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4.3 tbi problems

J

jmoe425

New member
Hey guys, got some running problems with my boat. I have a 2003 Stingray 200ms with the 4.3 tbi. I bought the boat from a doctor last July. It had low hours and is in great shape. It had just been serviced. After about 4 hours of running I started having surging problems. I pulled the filter and it was full of water. Changed filter and it progressivly ran worse. While idleing i noticed the gas spraying from the injectors looked like it had glitter in it. The cool fuel pump was dead and it was running off the low pressure pick up pump. After searching the net I bought an Airtex 11004 pump and put it in the cool fuel system. (Not fun!) Today was the the first time I got to put it in the water. It runs decent but it appears to be flooding at idle and has a slight bog when going to WOT. Don't know where to to from here. Are there codes that need to be cleared? That could cause this? Any help would be appreciated.
 
I pulled the filter and it was full of water. Changed filter and it progressivly ran worse.
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Check the contents of the new filter...may be full of water again and time to drain the tank.
 
I drained about 2 gallons yesterday before I took it out. The gas was old (yellowish) but clean. I ran the boat for about 30 minutes. The boat had less than 1/4 of a tank. I then went and filled it up with non ethonel and added a bottle of stabil marine treatment and cleaner. I pulled the filter today and all was good. I primed the system and ran the boat on muffs it didn't apear to flood as bad with fresh gas. But its not under a load out if the water. I did notice that the flow rate drops for a second when I give it the gas. That explains the bog it has. It may just need some serious running. I'm headed to the beach in 2 weeks and plan on doing a lot of fishing and riding. Do you think it will hurt to add a bottle of seafoam to the tank since I already added stabil? It has a 60 gallon tank.
 
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I just realized something else. I am get a 2 beep alarm when I turn the key on and after it cranks. I have not noticed it beeping anymore after that. I will run it tom and double check it to see if it beeps after 60 seconds. I figure it is knock alarm because the engine was running badly when the pump went out. Do these error codes have to be erased at the dealer? If the motor is cut back to 90% that would explain a lot.
 
Do you think it will hurt to add a bottle of seafoam to the tank since I already added stabil?
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No...read the directions on the bottle. I've used Stabil and Seafoam together before w/no problems. Some people don't believe in either.
 
Stabil and Seafoam both have good applications. I don't use stabil as I boat all year.The Seafoam or Power Tune(my choice) is a good thing once or twice a year. But Seafoam and Power Tune is designed to de-carbon, most I/O and IB don't usually carbon that much if the fuel/air is set right.Too much can be as bad as none??? I use stove alcohol to absorb water. I use Ethanol treatment.
 
Ok so I went out and ran the boat on muffs again today. My alarm beeped twice when the key was on then tow beeps after it cranked. No more beeps after that. I read alot of post some say one beep is correct others say 2 beeps on newer boats. I am going to try to get up with a dealer today. It's still running rich at idle. I noticed the injectors seem to be spraying non stop. They should be pulsing. I working night shift so I only have a few minutes each afternoon to play with it. I will get more serious with it Tuesday when I'm off. I may be over thinking it but when the old pump went out. The gas literally had glitter in it coming through the inhectors. I wonder if it may have the injectors stuck partially open.
 
Get a remote clean tank like one used for an outboard motor if you can.

Put fresh gas in it.
Put some good injector cleaner in it. connect it to the fuel system before the fuel pump and run the tank.

See if this cleans the injectors.

It sounds like they are not seating due to crud.

I would start there.........get the original gas tank out of the system until you are sure the motor works properly

Once that happens then reconnect to the boat tank and if things get bad again the tank will have to be cleaned better.

Also make sure you have a good water seprating filter between the gas tank and fuel pump.
 
Ok I'm off night shift and got to work on the boat today. I pulled it out of shed and into the sun so I could see good. I checked all the connections. I pulled the distributor cap and bingo lots of corrosion. I sanded all the contacts. The engine runs a lot better not flooding near as bad. Weak spark from corrosion wasn't burning the fuel I believe. In the light the injectors seam to be pulsing correctly and the engine is not bogging near as bad. Looks like its time for a full tune up. I'm headed to the beach next week I will post the results when I get back. Thanks for the help.
 
Well I know its been several months but I wanted to close the thread out. It's amazing how many threads I found with the same problems but no one ever finishes the thread to tell what they found. Well I took it back to the beach to run it and it was still running rich. I took it too the Stealership and had them test for codes. They charged $80 for 10 min on the computer. Said there was no codes. Said it needed a tune up. They wanted $300 just to change plugs wires and cap. I said no thanks and went on my way. The next time I ran it she died on me. Trigger coil in the distributor died. Replaced that and a new cap and rotor. No change in the flooding. Brought it home swapped temp sensor(a buddy had a spare) no change. Built a t into the fuel line with clear hose so I could check for fuel pressure and bubbles and BINGO! I has 45lbs of pressure. Manual says 32psi max. I checked my lines for kinks found nothing. I tore back into the cool fuel and the regulator has a filter the size of a pencil eraser. It was partially clogged from when the old pump blew. Lesson learned. I tossed the filter. It has been removed on the newer systems. Also changed plugs and wires. Fired it up and its running better than ever and pressure it steady at 32psi. Hope this helps the next guy.
 
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