engine puked!
 

Just got back from my second trip out on the lake this year. What a blast until my blue hp500 quit on me. All was going well, guages were reading all good then she just cut out on me intermittenly. It started popping and sputtering like it was out of fuel, but I know it isnt. The motor has about 90hrs on it. Please tell me this is probably something simple! Oh and by the way I was towed back to the marina by a nice guy in a Bayliner. :eek:

Re: engine puked!
 

Have you replaced the fuel filter/water seperator this year?

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500EFI?

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You sure it has fuel? The fuel gauge on Fountains drop faster than you can watch them as soon as it hits 1/4.

Bayliner.....me too. When stranded, I'd have accepted a tow from a sailboat. :)
That's when I realized to watch that fuel gauge closely when it started to move.

Re: engine puked!
 

Check the simple things first. If you DID run it out of fuel, crack the fuel line open somewhere before the injectors to bleed the air out of the line while you're turning the key on to prime the system. The pump will only stay on for a second or 2 when you turn the key on, so, you may have to do this process several times until you get fuel squirting out of the line.
Good luck, Frank

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Sounds like your distributor came loose and slipped time.

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Where in Va. are you?

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Live in Culpeper..do most of the boating down at Lake Anna.

Its a carb motor. The fuel guage was bouncing on 1/2-3/4 so I dont think my problem is there. I'll top it off to be on the safe side. I havent replaced the fuel filter this year so I will start there. How would I know if the distributor came loose? Would the whole distributor spin by hand? Thanks for your help guys.

Hey 88fountain was that you I met at the chill out this year in Richmond?

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If your Matt, then it's me Aaron. We had a great time in Richmond. How have you been? It sure has been great weather for boating lately. We took our boat down to SML a couple of weeks ago. We'll have to hook up with you at the lake or on the river.

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Reset your timing and check again. Hopefully the timing didn't move too much because that can destroy an engine very quickly.

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THAT has to be embarresing, did you hide in the cabin????

check filters, timming then things get tougher but start there as stated already

temp was ok?

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Coil?

Re: engine puked!
 

[QUOTE=GOODT]THAT has to be embarresing, did you hide in the cabin????

Embarresing doesnt describe how I felt. After flying up and down the lake and probably pizzing everyone off, I was happy to see anyone come by to offer a tow. Nice guy though, wouldn't except any money. I didn't hide in the cabin but I assure you I was out of beer by the time we made it to my marina.
I'm going to do a complete service on the engine this weekend and start checking everything out with the little things first. Coil isnt one I thought of but the way it was cutting out it makes sense.

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Hey Aaron yep thats me. Had a great time also..im surprised we actually won that pool game being so drunk! :D We should hook up on the water this summer, are you going to do the poker run on SMl or the Potomac?

Re: engine puked!
 

We aren't going to do either poker run this year, going to wait for our two boys to get a little older. We definatly need to hook up on the water. I can come out to look at your boat if you want any help with it.

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When this happened to me, it was the ignition switch. Give the key a jiggle and see of it cuts out. Hope it is something simple!

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The distributor should be tight. If it is lose I would definately reset your timing. Might want to check your fuel water seperator, is it possible you got bad gas, maybe has water in it.

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I hate to hear about this stuff so early in the season. I hope it is a simple fix for you and it doesn’t keep you out of the water to long.

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Ethanol in the fuel?

Just got done reading the threads about ethanol. If you got stuck with some fuel that was tainted with ethanol, you might have gummed up the carbs / fuel filters.

Re: engine puked!
 

First take a fuel sample, then verify whether or not you have good "spark", and timing. Then, if these are good, check compression. Check for the necessities. When you find a problem with one of these systems, then you can focus on repairing the problem. Start with the easiest to check and work to the hardest.

Re: engine puked!
 

Well finally got the boat back to the house where I can work on it. The engine is getting plenty of gas. I found that I am not getting any spark. I started checking all the fuses, breakers and any loose wires. All is normal. Thought it was the coil, bought a new coil. Still no spark. Jiggled the ignition key..no spark. Pulled the dead man switch..looked fine, but how do you test? Still no spark...Could it be a bad ground somewhere? Distributor is tight, I dont think it came out of time. By the way how do you remove the dist. cap with those funny looking screws that you cant turn? One thing I failed to say was when I was running it, I accidently flipped the dead man switch..but started right back up and ran fine. It wasent until later (maybe an hr.) that it started acting up. Now I have Two boats in my drive way..One that wont sell and the other that wont run! Please Help.. :eek:
Cheers,
Matt

Re: engine puked!
 

You can follow the wires from behind the 'dead man' switch and unplug the switch and plug the wires together, bypassing the switch to check the switch itself if you don't have an ohm/continuity tester. I had same problem on one of my boats. just died in the water. Turned out the switch contacts must have gotten a build up on them. I flipped it many times, and was on my way.

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Thanks US1, I pulled the switch didnt see much give in the wires behind it. Are you saying the wires can be unplugged further back from the switch? I did cross the two soldered leads and tried to crank,but...........no spark.

Re: engine puked!
 

Mine are. About 1' leads. Mine are purple wires, (purple and purple w/white strip) that go to the dash. They are ran along the the dash wires underneath. But since you crossed the solder joints with no change, the swith itself is not the problem. That's not to say the switch did not get unplugged at the connector. (long shot) Needs to be a closed circut for spark.
Did you check if you have 12v at the '+' terminal at the coil?

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No I havent...whats the process? Ignition on, and a grounded test light? Do you have to crank the starter to get volts? Sorry im a bit of a dumb azz. :D

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yes. test light grounded and connected to coil positive terminal. Key in run position. No need to crank. Figure might as well start at the basics.

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thanks again US1..

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Well finally got her running tonight! :D I narrowed it down to the cap and rotor, and well maybe the coil too. Chased all the grounds. I hate electrical problems. I replaced all the plugs installed new ones, changed the oil and filter..tomorrow is the fuel filter (ran out of day light). I dont think the plugs have ever been changed, gaps were all over the board and the rotor still had lock tight. I switched over to the msd blaster coil..hope this doesnt cause a problem with the ignition module? All in all I learned alot, especially building my own fresh water flush. Thanks for the help guys!
Cheers, Matt