so far, now they are suggesting to rebuild one of the carbs. The boat has been sitting for a long time and I bought it as is at a great deal hoping it would not be to big of a project but prepared. 2800 at WOT up to 9knots. How do I check the core bottom ? when I remove the center hatch in the main salon and galley i see the bottom of the boat or am I missing something?

If it is a weight issue, would it sit unusually deep in the water? is there a certain depth / waterline that I could measure to determine this?

The only way I know how to check for a wet core is to haul the boat out and have somebody (generally a surveyor) use a special meter that does the check.

If it has been sitting a long time (1+ years), I'd rebuild both carbs.

Is the gas new or also old?
Does the fuel smell like gasoline or varnish.

How long was the boat out-of-use?

we connected an external fuel tank to eliminate the old fuel concern. I suggested to rebuild both carbs and they told me the other was fine. thanks for all of the suggestions. I will post the results of the rebuilt carb. someone also mentioned that it could be the wrong props. that would be odd?

I would not be suspect of the props just yet, but it could be - what do you have? Is this inboard or out-drives? Are the engines stock that came in the boat?

Rebuild both carbs. If you take them off and put them back on, they shouldn't charge you more than a hundred bucks each.
But make sure they rebuild <your> carbs. The carbs may look the same from the outside, but there three different fuel rod sizes, a number of different rod springs, etc.

And make sure when they rebuild the carbs, they epoxy shut the plugs on the bottom - these are pressed/swagged in plugs that close off holes needed for drilling passages inside the carb. They are notorious for leaking over time. The accepted way to fix this is to epoxy them in. Do not rely on the new rebuild kit gasket inserts - they do not work. You can google "rochester plug" and you'll get a bazillion hits on how to do it right.

Ok so here is the results. cleaned bottom had some barnacles on the props and rudders, rebuilt starboard carb cleaned the port, new plugs on both, comp test & timing spot on. Went from 2800 rpm WOT at 9 knots to 3600 rpm starboard/ 3200 rpm port WOT up to 18.5 knots. Great improvement but still not there. I pulled it out of the yard $2300. later to try things on my own. Sounds like port has a ticking/ exhaust leak and steam coming out of the exhaust.. any more suggestions ???