Engine maintenance
Posted: September 11th, 2025, 12:45 pm
Hi everyone,
I think that I’m fairly knowledgeable about gas engines, at least I thought that I was until recently. One of my Volvo Penta 740b engines started missing on our latest trip, and I was shocked to find that both distributors had rusted so badly that the advance weights were frozen and the springs were actually missing.
I had changed the spark plugs last year and the engines seemed to be running fine, I thought, so I never even thought about a problem with the distributors.
Never take for granted that things are perfect under your distributor cap, be thorough when you’re doing a tune up on your engines!
I think that I’m fairly knowledgeable about gas engines, at least I thought that I was until recently. One of my Volvo Penta 740b engines started missing on our latest trip, and I was shocked to find that both distributors had rusted so badly that the advance weights were frozen and the springs were actually missing.
I had changed the spark plugs last year and the engines seemed to be running fine, I thought, so I never even thought about a problem with the distributors.
Never take for granted that things are perfect under your distributor cap, be thorough when you’re doing a tune up on your engines!