2001 Mercruser 57 EFI bs

"I have a 2001 sea ray 210 bow

"I have a 2001 sea ray 210 bow rider with the 260 HP mercruser EFI. I have a few questions:
1. What is the normal Operating temp. It usually runs just at or above the 170 mark. Is that ok?

2. After a long high speed run at the lake we stopped for food. When we went back to start it it idled but then died. Then it made a squealing noise before it started, sounded like the fuel pump. Then it smelled like burning electrical stuff when we tried to start it again. We kept trying to start it, then a guy said to try and hold it at WOT in neutral and try to start it. It roared to life, and worked great ever since. He said that there was an air lock in the fuel system. Is there anything I need to look at?

Also, is there anything out there to give me more oomph! or more HP? Any thing at all in the aftermarket?
Thanks,
Sam"

The temp is good. Everytime yo

The temp is good. Everytime you cycle the ignition the engine receives fuel from the cold start valve or injectors in the case of throttle body. This is controled by the ECM / ECU depending on who you are talking to at the time. This is not suppose to happen when the engine is at running temp. When you held it wide open it allowed fresh air without fuel into the intake clearing the extra fuel in the engine from the repeted start tries. You could have a cold start temp sensor giving a false reading telling the ECM the engine is colder than it is.
Just a thought. Doesn't sound as if there is any real reason for concern. Just do not turn the key all the way off when restarting if it does not start right away. Enjoy.

"I would look at the two wire

"I would look at the two wire temperature sensor(yellow/black wires) on the head. The one wire sensor is only for the gauge and has nothing to do with the ECM. 170 is OK if you have a 160 degree thermostat. If it goes higher than that or moves around a lot, you may have an air leak on the cooling system and air is getting in, or the raw water impeller may be bad. A bad coolant temp sensor makes the ECM think it's either really cold or way too hot but since it didn't go into RPM reduction, it's not reading hot. Yours sounds like it's too cold and the plug may have come off, the motor may have overheated and made the wirepull out of the plug. A sensor that shows cold has high resistance (-40 F will show about 100700 ohms). A sensor that shows hot will read lower resistance (212 F is ~177 ohms) and if the wire, sensor or harness make the ECM see an open, the ECM will default to cold and will show a 14 code. If you have a code reader, that will show you what you need to know. Look for the diagnostic harness on the back of the motor.

There is no "cold start valve" on a GM motor. The fuel table tells it how long to keep the injectors open. If the coolant temperature sensor fails (cold), you will have a code stored in the ECM and going WOT during crank is the only way to clear a flood because the ECM won't latch the fuel pump relay during crank when the TPS shows 98% or more throttle position. The squealing sound was the fuel pump screaming because there was no gas in it. Fuel pump impellers don't like being run dry. I would look at the fuel tank vent and make sure it's clear- pull the vent hose off and see if you can blow air into the tank with the gas cap off.

I don't like the burning electrical smell thing- look at the ground point on the block and see if they're loose or if any of the wires have either corroded or if the terminal has come off. The fuel pump being on the motor, there is a chance that you did have vapor lock because of heat soak (the motor's temperature differences equalize when it's not running) , which raises the motor box temperature significantly on a hot day.

As far as more HP/torque, you can change the intake manifold or possibly do a recal on the ECM but unless the person doing the recal knows what they're doing and saves the original program, I don't know if I would suggest it. The intake won't affect the program and I know of people who changed the intake on their ski boats and got a nice boost. IIRC, Mercruiser changed to Motorola ECMs in '99 or 2000 and I'm not sure if the Delphi programs will work. Make sure the flame arrestor is clean, use good gas, keep it tuned up, don't overheat it and make sure the oil and filter are clean/fresh and wax the he!! out of the hull."

"thanks for that guys. I KNOW

"thanks for that guys. I KNOW it did not over heat. I have never seen the gauge go over 180. It has been a few months since this has happened, and the boat runs flawlessly. Not any problems. The boat only has 110 hours on it! It is underused, and overcleaned. I regularly wax the boat, but have never waxed the bottom, that seems like a good idea. Thanks for the help guys.
Sam"

"Hi all, I just bought a bayli

"Hi all, I just bought a bayliner capri with a force 85 hp outboard. Last night after running the boat in salt water, I pulled it from the water and began flushing the motor when a constant squealing began. It sounded like it was coming from the throttle. It allowed me to start it but as a precaution, I stopped what I was doing. I am very new to boats and wonder if anyone knows why this would squeal when starting it like this."

Karen- you might want to copy

Karen- you might want to copy your post in the outboard threads to get better results.

Did you start the water before or after the motor started? Look at the oil injection reservoir to see if it's empty. Sounds like it may be dry. Just a guess since I haven't heard it.