I was going to do some work on the cockpit but the weather turned out to be much better than forcast so I figured might as well get in some splash time while I still can. Had some minor surge problem last time out and it happened again today. Acts like the port engine is running out of fuel at or near full throttle. Accelerates fine, gets on plane and around 65 the port engine surges then slows down to about 2000 rpm and sometime backfires...never shuts down though. I have been trying to run the fuel down to see what it take to fill up from say 1/4 tank. Gauge was just bouncing off of full when the worst surging happened. I put it up on the trailer thinking maybe it was almost empty and filled it up. It only took 85 gallons and that was stuffing it full. According to my information, the 04 29 has either 131 gal or 140 gal...still leaves 46 gallons in the tank worst case. Also, why would just the port engine be affected...anybody have a similar problem or any ideas? I called the dealer and he had nothing to add, the factory is notorious for not answering calls on issues such as this...will try however.

Has never happened to my 2003. Fountain uses fairly large fuel lines compared to my other boats so If it is starving for fuel, it would have to be a serious plug at the pickup, which should affect both motors or it is at the engine side.

I was thinking aobut adding a fuel pressure gage but haven't got serious about it yet.

Hope you get it figured out soon!

F

what motors do you have? I have twin 496's and had a similar problem. following the rubber line from the fuel tank to the electric fuel pump there is a brass fitting. I took the fitting off the pump and there is a screen there at the front of the pump and it was clogged with small debres that resrticted the fuel flow above 4000 rpm. i found out they use an inline filter before the pump now to stop this from happening....hope this helps.......

I was thinking along those lines however I was thinking a fuel blockage problem with say a clogged fuel filter or water in the filter.
My 04 has never missed a beat in it's 8 hours of total glory.....
One time my 518hp Pontiac GTO was surging,hesitating,dropping rpms's & even backfired as you say.
I took it home to discover a clogged fuel filter. Blew out the filter, cleaned it & everything was perfect after that. Proved it with a block long burnout.
Also I would think that the dealer you purchased the boat from would be interested in helping you in their service department. I know that Fountain expects customer service from their dealers & if you are not feeling the love I would run that up the flagpole. Especially with a new boat.
Keep us posted.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I expect it is a fuel blockage issue somewhere downstream of the tank. As Tricky says, there is now an inline filter between the tank and the water separator that can be replaced easily...sounds like the best place to start. The filter is a steel unit and would have to be cut open to verify blockage. I will try one more run with the full tank just to assure there isn't a problem with the tank pickup and then change out the filters. With regard to the dealer; The closest Fountain dealer to me, and where I purchased the boat, is 100 plus miles from where I am. He runs a good operation but it is a bit difficult to diagnose things over the phone unless there has been a similar problem with another customer...he did not and thus was at a loss as to what the problem was. I had other questions and minor problems that I addressed with both the dealer and Fountain (the dealer just got the Fountain line within the last few months and hasn't had much experience so far) both the dealer and myself tried to get answers from Fountain with little success. The storm may have had something to do with that. PP, sounds like you have one of the best dealers in the country. Sounds like they sell and service alot of Fountains and other performance boats. I do have a question for you, on your '04, is the entire side, from the waterline up to the rubrail but not the stern, painted? What I mean is allover white paint and then the graphics over that. My powerquest had painted graphics like the fountain but they were applied directly to the white gelcoat. Please let me know when get a chance. Take care talk to you soon.

Further update on this problem. As mentioned above, I filled the tank to capacity and went for another run yesterday...ran perfectly! I am beginning to wonder if this is a fuel tank issue instead of a fuel line blockage...still have not heard back from the dealer.