BUP

iTrader: (9)

I will add that I did nt say anything but - the people working on your boat as again the problems could have been end user self induced. Have no idea and not finger pointing but believe me many are in general.

This shop is surely working on a lunch eater. If in fact you have bad ECM you are getting a deal for 2100 dollars for a bill -

The freaking ECM is 1732 US dollars alone. I am sure they have at least 8 hours of trying to figure out what on earth is wrong with your boat. Now I am not saying this repair shop is a good one or a bad one, I can not make that call.

If in fact the ECM is the problem its lists for 1732 and to call them a STEALER over a public forum is not right - they are trying to fix your boat and these parts are not free. Give them a shot at it.

If it was me and you brought me this lunch eater then I seen were you called me a stealer over the net - I would call you up and tell you to come get your F in boat just the way its sits and never call me again. Just saying. if you can prove they are a stealer and rape boaters then that a different story. But then I would have to ask why did your bring the boat to them in the first place.

keep in mind all way up till last year I was a full blown dealer as well - I kind of get taken back a bit when boat owners really talk bad about dealers / real repair shops. NOT all of them are crooks. This marine stuff is human built, indepth problems can easily just pop up out of the blue. It costs a lot of money to stay on top of it yearly plus the special tools to buy.

And to add to this many lunch eater problems are self induce by the end user and especially a lot from the ones who think they can work on their own boats. I have been there many times in the 100s and a lot of the related problems can be traced back to the end user. I said what was on my mind. Sorry for the rant but my statements hold a chit load of water.

chaoscube

Sorry to call them stealer...I didnt want to offense someone here.

The thing is that I drop my boat there and only ask them to scan my boat for $45. They never called me after 1 week to let me know that there was no code on the engine and they decided to work on the boat without asking me if I accept this or not. Now I have talked with them yesterday and they said to me I owe them $400 now and the problem is still the same. They found nothing.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

I understand and again not finger pointing at U or them. So did you get the pics of your ECM stickers ? and posted 9 things possible for the problem in order. You need to see if your boost fuel pump really is a 3 psi ? What did the shop say about that, if in fact 3 psi for testing ?

ECM scanning sometimes will show nothing and your boat runs very very badly - just saying.

chaoscube

I go to the dealer after my work and they were closed. I looked in their yard and my boat isnt there. I guess its Inside in the shop or they moved the boat to another shop to test an ECM or something else...I will call them tomorrow.

Am I stupid or it could be a good option....I'm thinking about buying a Carb/Intake/Dizzy old school mecanic....it will cost a lot less than the ECM if its the problem and always had performance boats with carb before and never had a problem.

SB

iTrader: (1)

I've swapped from EFI to carb.

If you like and choose this option, than it's fine, since it is you choosing it.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

Will say the carb marine engines are less of a PITA over the long haul compared to MPI. Like with most marine engines lack of maintenance is the number 1 problem for a lot of failures no matter of the app. If you break that down - fuel and cooling will be on the top of the list for why the engine has more indepth problems of failures.

The negative side about changing a somewhat current boat model over to a carb app from MPI is the selling aspect of it. 8 out 10 buyers buying a family Rec boat and or a stock production boat want a fuel injection engine in the boat.

If the ECM tests good and you CAN get a straight answer on the fuel pressures - IMO the 9 things that I posted could be the possible fix, one of those or a combine of them.

With any type of repairing these darn marine apps it takes of course the know how, the process of pin pointing the problem, but really the process of elimination a lot of times is the true way to find the exact problem. Also sometimes luck comes into play as well.

You need to start from the beginning - when did this problem 1st start - has it got worse over time, What has changed with the boat / engine anything ? has it ever ran good ?

Call the people who are working on your boat and ask if anything is new plus get what is their game plan is ? I would ask them what has been done to determine the things that are NOT the problem - again like I said process of elimination. example : fuel pumps ? fuel pressure ? proper voltage and so on.

Do you want to say who is working on it ?

SB

iTrader: (1)

It's a 1986 22ft Avanti.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

OH totally forgot about that was the boat app, the engine is 2006 so forgot the hull was that old. But with said I bet whomever the buyers were, bought into buying a MPI app for their boat - like what most buyers are looking for.

My bad also.

chaoscube

I have ride with the boat all summer long last year with any issues. When we winterize it, it was running like a brand new.


This spring I did:

Hardin Marine drive shower install
Spark plug wires changed
Distributor cap and rotor changed
Raw sea pump impeller changed
Thermostat changed
All filters changed
Outdrive and motor oil changed

I have started the engine on the lake for the first time at the boat ramp. It runs for 2 minutes...time to see the winter coolant going everywhere on the water, then clear water from the lake trought the exhaust. It runs about 2-3 minutes then the a BEEP and the engine stalled. I restart it and the engine starts to die sooner and sooner. Now I start the boat, it runs perfectly but only like 4 or 5 seconds
-tested the IAC & TPS
-fuel pressure was good at the check valve before the throttle body
-looked into the fuel filter to see if there was something
-tried with new 91 octane fuel in a gallon



-no codes showing on the merc scan tool
-the dealer by pass all the switches and relays (ignition, shift switch, things upfront under the dash and more)
-they looked at the connections at the ECM they told me
-they found that the wire on the starter was not well tighted and a cable going into the battery selector was also not well tighted.

-Now they think the ECM is defect or a ground is bad somewhere but they checked everything except the big main harness (cause it will takes hours and hours to check this out they said)


Here is the story in details. I will call them Tomorrow to see whats going on. If there is no news from them, I will bring the boat back to my shop and do more test myself. I will put back OLD distributor cap & rotor and spark plug wires also and see if its the problem. If not, gonna also double check IAC and TPS and connections from them to the ECM. As for the water pressure sensor...it will cause a Fault Code in the ECM, no ? And I didnt touch to this.

SB

iTrader: (1)

Good plan.

If it still starts fine and dies, unplug the AIC right after it starts and see if it keeps running. Unless BUP thinks this is hurtful to the ECM. I do this with GM TBI's on GM vehicles for certain diagnostics.