F
Fraser Anderson
Guest
"New at this - sorry, my first
"New at this - sorry, my first post was in the wrong section.
I have a 1999 Regal - 5.0 EFI MerCruiser / Alpha one.
The boat has less than 100 hours on it and has been used very little over the last 3 years - has essentially been summerized and winterized.
The first time out this summer it seemed to run okay for 1/2 hour or so and began "popping". The sound to me was like a backfire. Long story short, the shop has done almost everything trying to figure it out, to no avail. As far as symptoms go, the tach appears to act irregular, MOST of the time the boat pops. I will add it it doesn't always make the popping noise but certainly seems to lose power simultaneously with the noise or the tach spiking(5000+). The boat idles fine and that's about it. Under any load it will most certainly pop/backfire. I can sometimes get it to run without popping, usually at a constant speed of around 19-24mph.
The boat has been scoped or scanned and zero codes come up.
The following has already been tried
1) Tach changes - 3 times
2) New batteries
3) New alternator
4) New plugs
5) New wires
6) New ignition module
7) Gas changed - at least twice with fuel additive
8) Valve cleaner / injector
9) recently two of the three wiring harnesses have been changed - the third is back ordered
10) New fuel pump
11) New distributor cap / distibutor... and maybe some stuff that the shop/mechanic hasn't discussed with me. To my knowledge this has been discussed with Merc and they are at a loss. The shop has advised me they have reviewed the shop manuel in detail and gone through every test Merc has told them to perform.
I only bought the boat this spring and the prior owner(friend) tells me he has had no problems, i believe him because he is dealing with the repairs.
I initially thought it was a fuel problem but that does not appear to be the case, i know the shop even piped it direct to the motor to see if fuel was somehow limited - and it was not.
Everyone seems to think electrical - i know the shop made up a set of guages to bypass mine to see if somehow one or more was causing a problem - the same symptoms continued.
I think the only thing not changed is the throttle unit???? and the third harness on back order.
Not sure how i can better describe the symptoms, continuous under any load, appears to be linked to a tach reading which does not appear to be in sync with the actual engine rpm.
This is getting unbelievably frustrating and costly with no one being able to pin anything down. All comments are most appreciated. Thanks."
"New at this - sorry, my first post was in the wrong section.
I have a 1999 Regal - 5.0 EFI MerCruiser / Alpha one.
The boat has less than 100 hours on it and has been used very little over the last 3 years - has essentially been summerized and winterized.
The first time out this summer it seemed to run okay for 1/2 hour or so and began "popping". The sound to me was like a backfire. Long story short, the shop has done almost everything trying to figure it out, to no avail. As far as symptoms go, the tach appears to act irregular, MOST of the time the boat pops. I will add it it doesn't always make the popping noise but certainly seems to lose power simultaneously with the noise or the tach spiking(5000+). The boat idles fine and that's about it. Under any load it will most certainly pop/backfire. I can sometimes get it to run without popping, usually at a constant speed of around 19-24mph.
The boat has been scoped or scanned and zero codes come up.
The following has already been tried
1) Tach changes - 3 times
2) New batteries
3) New alternator
4) New plugs
5) New wires
6) New ignition module
7) Gas changed - at least twice with fuel additive
8) Valve cleaner / injector
9) recently two of the three wiring harnesses have been changed - the third is back ordered
10) New fuel pump
11) New distributor cap / distibutor... and maybe some stuff that the shop/mechanic hasn't discussed with me. To my knowledge this has been discussed with Merc and they are at a loss. The shop has advised me they have reviewed the shop manuel in detail and gone through every test Merc has told them to perform.
I only bought the boat this spring and the prior owner(friend) tells me he has had no problems, i believe him because he is dealing with the repairs.
I initially thought it was a fuel problem but that does not appear to be the case, i know the shop even piped it direct to the motor to see if fuel was somehow limited - and it was not.
Everyone seems to think electrical - i know the shop made up a set of guages to bypass mine to see if somehow one or more was causing a problem - the same symptoms continued.
I think the only thing not changed is the throttle unit???? and the third harness on back order.
Not sure how i can better describe the symptoms, continuous under any load, appears to be linked to a tach reading which does not appear to be in sync with the actual engine rpm.
This is getting unbelievably frustrating and costly with no one being able to pin anything down. All comments are most appreciated. Thanks."