Advice and help with older sea ray 190br HELP!!!

muzbomb

Member
May 23, 2012
80
Alberta, Canada
Boat Info
2001 Signiture Series Sea Ray 190BR
Engines
Inboard 5.0L EFI with Alfpha 1 leg
Hello I have an older 2001 sea ray 190BR with a 5.0 EFI alpha one leg 300hrs. It has been a great boat I am second owner Have owned it for 8yrs now. Haven’t done much too it 5yrs ago did new distributor cap and rotor other then doing my filters and oils every year. We don’t use it much some years lucky if I get a full tank of fuel run through it. But usually at the beginning of every year first ride it is very doggy can rev the boat right out but it doesn’t want to go fast 10mph it usually clears up but last year it did that for a long time. I have been reading and seeing other things wondering about now. I have not took the boat out on the lake this year yet just got it out of storage and hooked up ear muffs tan boat in drive way(started seem to run good) but I did notice there is really not much water that comes out back the exhaust when it is running this normal?? Forgive me I have been trying to learn and get more knowledge on boats. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks
 
If you haven't changed out the impeller for awhile I would do that first should do that every year or two. If you don't use a fuel stabiliser at the end of the season that should be done to preserve the fuel thats left, May be time for a new fuel filter as the one you have may be restricting the flow of fuel.
 
Ok I bought the impeller kit today and far as fuel filter goes I change it at the end of every year but maybe I should change it a couple times in the boating season also. Would the impeller have anything to do with it being doggy? And what about the water return when I hook up the ear muffs there doesn’t seem to be any water that comes out the exhaust I thought there is water then streams out usually??
 
The dogginess wouldn't be due to the impeller - that's a separate system. If you're not treating the fuel, then that is probably the most likely culprit. Fuel loses it's octane and causes running issues since it doesn't have as much "power". Another thing that happens is that it can gum up carbs or, in your case, the TB injectors. Pour the contents of the fuel filter into a glass jar (spaghetti, for example) and let it sit for an hour. It should be clear and smell like, well, like gas! If it's darker in color and/or smells more like varnish, that's an issue. Letting it sit also allows you to see if there is any water in there (separation will be obvious)

There are two places the water exits the drive. A little bit comes out through the prop, but the majority of it pours out the bottom of the transom assembly - this is the piece that is directly attached to the boat. Look underneath at the bottom side - there are two big holes there.

Do you have good water flow and pressure at the end of the hose? Are you running it full flow? When you first attach the muffs, water should be squirting out all over the place... once you start the engine, does it now pull all of the water in?

You said you bought the impeller kit... have you installed it? If it's been a while, you want to get that installed ASAP. An old impeller can break apart and clog the cooling passageways.
 
I do have the water hose at full pressure there is lots of water that comes out of the when muffs are in and boat is not running and when I start boat then the water is getting sucked in good. I do have the impeller kit and I have not changed it yet I am going to do this over the weekend suppose to rain all weekend so can’t boat anyways. My guess is that the impeller has never been changed. I will be sure to inspect it well when I remove old one. I have never had an issue with temps on the boat just the fuel issue.
 
I got the impeller changed out today the old one did not look bad at all no missing chunks or cracks but changed it all out with the whole kit. I don’t have enough oil so have to wait till tomorrow morning when store opens to get oil and will fill up the leg so couldn’t test it yet. Everything seem to go good so will see how it tests in the AM tomorrow.
 
Got the boat out today on lake and still does the same thing with the bogging no power seems like and then once in a while it will be good and have power but more lack of power. I am going to change the spark plugs, cap and rotor next just cause they have not been done in a long time the plugs maybe never and the cap and rotor was done 6yrs ago I know that.
 
Well I will also check the fuel quality. I had already replaced old filter with new filter before you mention it before. But I will spin the new filter off and pour into a glass jar tomorrow.
 
Boat temp runs at 170 all day long wouldn’t it run hot if I had bad compression? And at time it runs top notch which if wouldn’t if compression bad it would not run good??
 
Boat temp runs at 170 all day long wouldn’t it run hot if I had bad compression? And at time it runs top notch which if wouldn’t if compression bad it would not run good??
Not necessarily. But it's much less likely that "bad compression" will "fix itself" once in a while. That info is helpful. BUT, compression is super easy to check and you have pretty good access in that boat.

However... the one thing I keep looking back at is the low run time and gas that has sat around. ESPECIALLY if you haven't been properly treating the gas. If you've since put new gas in, checking fuel quality now may/may not tell us anything - but the clogged fuel injectors/etc could still be an issue. As mentioned, tune up components as well.
 
How clean do you keep the flame arrester and throttle body?

regarding the water flow on the muffs, had the boat been drained for winter? It takes some time to fill up before it runs thru the system. Think about how long it takes your garden hose to fill a 5gallon bucket.

Never ending maintenance with boats, and they still break down.
 
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Ok I will get the fuel filter off today and poured into a jar also get the plugs out and compression test done today. For the new plugs for a 5.0l efi merc are these the correct plugs to get? NGK BPR6EFS (P/N 33-816336. I am in Canada we have an auto store called Canadian Tire these have these plugs in stock but I have seen so much Info with different plug numbers just want to make sure get the right ones.
 
How clean do you keep the flame arrester and throttle body?

Never ending maintenance with boats, and they still break down.

I have never cleaned them that I know of have had the boat for 8yrs. I have always been kind of scare of boats we have never had enough money when I was a kid to ever have a boat or anything like this so haven’t been around them much. I do love going mechanic stuff I do all my own work on my vehicles at home have completely done a front end in Tahoe and have installed a 5” lift in a truck. I just not sure why but boats scare me just cause the whole water thing but i am started to get some knowledge on how it all works.
 
The motor is a typical Chevy with a few key differences from the automotive version.

Most important is to understand how important ignition protected components are VS automotive parts. Spend a little more coin for marine parts when replacing anything that can make a spark and blow up the boat.

If you do this then there is no reason for fear.
 
Ok so I just took the cap and rotor off no moisture looks pretty good. Poured fuel filter into jar but my jar filled and I think I missed the most important part the bottom last bit of the filter which I figured when I tipped the filter 5mins later into a rag And got some slime tacky sludge as you can see but there is some in the glass jar also. I took the fuel line off going from the tank to the filter housing and checked it looks ok. Some pics there too.
 

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This maybe kind of makes sense as that was a new filter and yesterday when we first left dock it was running pretty good and then after our on the lake for about 4yrs on the way back it was very boggy and hard to get it to get enough to get on plane. Is there anything on the carb I can take apart and clean or something like that?
 

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How much fuel Is left in the tank? Did it sit over winter empty or full?

How does the fuel smell? Bad fuel has a particular stink.
 
Have to get the varnish buildup from the old fuel out of the tank and lines before doing a carb service, or you'll be right back at it. See if you can find Startron enzyme treatment fuel tank cleaner.

I regularly add SeaFoam to my tank before filling up. This year I used SeaFoam Marine fuel treatment. I'd not seen it on the shelves until this year.
 

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