Cannot get boat on Plane - Help (Unfortunately Again) 320 DA

Aaronpav2001

Aaronpav2001

Member
Mar 5, 2017
141
Lake Norman
Boat Info
2002 320 Sundancer "Jela-Sea"
Engines
Merc 350 MPI V-drives
Morning all,
Have issue getting 320 DA up on plane The bottom is clean swim tabs all the way down and never had this issue. The portside tachometer is bouncing all over the place when it goes up at all. The gauge showing balance between engines is also way out of sync and shows all the way to starboard when both throttle are all the way up. Starboard engine struggling to get over 3000 RPMS.

I know a lot has been posted about this but haven't seen any with the gauges acting funky. Boat sounds good and runs good when not on plane. She is do for plugs, wires and distributor caps so I was going to start there and maybe knock out the fuel filters. Any other suggestions or has anyone had a similar experience? I was hoping to make it a few more weeks but....

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and thanks for the help.
 
You're on the right track out of the gate. Start with the tune up elements as you mentioned and see where that takes you. I'd suspect distributor or wires based on the descriptions but definitely do plugs and fuel filters as well.
 
Fuel filters, plugs/wires, dist cap, carb rebuild... in that order (actually just do all of it)
 
Gents one more observation.

The boat revs up to normal RPMs and both engines are perfectly balanced while in neutral. I understand I am not pushing any water or anything but would this be normal for boat in need of tune up etc or could it be something else? Both engines got up over 4000 rpms perfectly balanced with no issues and sounded great.
 
Aaronpav2001 said:
Gents one more observation.

The boat revs up to normal RPMs and both engines are perfectly balanced while in neutral. I understand I am not pushing any water or anything but would this be normal for boat in need of tune up etc or could it be something else? Both engines got up over 4000 rpms perfectly balanced with no issues and sounded great.
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Reviving in neutral doesn’t prove anything. There is no load on the motor and It requires very little fuel to do this.
 
If you do decide to pull the plugs, do a compression test while they are out. This will give you a good feel for the internals.
 
A friend was having issues on his 2005 320DA. Issue turned out to be clogged fuel injectors. Had the two injector sets pulled and serviced and he was back up to speed and getting proper RPMs.

-Kevin
 
KevinC said:
A friend was having issues on his 2005 320DA. Issue turned out to be clogged fuel injectors. Had the two injector sets pulled and serviced and he was back up to speed and getting proper RPMs.

-Kevin
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I was thinking this also
 
liv2ryde100 said:
The dreaded cool fuel module cover paint issue
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In his case I believe it was a CF3 issue or a least the remnants of one. However with the OP here having a 320 listed as a 2002 he should have a CF2 with spin on filters. Still think it could be an injector issue but still would start with the filters as they are easy.

-Kevin
 
Aaronpav2001 said:
Morning all,
Have issue getting 320 DA up on plane The bottom is clean swim tabs all the way down and never had this issue. The portside tachometer is bouncing all over the place when it goes up at all. The gauge showing balance between engines is also way out of sync and shows all the way to starboard when both throttle are all the way up. Starboard engine struggling to get over 3000 RPMS.

I know a lot has been posted about this but haven't seen any with the gauges acting funky. Boat sounds good and runs good when not on plane. She is do for plugs, wires and distributor caps so I was going to start there and maybe knock out the fuel filters. Any other suggestions or has anyone had a similar experience? I was hoping to make it a few more weeks but....

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Hi, when I have had a similar issue on my 300 it was a primary fuel pump disconnected. With one engine my starboard would not go more that 3000 struggling and won't plane with just one. I'd check the fuel filters first and also the fuel/water separator filter as well and then the distributor cap looking for carbon build up. Good hunting!!
 
Having somewhat the same issue with my 2003 320DA, the starboard engine will not get above 3800 RPM. I have done plugs, filters, cap. I think it is time to start looking at the injectors and the rest of the fuel system.
 
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