Need help ASAP
 

Hey everyone, I need to ask for some help. I put the boat in the water yesterday, started it, ran it at 1200rpm to warm up, parked the truck and as I was coming back the the boat I heard it losing rpm and stall out. I started it back up, it ran for a few seconds and stalled again, did this a couple more times and now nothing. It just cranks and cranks, doesn't sound like it even wants to catch. The motor came from a 1998 boat, so maybe a 1997 motor? It's a 454/330. It's getting gas, you can see it squirting in the carb, the coil is arching when I take the cap off of it, rotor is new, cap is new, I cleaned the ignition sensor, and pulled one plug wire to see if there was spark, and yes, there is spark. I checked the breakers on the motor, push them and they don't move, and also checked the fuse panel, all good. I'm at a loss!! I have an event coming up next weekend so I need this thing fixed by then. I hate to bring it to a shop, in fear that they won't get to it in time. Anyone have any ideas or live in the Syracuse, NY area??? Thanks!

Jay

Hi, call my buddy Bucky...mechanic/rigger at MRD...516.398.8485....tell him marc from Florida said to call ya!!!At the very least he can trouble shoot/suggest things to check...

Marc

had a similar issue one time in an old boat, fuel in tank was contaminated,
see if you can get a fuel line off and pump some fuel into a glass container to get a look at it.
could also dump contents of spin on fuel separator into glass jar.
fuel and water will separate in the jar. mine was 50/50
got the tank pumped out and cleaned at a gas tank shop

That's FIRST on my list for tomorrow!!

What color spark are you getting? Sounds like a weak coil...

I would bet on water in the fuel. Check that first.

Sometimes at low idle you can gas foul your spark plugs. They will still spark when outside the motor but when you screw them in to the motor they will not fire under compression.

The water separating fuel filters are so good nowdays that they won't let any water past to the engine -- check the fuel filter, if no water, then that is not the issue.

Are you burning Ethanol-based fuel ? If so, I bet vapor lock.

If there's enough water in the fuel tank to fill the separator then you're still skrewed. The rest goes right into the engine.

Change the fuel filter,,,then get a 5 gallon can with fresh gas ,,,hook the line that runs to the fuel filter in to the gas can and run it on the hose at iddle and see if it runs for a wile .
If so ,,,,,,u found your problem,,,,,if not ,,its not the fuel system !!!!!!!
If it is ,,,,,drain the fuel tank out and refill with fresh fuel and go have fun .:party-smiley-004:
Sounds easy ,,is easy ,,u can do it !!!!!!!!!:coolcowboy:

Squirt it with ether and see if it fires off. I'm betin your not geting fuel. I've had enough fuel in the bowls for the accelerator pump to work (see fuel squirting) but the jets won't pick up.

A 97 motor with a carb. You probably have an electric fuel pump feeding the carb?

In response to: "If there's enough water in the fuel tank to fill the separator then you're still skrewed. The rest goes right into the engine."

I believe the water-separating fuel filter will not let any fuel thru if it is full of water and the engine will starve of fuel. It doesn't start letting fuel thru if it is full of water...

The spin on filters from Merc/Quicksilver etc. are only good for their capacity of water. Once the bottom of the filter can is full of water or other liquid contaminent, anything remaining in the fuel tank will pass through. That's why they should be changed regularly.

They do not stop the flow of fuel or water at that point. A separator that is "overwelmed" is the same as not having one at all.

I contacted my local Mercruiser repair place and he also told me that once the fuel filter is full, they starve the engine of fuel. He told me he just had a 24' boat in last week which would not run at all, the filter was completely full with water, replaced the fuel filter and everytime ran fine. So now I confused as to which theory is correct...

I would not believe the merc guy !!!!SD FEVER IS CORRECT !!!!! But u still need to change them . AND DO NOT USE ETHER OR STARTING FLUID !!!!!!

ITS NOT A DIESEL TRACKTOR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:

Change the filter regardless. They get very hard to "suck" through when they are full, but if you have a fuel pump ahead of the filter it can push rite through it.

Don't listen to others entirely. Put your old filter in a vise just well enough to hold it.

Take a hammer and sharp chisel and carefully carve off the bottom of the can.

Take a look at that and ask yourself "what magic would stall the engine after it's full of water"?

Answer - There is no magic. It's just a dumb device that is for basic protection.

Now if there were an actual water sensor that was linked to a computer/ecm or a dash mounted indicator of some sort then you would know for sure. However, even the water sensors on the expensive Durmax engines is still a piece of crap. It does NOT work all the time and it is linked to ecm and dashboard indicators. The cheapest and best way is to change if often or keep using it and buy engines.

Sorry, there is no "starve" capability in a spin on filter for 8 bucks.

Thanks for the info. Another lesson learned...

Hey that goes for me too. I've been wrong and it's a good idea to ask many like you have. it's also good to be able to form your own opinion.

Thanks again everyone!! Got the boat running yesterday!!!!!! Changed the filter and surprise surprise, water droplets float in it. Put in a couple bottles of K100 in the tank, a quick shot of starting fluid and started right up. Stalled a few times but eventual ran pretty smooth. I put 15 gallons of 93 in it and ran almost all of it out yesterday. Changed plugs today, and plan on going out tomorrow afternoon. Again, thank you all for your input!!