Carver Owners Forum

Greetings all.

I have a 1998 380 Santego with twin 454's. I bought this boat from an estate after it had been in storage for five years. We ended up replacing all the pump impellers, fuel pumps and did carb kits. The Starboard engine runs great but the Port engine after a short time will shut down At first it waited till I got up to about 3,000 RPM but now will shut down anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 and will not re-start even at 500 rpm. We changed out some of the electronic ignition stuff and even the spark plug wires. Pulling my hair (and my mechanics) out. Anyone else had this problem? Please help.

Did you remove any old fuel and have the tanks cleaned and refueled?

Make sure the vent lines from the tank are clear. You could hook up a portable gas tank to it and see if she runs. That would eliminate any fuel problems.

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post Did you remove any old fuel and have the tanks cleaned and refueled?

Fuel was almost empty and treated. The mechanic feels it is some kind of electrical problem.

Carcare wrote:Source of the post Make sure the vent lines from the tank are clear. You could hook up a portable gas tank to it and see if she runs. That would eliminate any fuel problems.

Have not checked vents as far as I know. Will suggest that is done next. One dock neighbor thought it may be a collapsing fuel line, but they are metal and appear to be like new. only have around 450 hours on the boat.

Jack Kolberg wrote:Source of the post

Carcare wrote:Source of the post Make sure the vent lines from the tank are clear. You could hook up a portable gas tank to it and see if she runs. That would eliminate any fuel problems.

Have not checked vents as far as I know. Will suggest that is done next. One dock neighbor thought it may be a collapsing fuel line, but they are metal and appear to be like new. only have around 450 hours on the boat.

The boat runs great until under load out on the lake.

Before you go too far, check the anti syphon valve at the tank,it is the fitting where the fuel line comes from the tank itself.... make sure it is clear.....if so and when it quits again if it does, before doing anything, remove the flame arrester and look down the carb as you work the throttle to see if you have fuel squirting into the throttle bore, if so , check for spark....if you have both should start.Under load is when it needs the most fuel......

If both motors are feeding off the same tank, then you may not have a fuel problem. If they are feeding from different tanks I would pull the filter on the problem motor and look at the fuel. There really is no way to "treat" 5 year old gas.
I am kind of surprised the 1998 motors are not fuel injected. Another possibility is a bad ignition coil. Sometimes they will heat up and stop producing spark until they cool way down. If you can get to them easily, swap them and see if the problem moves to the other engine.

My 97 has 454xli tbi injection I would thought yours being 98would. Are they crusader engines if so did you clean the screen on the round oberg ufo filter? Fyi You probaly have 3 fuel filters per engine if crusader.

I agree with all the above. Back to the basics; you need to narrow down whether this is a fuel or ignition related issue. When she quits, check right away to see if you're getting spark.

Curious....

Jack Kolberg wrote:Source of the post....fuel line, but they are metal......

On a '98? All the way from the tank to the engine?