Engine cuts out in neutral

J

Jacqueline

Member
Jul 30, 2009
48
Trieste, Italy
Boat Info
Sundancer 290, 1992,
Engines
Twin petrol engines
Hi, I am clubsearay's newest member and I hope someone can help. I bought an old sea ray sundancer 290 earlier this year and am slowly getting her spruced up and all problems sorted. There is one problem the boatyard cannot explain, sometimes one or other of the engines (gasoline not diesel) cuts out when in the marina, generally when I am trying to berth her. This generally seems to happen when the engines are in neutral. The problem seems to be worse when the engines have been running for a while. Obviously I want to get it sorted because it is vital to have both engines running when trying to manouevre in a small space. Can anyone explain why this might be happening so I can suggest something to the mechanic? I do not think it is a problem of the revs being too low because I think he already checked that. Any advice would be gratefully received.
 

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Sounds like an issue I had when I first purchased my boat. I has to replace soemthing called the IAC valve (Idle Air Control valve). $110 part and sits on top of the engine and I changed it with a friend (I cant even change the oil on my car). Sea Ray changed the design slightly on the Starboard engine so when you get the replace part don't be alarmed.

Hope this helps.

T.J.
 
Apparently my engines do not have an idle air control valve, they are from 1992, and only the newer engines do. Any other suggestions anyone?

Thanks
 
Have your mechanic check the mini switches on the engine that interupts the ignition circuit, so the motor cuts out for a half second. It is necessary for the motor to shut off momentarly so the torque of the motors is removed from the gears. Hence you can shift into and out of gear. I can't remember the name of this switch, ignition interupt switch or something like that.
 
There is a microswitch that senses the load on the gearshift cable and is set up to "almost stall" the engine as you pull it out of gear. These can be an absolute pain to adjust and I've lost count of the number of boats I've driven where they quite plainly don't work at all. It could be that the shift mechnism is excesively tight (lack of lubrication or the short intermediate cable between the actuator and the drive is damaged but I've replaced perfectly good cables to try and resolve this and still had the same problem. Adjustment consists of "bending" the arm of the microswitch but I'm rapidly reaching the end of my tether with the one in my 1991 200 OV. If the normal stuff doesn't sort it I'm going to double up the spring on the actuator or build an electronic device to manage the function of the microswitch.

Best of luck :grin::grin:
 
islandhopper00 said:
Have your mechanic check the mini switches on the engine that interupts the ignition circuit, so the motor cuts out for a half second. It is necessary for the motor to shut off momentarly so the torque of the motors is removed from the gears. Hence you can shift into and out of gear. I can't remember the name of this switch, ignition interupt switch or something like that.
Click to expand...

I think the name you are looking for is a "shift anticipation" switch. I had a broken connection on one if these that took forever to find. The Marinemax tech that finally found it ran a "jiggle" test (at least that's what he called it) with a test computer connected. The test showed a code related to the switch. The anticipation switch was replaced and all has been fine since that time. Hope that might help.
 
Knotty bouy, I am not sure if they cut out as I put them into neutral to be honest because the noise of one engine drowns the other. I have asked the mechanic to put a cut out alarm on both engines so I can be clear about exactly what circumstances cause the engines to cut out. Thanks for your help, it is appreicated, I will pass the comments on to the mechanic now.
 
Whith the age of your engines there won't be any management system to produce codes. I think you've probably got "Thunderbolt" electronic ignition which is quite basic and the switch just shorts the coil input pulse to ground. The easy way to test it is just to push the sprung loaded assembly with the engine running and it should stall.
I find if you adjust it to the point where it stops working all together and then take it back to where it JUST works it's normally ok but it takes a bit of "fiddeling" to get it right.
:thumbsup:
 
:wink:
Thanks Naughty. I have passed the info on to the mechanic. Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed!
 
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