2007 - 185 Sport 3.0L - Engine trouble

[cdefreit]

Ok, my boat has died twice on me now and gives me about 20mins of no start or no idle and then will run perfectly for the rest of the day. Sorry for the long post, but I'm trying to be as descriptive as I can.

First occurrence, boat starts normally runs normally in idle speed/slow speed zones for about 30 mins (so it should be nice and warm). Got up on plane, cruised at 25mph for about 10 minutes, throttled back for a no wake zone and the engine stalled. Does not restart for about 15 minutes sitting powerless in the water. Engine would turn over and you could hear it fire a few times but would not start. Eventually she started, hesitantly, and ran PERFECTLY ALL DAY!

I thought it was a fluke or some bad gas, so I really didn't do much. I did change the spark plugs, the engine oil and the gear oil as part of a planned maintenance but not really to fix anything.

Second occurrence, idle speed for about 15 minutes, just about to go out the inlet, gave it some throttle to get on plane, gets to maybe 12mph and the engine hesitates then stalls. This time it starts back up but only at more than 3/4 throttle, anything below 2000 RPM and she starts to stall. Repeatedly try to start and keep her running for about 10 mins when a cop tells me I have to move, so I get her in gear and move off but I have to keep the RPM's fairly high or she stalls. Then about 5 mins into moving, she smoothes out and idles perfectly. No more hesitation or stalling at any RPM. Runs great the rest of the day

My guess - Fuel/Fuel flow or Carburetor problem.

I just siphoned almost all the gas out it and refilled with fresh gas, but I don't know if that fixed anything because it's intermittent.

I don't see a fuel filter or water separator on this boat. It looks like the fuel lines go straight from the tank to the fuel pump and then on to the carb. Maybe I'm not recognizing it, but I imagine there should be one.

Any advice?

Thanks

-Collin
2007 - 185 Sport - 3.0L - Alpha1

 

[quailrunner]

There is definitely a fuel filter. It may be in the fuel pump, or in the carb (does yours have a carb?) How old was the gas? When was the last time you ran the boat at high speed for a while? Do you use additives? This sounds like either water in the gas or a carb issue; at some point, running the boat won't clear out clogs, and you will have to have the carb rebuilt. I'd try adding Sea Foam to the gas first, but only if you think the boat will keep running long enough to flush the system quite a bit.

 

[CliffA]

some ideas...

carb could be loading up while idleing...when you try to accelerate there is too much gas dumped into the intake at one time and it takes a few seconds to clear things out....once the carb clears itself it could run the rest of the day just fine unless you idle again for an extended period of time...excessive idle time can and will cause a carb to 'load up'...not sure there is much to do but rebuild the carb to correct this problem...my boat occasionally has this problem as well...

do you see any black stains along the water line on the transom?....if so the carb could be adjusted too rich which could also lead to the carb loading up during long idle periods...the dark stains could be from the rich exhaust fumes coming through the prop...

plugged or partially plugged fuel filter....you may have a filter in the fitting that connects the fuel supply line to the carb...if it is like mine it is basically just a piece of sceeen that is spring loaded...unscrew the fitting to get to it but don't loose the spring...

Fuel pump could be starting to go bad...for a carb'd engine there is not any real good way to check the fuel pump....it just kinda stops on you one day....someone else may know of a way to check the pump....

possible ignition problem causing the spark in one or more plugs to mis-fire once in a while....you said you changed the plugs so you may want to also check your distributor cap, rotor button, and plug wires...one of these could be allowing the spark to jump and ground out...observe the engine running at night without any lights on...if the spark is jumping from a plug wire or the distributor cap you should be able to see it in the dark...also make sure the gap on the plugs is correct...too wide or too small of a gap will cause problems....don't trust the new plugs to be gapped correctly out of the box...

it would not hurt to check your ignition timing....

possible ignition coil problem, but based on your description i doubt it...a defective coil can run the engine fine for a while but when it heats up it will shut the engine down...after the heated coil cools down a while it will start the engine again and run until the coil heats up again...

and you may have solved your problems already if they were caused by some bad gas, but the fact that the engine would clear up and run fine for the bulk of the day makes me doubt bad gas is the problem....

 

[blaster]

Niether of my 3.0 carb engines had any sort of fuel filter or water seperator. I got bad gas a couple times and had some similar issues. I remember both models had a transparent hose attached to the fuel pump. Fuel in the hose indicates a pump failure.

 

[Gunn]

In regards to the fuel filter, my 3.0l has a screen filter right in the inlet to the carb. I added a fuel filter/water separator kit (Sierra stainless) inline.

Cliff summed up all the various issues it could be pretty well. To eliminate a fuel issue, take a can of starter fluid with you. If/when this happens again, take off the flame arrestor, spray some starter fluid down the carb, replace the flame arrestor and try to start the engine. If it starts immediately and runs for a couple of seconds, you can start to think that it's a fuel issue. If it doesn't even fire, then you can start to think about it being an ignition issue. Then go from there...

Tom