I thought it was strange when the dealer told me that but I do have a good relationship w/ them, I know he would not lie to me, maybe he was mistaken. Thanks for the info.

Finally an update! I received the boat back 3 days before the 4th weekend. Under warranty the eng builder covered the labor and I bought the parts. New Keith Black pistons, oil pump, sea and circ water pumps, repl a couple of damaged valves and misc items. I believe the builder educated himself on how to set base timing for a mpi eng. I think mine was the first mpi that he put together. The eng runs smoothly, quiet, just like it should and after 5 hrs I changed the oil- I think he had Magilla The Gorilla inst the oil filter, 2 strap wrenches and 2 guys to spin it off. I took the advise of the builder and not run full throttle till after the oil chg. OK here we go, just like before it only made 4700rpm's at 57 mph gps w a 23" mirage. I do realize that this problem is not the fault of the builder, he rebuilt the hard parts and threw on the electronics that were given to him. I have educated myself quite a bit on the MPI's with the help of this forum and the guys who have taken the time to give me their input-thank you-, the merc service manual and the hands on time w/ the eng. I have come to realize I am running in safe mode. I an getting code 42 and am running on the ign cntl module and not the ecm. I checked the 4 wires for opens/shorts to grd, all good, I recently sent the ecm out to be recaled due to the cam chg so I am assuming if it was bad he would have told me. I read on the forum that if there is a yellow dot on the i/c mod that it was bad, is this true? The dot is suppose to be black but turns yellow when the mod goes bad. mine is yellow and since it is prob orig from 1995 I ordered a new oem. While taking off the distrib it turned in my hand with little effort, I checked the bolt holding the fork and it was loose. At this point I am going to divulge the name of this eng builder so others can steer clear. He is Anthony's Marine Engines in St Pete ,fl He is a nice enough guy but I have never witnessed such poor workmanship. After I inst the new i/c mod I need to reset the base timing. I know I have to jump pins a/b on the data plug but what degrees am I looking for for the #1 plug? 8? Then I will clear the code w/ the full throttle procedure and I hope to see close to 70 mph, maybe not w/ the current 23 but a 25" It is a 27' powerquest deep vee weighs 6,660 w/ the double axle alum trailer. I just want a good running boat, this saga has gone on since last December but I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for taking the time to read all of this even if you don't respond.

I don't have any advise but wishing you good luck and a smooth running boat.

Padraig

Thanks Padraig

Not much to update, eng seems to run smooth, but down on power, still troubleshooting suspect ign or ecm, not builders responsibility. During t/s had hand on distributor and it turned very easily in my hand, fork bolt was still loose, never tightened after adj. but trying to chg oil filter at 5 hrs after rebuild needed 2 wrenches and a second pair of hands to break it loose.

This is a question: When one jumps A/B connectors for base service mode to set timing, does this set a #42 ?

#42 = Ignition Control Circuit Grounded or Open Bypass
Codes here: http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...mefi-codes.jpg

I ask, because this happens when you do this on the older GM trucks. Once timing is done with this method, you clear the codes.

depending on which MEFI 1 you have there will or can be guardian mode adapted from it stock oem Mercruiser. Early MEFI 1 's the biggest dimension ECM's had guardian mode.

Post 21 reading that as you thought it was strange ? Because you had question marks or knew this already ? Just asking to see in a good way if you are familiar with MEFI operations ?

I would get a real scan tool on this.

Went out today w/ a mech and scan tool. He never saw code 21 or 42 but saw a code for o2 rich, I did not think my ecm was looking for o2, completely confused. I did learn today , from merc cust serv that the # on the back of the ecm is only the part # for the box and not the software inside. I am seriously thinking of going w/ a carburater. My biggest problem is that the block is a gen 5 1995 but someone put newer parts on it- cool fuel, single belt, roller cam, I don't know what wire harness is on it or if I am running the right ecm.

Like I said a real scan tool needed so passing that on to whomever.

Winky blinky is stinky and kind of the duck tape method for testing marine EFI engines.