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What does the group think the problem is

C

CampionPB

New member
My boat worked great till I got to my destination 30 miles away but when I cut the throttle approaching the dock it started to work terrible and would not accept throttle and started to stall and died. It took awhile to finally start so we could dock the boat.
I took a chance and headed back and here is some detail on what happened:

1) The boat started after a few tries after lunch and idled great.
2) throttled up to plane fine and travelled back home at 27mph.
3) About halfway home, the engine faded badly and making some noises and started to stall out. It would not hold an idle and stalled and would not restart.
4) waited a bit and tried to start it and it did but took some effort
5) cruised up the lake cautiously below plane speed ~8mph.
6) After a few miles I got back up on plane at 25 mph and seemed to work fine
7) But after a couple of miles the engine faded badly and immediately began to stall out.
8) waited 5 min and started with difficulty and I limped back to my dock at slightly above idle.
9) started again at my dock and sounded normal when revving the engine in Neutral

It would work great for a little bit then the engine would basically quit!

Would appreciate the groups thoughts on potential causes of this problem
Thanks
 
want to get us some details on the boat (age) and, in particular, the engine (model and serial number)?

Could be a simple as crud in the fuel tank...
 
Thanks racerone!! Funny how it runs great for 30 miles on plane and as soon as I throttled down it started to stall out. Maybe the abrupt stop caused something in the gas tank to unsettle? Also when I got it restarted it would rev high for a bit in neutral
 
Some thoughts would also be to pull the spark plugs and check their condition and then with water connected to run an engine on the trailer, crank the engine over and see if the cylinders are spraying water… or excessive fuel…then preform a compression test on all the cylinders just to know while heading forward… preferably warm and throttle wide open..
 
makomark said:
want to get us some details on the boat (age) and, in particular, the engine (model and serial number)?

Could be a simple as crud in the fuel tank...
Click to expand...
I can get the serial number but it is a 2002 Campion Alante with a 350 MAG MPI Mercruiser with 725 hours. Had a new fuel pump installed last fall and is serviced professionally each fall and Spring.
 
CampionPB said:
I can get the serial number but it is a 2002 Campion Alante with a 350 MAG MPI Mercruiser with 725 hours. Had a new fuel pump installed last fall and is serviced professionally each fall and Spring.
Click to expand...
Yes for better understanding of your particular engine model, the serial number would be most important because your engine model in 2002 was in a transition year of design.
 
With a MPI engine, I'd start with a fuel pressure gauge...If its ok at idle, see what the fuel pressure does, under load, across the RPM operating band, up to WOT. If that's satisfactory, keep the gauge on it until it acts up again, and see what the gauge shows...
 
makomark said:
With a MPI engine, I'd start with a fuel pressure gauge...If it’s ok at idle, see what the fuel pressure does, under load, across the RPM operating band, up to WOT. If that's satisfactory, keep the gauge on it until it acts up again, and see what the gauge shows...
Click to expand...
Thanks Makomark… would it hurt to add some sea foam fuel treatment as well?
 
I dont think a smal quantity will hurt anything...that said, I don't believe there are many bottles sold that have liquid magic inside...

If the boat doesn't see much use, I think StaBil is better use for your money...
 
Makomark do you think that a faulty coil could cause the symptoms I mentioned in my post. The replies to my post on here mention the cause likely to be a fuel issue
 
Fun Times said:
Some thoughts would also be to pull the spark plugs and check their condition and then with water connected to run an engine on the trailer, crank the engine over and see if the cylinders are spraying water… or excessive fuel…then preform a compression test on all the cylinders just to know while heading forward… preferably warm and throttle wide open..
Click to expand...
Thank you Fun Times!!
 
Given the limited troubleshooting data shared, I wud say there are still many possibilities...you can use a clip on timing light when it acts up the next time to check fir spark...
 
As info… during service last fall I was invoiced for:
Oil filter
Engine oil
Stern drive oil
Fuel filter
Fuel pressure regulator
Electronic fuel pump assembly

So one would think fuel system issues would not be the problem unless the new fuel pump or regulator are faulty
 
CampionPB said:
As info… during service last fall I was invoiced for:
Oil filter
Engine oil
Stern drive oil
Fuel filter
Fuel pressure regulator
Electronic fuel pump assembly

So one would think fuel system issues would not be the problem unless the new fuel pump or regulator are faulty
Click to expand...
I wouldn't jump to that conclusion...there are more components that makeup the fuel system..
 
makomark said:
I dont think a smal quantity will hurt anything...that said, I don't believe there are many bottles sold that have liquid magic inside...

If the boat doesn't see much use, I think StaBil is better use for your money...
Click to expand...
Well folks… I put a 500 ml container of SeaFoam in the tank last evening and went out three times today and the boat worked really well and also started really easily. I am not sure if the Seaform helped but the symptoms seemed to disappear… hopefully for good! I have the groups suggestions if it occurs again.
 
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