RawkSteady
New member
My apologies for the novel, just trying to make sure I explain the issue in detail…
Notes: I'm helping some friends here. They are not the most mechanically minded and here in SW FL we have A LOT of shallow waterways. Considering both of these items, I suggested they get an outboard deck boat but that if they got a I/O that I personally only have Merc's. I don't have much experience with VP engines or drives, I don't have the diagnostic adapters to be sure I'm fixing the right issue and therefore if they need my help, they should stick with my recommendations but in any case, get a survey. What do they do... Come home with an 05 Chaparral 204ssi with a VP 5.0gxi-f and did not get a survey.
So here's the issue and the info I got from them on what happened leading up to the issue was apparently not the full details.
- Pre 1st outing, boat is 2 quarts low on oil and the battery is garbage. They put the oil and a new battery in it however they hooked the battery up backwards and got some smoke from the alternator. Corrected it and they say the boat started right up. Hold that info...
- First time out, they bottom it out, stuck in the sand, suck up a bunch of sand and the VP safety system puts the motor into limp mode when it reaches 200 degrees. They limp it back in, flush it, and it fires back up.
- 2nd time out, they're hearing an alarm but aren't sure if it's the depth or engine alarm yet they didn't check the gauges or least remember checking the gauges but the boat dies and will not start back up. They paddle it back in and then ask for my help... Grrrrrr
At that time they were keeping it on a lift so i went over to see if i could get it to run enough to get it to trailer. I did my own flush on the raw water system, checked the impeller, took the thermostat out just in case and got it to fire up but that required full throttle and it was misfiring pretty bad. However i idled it to the ramp and got it out of the water.
- At home, I pulled the plugs and they were soaked with carbon and gas as well as were the original ac delco's with the red overspray still on them! After looking at some things, like noticing the Fram oil filter, not knowing what oil they put in it, and the drive oil was stinky black as well as low. So i did basic maintenance (oil, drive oil, impeller, thermostat, plugs, distributor cap, rotor, fuel filter) just for peace of mind before I start chasing this misfire. (Plug wires weren't in stock so they weren't done)
After startup, it's still misfiring and soaking the new plugs. It's was pulling air like a MUG through the flame arrestor, tachometer was jumping all around from 0 to 5600 to 3500, like all over the place but the motor wasn't. So i slapped a quick IAC in it, checked the fuel pressure, 10psi at low side, 50psi at high side, and had a clean fuel pressure regulator too. Took a fuel sample, found 1 or 2 little pieces of VP's famous paint but nothing holding it back, after all, i have too much fuel or at least too much fuel for the spark I'm getting anyway.
At this point, i found a local shop to run a scan on it, it showed low voltage to the TPS and a misfire on cylinders, 3,6 & 8. They recommended i do the plug wires and a new TPS.
(wait 3 days for the parts)
Get the parts, put them on, battery dead.
!! Jumped it off and it's still idling rough, still required full throttle to crank it, it's smoking black and tach is still all over the place. At this point i notice the trim gauge isn't working. Temp, oil pressure and fuel gauge seem to be fine but the battery gauge shows way low.
My battery charger also shows bad battery so I took it to be checked and the store says its just low and needs a full charge.
So you know you get so wrapped up in a problem that the simple S**t just blows right by you??
So why is the battery low? It's brand new, store says its good, trickle charged to 100% just fine even though it's been fried once... But that thought rings my little bell. "The smoking alternator"!!
Because this is a VP with a bunch of sensors and wires that my carbed Merc's don't have, i don't know where to start.
1. Could the battery hooked up backwards fried the alternator?
2. If so, could that be a culprit to the misfire?
3. Any suggestions on what to check for and what to rule out would be greatly appreciated. Like possible wire shorts, fuses, ECM possible issues etc... Again, i have all BBC Merc's with carbs so these massive wiring harnesses aren't my cup of tea, although i can work on them if i know what to look for...
Thx in advance!
Notes: I'm helping some friends here. They are not the most mechanically minded and here in SW FL we have A LOT of shallow waterways. Considering both of these items, I suggested they get an outboard deck boat but that if they got a I/O that I personally only have Merc's. I don't have much experience with VP engines or drives, I don't have the diagnostic adapters to be sure I'm fixing the right issue and therefore if they need my help, they should stick with my recommendations but in any case, get a survey. What do they do... Come home with an 05 Chaparral 204ssi with a VP 5.0gxi-f and did not get a survey.
So here's the issue and the info I got from them on what happened leading up to the issue was apparently not the full details.
- Pre 1st outing, boat is 2 quarts low on oil and the battery is garbage. They put the oil and a new battery in it however they hooked the battery up backwards and got some smoke from the alternator. Corrected it and they say the boat started right up. Hold that info...
- First time out, they bottom it out, stuck in the sand, suck up a bunch of sand and the VP safety system puts the motor into limp mode when it reaches 200 degrees. They limp it back in, flush it, and it fires back up.
- 2nd time out, they're hearing an alarm but aren't sure if it's the depth or engine alarm yet they didn't check the gauges or least remember checking the gauges but the boat dies and will not start back up. They paddle it back in and then ask for my help... Grrrrrr
At that time they were keeping it on a lift so i went over to see if i could get it to run enough to get it to trailer. I did my own flush on the raw water system, checked the impeller, took the thermostat out just in case and got it to fire up but that required full throttle and it was misfiring pretty bad. However i idled it to the ramp and got it out of the water.
- At home, I pulled the plugs and they were soaked with carbon and gas as well as were the original ac delco's with the red overspray still on them! After looking at some things, like noticing the Fram oil filter, not knowing what oil they put in it, and the drive oil was stinky black as well as low. So i did basic maintenance (oil, drive oil, impeller, thermostat, plugs, distributor cap, rotor, fuel filter) just for peace of mind before I start chasing this misfire. (Plug wires weren't in stock so they weren't done)
After startup, it's still misfiring and soaking the new plugs. It's was pulling air like a MUG through the flame arrestor, tachometer was jumping all around from 0 to 5600 to 3500, like all over the place but the motor wasn't. So i slapped a quick IAC in it, checked the fuel pressure, 10psi at low side, 50psi at high side, and had a clean fuel pressure regulator too. Took a fuel sample, found 1 or 2 little pieces of VP's famous paint but nothing holding it back, after all, i have too much fuel or at least too much fuel for the spark I'm getting anyway.
At this point, i found a local shop to run a scan on it, it showed low voltage to the TPS and a misfire on cylinders, 3,6 & 8. They recommended i do the plug wires and a new TPS.
(wait 3 days for the parts)
Get the parts, put them on, battery dead.
My battery charger also shows bad battery so I took it to be checked and the store says its just low and needs a full charge.
So you know you get so wrapped up in a problem that the simple S**t just blows right by you??
Because this is a VP with a bunch of sensors and wires that my carbed Merc's don't have, i don't know where to start.
1. Could the battery hooked up backwards fried the alternator?
2. If so, could that be a culprit to the misfire?
3. Any suggestions on what to check for and what to rule out would be greatly appreciated. Like possible wire shorts, fuses, ECM possible issues etc... Again, i have all BBC Merc's with carbs so these massive wiring harnesses aren't my cup of tea, although i can work on them if i know what to look for...
Thx in advance!