2000 Honda 30hp 4 stroke

[BassMan11]

Tank of Seafoam is going through it now. I will get it fixed for free one way or another. I am glad it is narrowed down to something not major. Thanks to everyone who has given advise thus far. It is much appreciated.

[DRIFTER_016]

It is still possible you have a crappy fuel line.

The layers tend to separate and the lines collapse on the inside due to ethanol degradation.

[Mike the Pike]

Had a 2000 Honda 50 HP 8 yrs old not one problem .....had a 26 yr old Honda 7.5 hp always started first crank and use a little 2 hp Honda as my kicker motor ....bottom line they are reliable and cheap on fuel

[Gerritt]

Have your buddy do a compression test if he hasn't already done one.

Bingo

[Fisherman]

Already done on the 23rd of June and posted.

[BassMan11]

Got a call from my buddy the mechanic today. He pulled the carbs again and cleaned them thoroughly and made sure the jets were clear. Told me that lots of fuel is getting to the carbs so it doesn't look like a fuel line issue to that point. If it still didn't run right he talked about possibly drilling out the jets a size bigger?... I guess that is something he had to do before on a Honda 25 he was working on that was having a similar issue. Going to take her for a rip tonight to see if the problem is still there.

 

Fingers crossed.

[BillM]

Ehh.... how much of a mechanic is your buddy? Boring out jets is not something you do (or should ever be a requirement)

[Fisherman]

I would rather try a factory larger set of jets than have someone start reaming out holes and trashing a good set. In 17 years of running mine, never ever had a fuel problem, other guy with the same SS 30HP is about 14 years and no problems without carb tinkering.

[BassMan11]

Well he is pretty reputable. He has worked at a major boat repair shop here in Ottawa for probably 10 years and he has done work to my old 1978 9.9 seahorse and had her running like a top so I do trust him. I think he would be trying to save me money.

 

All this talk about how great Honda's are just makes me more frustrated. lol. The thing should be bullet proof.

[bigbuck]

You should not need to mess with jets. Now that the carbs were cleaned out nicely, run some more Seafoam through it. Do not rule out the fuel lines unless they were checked out properly. Do a search on iboats.com in the forums. There is a honda section. Onebof the gurus there may be able to steer you in the right direction. Once your carbs get drilled out, there is no going back.

[BillM]

Swapping all the fuel line can't be that expensive, I'd rule that out before doing anything else.

[Sinker]

Yep, id toss the old fuel line, and giver a good dose of seafoam. Have you seafoamed it yet??

 

The carb might be getting fuel, just not enough. Seafoam will clean everything from the tank, right thru to the exaust.

 

S.

[BassMan11]

Hey Guys,

 

First off I am on my second good douse of seafoam in my tank and it hasn't made a lick of difference. He had also checked the fuel lines and delivery and it seems to be fine.

 

I had to work late last night so I didn't get a chance to run the boat but my mechanic buddy did and I think the problem is fixed. He had the carbs apart this weekend and said they looked immaculate so he decided to drill out the jets. Now..... he knows that isn't the "proper" thing to do but he has actually had to do this on 4 other Honda motors in the last 10 years when nothing else short of ordering new carbs would work. He literately took a drill bit that he could thread through the jet hole and bored it out a tiny tiny bit.

 

The boat now jumps up on plane immediately and is hitting 24mph at 3/4 throttle while wide open hits the rev limiter (prop to small now I assume).

 

It looks like my troubles might just be coming to an end with this motor. I will need to get myself and the wife in the boat to get the true performance and speed. Regardless it's a step in the right direction.

Edited July 7, 2015 by BassMan11

[BillM]

I wonder if there was build up on the jets themselves? I can't see Honda installing the wrong jets from the factory (Although weirder things have happened I'm sure)

[Sinker]

Just be careful now that you don't over rev the engine and fry it!

 

Good news though!

 

S.

[MrSimon]

Sounds like he didn't actually make the jets bigger .... basically he just cleaned them out with brute force.

 

If bad gas sits in the carbs for a long time, it becomes almost impossible to clean everything with just solvents and thin wire.

 

I'd definitely put new fuel hoses/filters on for good measure. All it takes is one small piece of gunk from the inside of the hose to break loose and lodge in the jets.

[Mister G]

Sorry to hear you made a big mistake by buying this Honda outboard. Seen many at the docks over the years and I can tell you they are not normal outboards that most of us grew up with.........

 

These foreign built outboards are so damn quite that you will not even know they are running while you will continue to try to start them. Either you will be pulling your shoulder out of place or wearing out the damn battery and or starter trying to get these damn thing running while they are running.

 

BTW I'm a E-Tech guy through and through ! ! ! ! !

[2 tone z71]

That Honda will be running for many yrs ..long after your beloved E Tecs in a box under a workbench somewhere

[DRIFTER_016]

Good to hear you got it sorted out.

Now, you need a prop with more pitch to finish things off!!

[BassMan11]

Got the boat out for an hour tonight. The wife and I in the boat. That's how Honda's are supposed to run.

 

[Fisherman]

One hint that worked for me, a shot of Seafoam in every tankful, at the end of the season, drain the carbs dry, change the fuel filter. Princess Auto has small ones that will fit in place of the outrageously overpriced OEM ones for about $5. And drain the tank hose too, put a small nail in the output end and push down on the ball bearing at the other end.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Fisherman

[evster]

How has it been running? I have pretty much the same motor in 25 hp and feel the same way. It will plane up with just me, gas, tackle and a couple batteries, but when I add another person or my wife and daughter it doesn't plane. Add a 3rd person or some more gear and it plows. I figure the boat with all gear is about 1000 lbs or so. I am considering buying a different boat and motor but maybe I should look into this a bit more. Maybe its a fuel problem as well.

 

When you played with the choke while running what exactly did you do? Did you just pull the choke out and it sped up?

[BassMan11]

Hey Evster

 

Motor has been running fine all year since the jets were drilled out. About 1000lbs in my boat as well and I will be running at 25mph with a 12 pitch prop. When I was fooling around with the choke I just opened the throttle all the way and slowly pulled the choke out until the motor started to run better.

 

Now after saying all this mine was really bogged down. Very low rpms when there was problem. What max hp is your boat rated for?

[evster]

Boats rated for a 30 hp. I have a 9 pitch prop on there now, maybe I should try something else. I also need to fiddle with the pin and try it set at different spots. Its the only motor I've had, but it seems like its running ok based on sound, etc. Maybe its all I'm going to be able to get out of this boat.