Pete the Cat
Sustaining Member
Seems like you made a really good call. The Atomic 4 is a solid ridiculously simple engine design and you could not ask for better support than Moyer.
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Atomic 4 Died. What next?
- Thread starter Katie Jennings
- Start date
steven
Sustaining Member
Great ! I've brought my A4 back from the dead twice.
Including replacing the head as you have done.
Its a tough little beastie.
Nevertheless, though not yet fully committed, I'm leaning towards tackling an electric re-power DIY.
Still working through cost, engineering, and scope.
(e.g., (1) tiller replaces wheel ? - has an impact on where to put the controls; (2) re-prop ?; (3) if re-prop, upsize the shaft ?; (4) is the new weight distribution going to materially change trim; (5) seal the water intake ?; (6) battery layout; (7) etc. )
If I undertake the project will probably end up with a working A4 and supporting systems (exhaust; fuel; instruments), and if I could get something for it, would defray some of the conversion costs.
Anyone interested (even a maybe) please let me know.
I'm probably going to go though the season as-is and tackle the conversion in early fall.
--Steve
Including replacing the head as you have done.
Its a tough little beastie.
Nevertheless, though not yet fully committed, I'm leaning towards tackling an electric re-power DIY.
Still working through cost, engineering, and scope.
(e.g., (1) tiller replaces wheel ? - has an impact on where to put the controls; (2) re-prop ?; (3) if re-prop, upsize the shaft ?; (4) is the new weight distribution going to materially change trim; (5) seal the water intake ?; (6) battery layout; (7) etc. )
If I undertake the project will probably end up with a working A4 and supporting systems (exhaust; fuel; instruments), and if I could get something for it, would defray some of the conversion costs.
Anyone interested (even a maybe) please let me know.
I'm probably going to go though the season as-is and tackle the conversion in early fall.
--Steve
LeifThor
Member III
On Feb 2nd, after putting water in my Atomic, which blew the head gasket shooting water out of my spark plug holes, I thought my engine was dead.
Well, $2,000 and 3 months and 17 days later, every day off pretty much spent working on it, yesterday was the moment of truth, and my Atomic 4 started back up.
Note: I'd already replaced the gas tank, exhaust system, and bought a new alternator, water pump and carb when I bought the boat, so I also didn't want to waste the money I'd already put in to the engine.
I want to shout out to a lot of help from friends and people I hardly know or just met who were critical to my little Atomic starting back up.
Bryan Drew- My good friend who told me not to give up, and that it might just be the head gasket. We pulled the head off, and sure enough, that was it.
Rich my neighbor- Best neighbor anyone could have who also said it could be fixed, and advised along the way.
Tom Thatcher- An Atomic Wizard in our neck of the woods who's come up with a lot of improvements on the A4, and who helped me get my engine across the finish line with a few tweaks that without, I wouldn't have gotten it up and running.
Tom from Indigo Electronics- taking countless calls and walking me through getting the electronic points system up and running.
Ken Moyer from Moyer Marine- For taking so so many calls, and having the parts I needed.
Brad Johnson- an excellent electrician around Ventura who advised through the new wire harness I made.
Once we replaced the head gasket and it passed the compression test, no cracks or warped block or head, and not having the 15-20k to repower, and some hope my engine might live, I decided to not only make it run again, but clean it up, and make it better than it was.
Had I not killed it by putting water in the engine, it would have died soon anyway given the engine's condition.
During discovery, the water jacket was almost full of charcoal.
The poorly made wire harness from the cockpit to the engine had been run through the middle of the bilge and sustained substantial damage
The gaskets were possibly 4200 sealant or worse, and leaking.
The head nuts were wrong and had washers.
The raw water strainer was leaking on the water pump.
With no thermostat, the engine wasn't being cooled properly.
There was rust.
All the gaskets were in poor condition.
The fuel filter was not a fuel water separator.
The carburetor, even though quite new, was shot from water in the fuel.
The list of what I did to the engine-
Replaced all gaskets
Replaced water jacket plate
Replaced some fittings
Cleared rust.
