Dumbest move of the weekend
 

Headed out on Sunday in my 42 Fountain. Boat ran great all weekend up until this happens, Get up on plane and just start to give her some more throttle while trimming her up and WHAM, center motor loses rpms and shuts off. Over 3/4 tank of fuel. Oil pressure was fine in all three motors while planning off and accelerating. Stop the boat and try to restart. Fires, sounds terrible, and really rough and dies. Keep trying to fire her and its turning over hard and sounds like ****. Check all my MSD connections, pull dipstick, pull valve cover caps and breathers and look and no moisture, oil looks clean so I am like WTF! Let it sit thinking ok maybe vapor locked it or something dumb, or drive seized up. Just for ****s I switch so it cranks using all batteries and it wings over fine but no fire. I say screw it and I decide to fire other two motors and go back to camp and put it on the trailer. Just fire other two motors, slip it into gear and starboard motor quits and won't re-fire. Now I am thinking it is something dumb! While cleaning the cockpit that morning I accidentally hit the fuel tank transfer switch from starboard front to starboard rear (saddle tank) and I always leave those empty. Flipped the switch back, cranked starboard motor and she fires. Cranked the center motor awhile and whammo, back on my way! Went from that nasty feeling of thinking she blew up or broke a drive to back in action! Just thought I'd share what an idiot I am.

LOL! Chit like that happens to all of us!

YOU ARE NOT AN IDIOT-- all you did was "pay a little tuition" for some wisdom.

Thanks for sharing

Safe Boating

3pointstar

It happens man! Have a beer and celebrate it was that easy!

Heck, I have redone complete electrical system cause someone stepped on the Dangleing kill switch cord just hard enough to to trip the switch but Not pull the cord out....Sh*T Happens.....

Happens to everyone, few are lucky. This weekend I had port engine at zero oil pressure and light on at start-up, engine was running fine no beeps from computer. Shut it down, checked everything, re-fired and same gauge reading with engine running fine. Starboard engine at proper pressure, had an issue last year with oil pressure sensor on starboard so thought that was the problem. With sweat rolling down my forehead I ran the boat up on plane, if it was the sensor computer would of went into limp mode, with no issue and gauge at zero. After a few miles gauge started to twitch and the gauge gods re-energized the failing gauge. Obvious bad/broken connection but an "Oh Crap" moment for sure, so I feel your pain.

hey crap happens lol at least it wasn't something tragic lol

LOL....but only because my weekend started the same way! Dipped boat, fired it up, ran it at idle for 1/2 mile downriver to Lake Michigan, jumped on plane...and port motor dies. I went back and found that when I was rebuilding the fuel pump, I had accidently kicked the shut-off valve. Oh...and the fuel line TO the pump was only finger tight. Cycled the ignition key 15 times to get fuel pressure back, and it fired right up.

I would be willing to bet $50 that someone, somewhere did something dumber on a boat this weekend. Wait till you do the same in a small plane and hear "the loudest silence in the world" looking for a landing spot etc. Then you realize you just need to switch fuel tanks. :poopoo:

Seen on the news last weekend a couple in fla got tossed out while their boat sped away at full speed. No lanyard, doh!

I don't know whats worse, watching the boat speed away, or whats going to stop it, holy crap.

No kidding, said they floated for 14 hours before some fishermen spotted and rescued them

Sometimes you have to make sure the situation is stable and just stop and think for a minute. One time my engine wouldn't start on Lake Huron. There was water on some of the parts in the engine room and the engine would crank and not start. First thought is oh, great, were dead on Lake Huron and taking on water. After determining that we were at least drifting toward shore I told everyone to just be quiet and let me think for a minute. Then I realized that the kill switch was half way tripped and the water was just a little that came in through an engine room vent from the waves! :)

I would rather feel like an idiot than have a big shop bill!!

I had a pretty stupid moment on Sunday. At the end of the creek I launch in is a marina with a bunch of 40'-60' yachts, well I was going out as a lot of these *******s were coming in and hit a monster yacht wake at 50 ish, came down extremely hard and the motor shut off right in the middle of the channel, hatch up, monster yachts still going by on plane, rocking me to death, I have spark, fuel pressure, merthacode thing not tripped, and no fire, a police boat showed up and towed us out of the channel, my buddy and I inspect some more, about an hour has passed and we say screw it. Threw out the anchor and commenced to drinking beer when my wife of all people does something near the key and says try it now, crank and boom, the kill switch, although still on apparently got jarred enough to kill the motor.

Mine wasn't this weekend but at the end of last summer, couple weeks after we bought the Cig, we were out for a ride and needed fuel. I was idling around waiting for the fuel dock, we had two other five year olds with us and our four year old. They were up and down, in and out of the cabin. Well a boat leaves I go to put it in gear and starboard motor dies, WTF!! I come into fuel dock on one motor, start going thru the checklist of possible problems. I even checked the engine harness. Nothing. Everybody is complimenting me on what a nice boat it is, as I sit there wondering what is wrong. I call my mechanic and go home on one motor. When I get to the dock, my mechanic is there waiting for us, I am pulling into my slip and he looks over and says flip that switch! I

I felt really stupid, I knew right away what had happened. Cigs have three main breaker switcjes on the panel as you go down into cabin and one of the kids had flipped the starboard switch as they wre going in and out. It was by coincendence that it happened as I put it in gear. I knew about them, but being a new owner and kinda worried what had happened to my new boat I didn't even think about them! They are the first thing I will check next time it happens!! I think it has happened to lots of top gun owners!

Been there^^^ wife threw towel into cabin hit switch. dies. Took almost 30 min to figure it out. Checked EVERYTING else first

Sure has I bought my new to me gun last year and did not know anything about those switches but as I went over the boat in my driveway and saw that they where on and shut them off assuming they where something to do with the shore power. Took me a couple hours of tracing my steps to figure out why motors wouldn't fire and engine hatch would only click I just got lucky I had decided to test fire the motors on the hose before I went to the water so I didn't look like a fool in the ramp. Sure felt like an idiot trying to explain to people I had planned to meet out why I was a couple hours late

And the moral of the story. Check the easy stuff first. We all have been there.