Honda 225BF Outboard Starting and stalling problems

During the fall I started to have problems with my outboard. I notice that sometimes it would start lagging when in full plane causing me to come to a complete stop. It also feel like there is no fuel going to my motor (misfires). After encountering this more than a dozen times, it also completely shut down & wasn't able to start for about an hour or so. Again it sounds like fuel problem. Please help. Thanks!

That is really not enough information for us to react to. What year engine? How many hours? What kind of operating environment (i.e. saltwater/freshwater, heavy use, light use, etc.)? What maintenance has been done and how long ago? Give a more detailed description of the problem.

Having said that, the first thing I would do is to drain the VST and check the high pressure fuel filter.

Chawk_Man I have a 2003 Ranger 520VX so i'm assuming that my Honda motor is 2002 or 2003. Not sure on how to find out what year motor is. I bought this boat last year with 700 plus hours. Boat has been used in freshwater only. I am a avid fisherman from Minnesota, fish 4 days a week come open water. Since I've had it, I only did minor maintenance on it (oil change, spark plugs, winterizing.) Since I've owned her I do take great care of her. Heres a better descripton of my problems. When in full plane @ 5500rpm sometimes the motor will start to misfire like there's something clogged in the fuel system causing the boat to come to a complete stop but does not shut down. This has happened to me quite a few times since I owned it. In September & October the motor died on me 3 times in 3 outings. All 3 times the motor died, I was idling through a slow no wake zone & it felt like I was low on fuel knowing I had plenty, then it shut down. I wasn't able to start the motor for at least an hour or so although I was trying to start it back up after it shut down. In the process of trying repeatedly to start the motor it would engage for about 10 seconds then shut down. It felt as if there was no fuel going to the motor. I would be at it for a while until I finally gave up, then as soon as I was getting ready to call for a tow after an hour or so, she starts up and the motor stays on but sounds very weak. Once the motor maintains to stay on i'll start to plane out, but when I do the boat is slow to do so. I would floor the pedal and the boat will start to get out of the hull shot. I can feel a lot of restraint from the motor as I watch the RPM gauge slowly climb it way up to 4-5000rpms before she gets full plane. In this process it takes a good 45sec to a minute as the motor is pretty stressed. After it dies like this and starts up again, she runs like a champ again. I hope this is enough information. Thanks in advance.

Intermittent problems are the most difficult to diagnose. I assume you are not getting any alarms since you did not mention it. If you have a four-light key switch (oil pressure, overheat, alternator, and check engine or MIL) then you need to check for any fault codes by shunting the service connector. That procedure has been described many times on this forum. If you need a write-up of the procedure, send an e-mail to me at [email protected].

From your description it sounds like a fuel feed problem, so the following is a recommended set of simple and easy things you can check and do.

1. If you have an external Racor-type fuel/water separator, put in a new filter element. They should be changed out annually.
2. Pull your onboard fuel-water separator, dump the fuel in a clear container and check for water and debris in it. If there is any deterioration of the filter element, replace it.
3. Run your engine with cover off and observe the level of fuel in the low pressure fuel filter. It should be over 2/3's full while engine is running. If that filter has not been changed within the last year, change it.
4. Drain the VST. If you need instructions, send me an e-mail.
5. Replace the high pressure fuel filter.

After doing these things, take the boat out for a run and try to repeat the problem. If it does start to stall out, first open the fuel tank cap and see if that alleviates the problem. If so, you have a clogged breather tube to your fuel tank. When the engine is trying to stall, feel the pump up bulb on the fuel line to see if it is partially collapsed. If so, one possibility is that the check valve in the pump-up bulb has failed and is blocking fuel flow. The other possibility is that the pick up tube in your fuel tank is getting clogged. You will need to remove the pick up tube to see what the problem is and you will likely need to drain your fuel tank to get the debris out of it. If the pump-up bulb is not trying to collapse, pump it several times while the engine is trying to stall and see if that improves the engine performance. If so, it is an indicator that you may have a failing low pressure fuel pump.

If none of this works, come back at us and document each thing you have done.

JX79 - Did you ever get this straightened out?