Ospho'd engine and external parts
Painted Engine
Painted bilge and hull around engine
New Electric Points System
New Carburetor
New Fuel Water Separator
New hoses
Redesigned raw water strainer
Improved water cooling
Gonna follow up with some before, during, and after pics
Well, $2,000 and 3 months and 17 days later, every day off pretty much spent working on it, yesterday was the moment of truth, and my Atomic 4 started back up.
Note: I'd already replaced the gas tank, exhaust system, and bought a new alternator, water pump and carb when I bought the boat, so I also didn't want to waste the money I'd already put in to the engine.
I want to shout out to a lot of help from friends and people I hardly know or just met who were critical to my little Atomic starting back up.
Bryan Drew- My good friend who told me not to give up, and that it might just be the head gasket. We pulled the head off, and sure enough, that was it.
Rich my neighbor- Best neighbor anyone could have who also said it could be fixed, and advised along the way.
Tom Thatcher- An Atomic Wizard in our neck of the woods who's come up with a lot of improvements on the A4, and who helped me get my engine across the finish line with a few tweaks that without, I wouldn't have gotten it up and running.
Tom from Indigo Electronics- taking countless calls and walking me through getting the electronic points system up and running.
Ken Moyer from Moyer Marine- For taking so so many calls, and having the parts I needed.
Brad Johnson- an excellent electrician around Ventura who advised through the new wire harness I made.
Once we replaced the head gasket and it passed the compression test, no cracks or warped block or head, and not having the 15-20k to repower, and some hope my engine might live, I decided to not only make it run again, but clean it up, and make it better than it was.
Had I not killed it by putting water in the engine, it would have died soon anyway given the engine's condition.
During discovery, the water jacket was almost full of charcoal.
The poorly made wire harness from the cockpit to the engine had been run through the middle of the bilge and sustained substantial damage
The gaskets were possibly 4200 sealant or worse, and leaking.
The head nuts were wrong and had washers.
The raw water strainer was leaking on the water pump.
With no thermostat, the engine wasn't being cooled properly.
There was rust.
All the gaskets were in poor condition.
The fuel filter was not a fuel water separator.
The carburetor, even though quite new, was shot from water in the fuel.
The list of what I did to the engine-
Replaced all gaskets
Replaced water jacket plate
Replaced some fittings
Cleared rust.
Ospho'd engine and external parts
Painted Engine
Painted bilge and hull around engine
New Electric Points System
New Carburetor
New Fuel Water Separator
New hoses
Redesigned raw water strainer
Improved water cooling
Gonna follow up with some before, during, and after pics
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Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
Good for you! May you get many more good years of service from that engine.
Great project. Congrats!
Parrothead
Member III
Tom Thatcher (mentioned in thanks in your post) is great with these engines but more importantly teaches as he works. Leif, I'll bet you know your engine far better than you did only a couple of months ago and could probably be of great help to the next guy. Pay it forward.
LeifThor
Member III
It takes a village
Parrothead
Member III
Did Tom discuss the merits of antifreeze cooling? It is the single most important upgrade you can do for your engine.
And when we EY "vikings" gather to share our village wisdom:
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LeifThor
Member III
He did, and I agree about its importance.
HerbertFriedman
Member III
I owned an A4 for about 10 years and considered switching to a closed loop anti freeze cooling system but decided to just flush the block with fresh water after every use. I added a tee and shut off valve to the salt water line and just gently flushed the block from the fresh water hose at the dock. Granted you need a slip for that. I never had any corrosion problems, but it was a bit of a nuisance.
Parrothead
Member III
I did the same thing Herbert after a good acid flush and physical mucking out of the water jacket in preparation for a FWC conversion. The strategy was to keep things as clean as possible until the conversion was complete. Additional advantages to antifreeze cooling over a flush routine are a much more efficient engine operating temperature, the rust inhibitors in antifreeze and improved water heater performance. I changed mine over 12 years ago and I couldn't be happier.
LeifThor
Member III
Since I bought the boat I added a fresh water rinse and flushed after every use. I’ll probably add a closed cooling system someday but until then the freshwater rinse does pretty good.
