Lost a Motor Yesterday. IAC Problem?

Bucit

Bucit

New Member
Mar 12, 2010
3,144
St. Petersburg Florida
Boat Info
2005 280 Sundancer
2004 SPD-104 Achilles w/ 8hp Yamaha
Engines
Twin 4.3 MPI's with Alpha drives.
The day was going well until on our ride home I had a two beep warning on my Smart Craft gauges. The beeps would sound then shut down for about a minute then go off again. The motor lost power and died. The only way I could restart the motor was to give it gas and keep it above 800rmps. I kept it running so I could sterr since the power steering pump is on the starboard motor. I tried to search the forum for IAC's but couldn't find much. Does this sound like a IAC problem? If so, can I clean the IAC or does the unti need to be replaced? IS this a hrd fix? Any help would be appreciated. I'm trying to get her up and running for the long weekend.
 
Bucit said:
The day was going well until on our ride home I had a two beep warning on my Smart Craft gauges. The beeps would sound then shut down for about a minute then go off again. The motor lost power and died. The only way I could restart the motor was to give it gas and keep it above 800rmps. I kept it running so I could sterr since the power steering pump is on the starboard motor. I tried to search the forum for IAC's but couldn't find much. Does this sound like a IAC problem? If so, can I clean the IAC or does the unti need to be replaced? IS this a hrd fix? Any help would be appreciated. I'm trying to get her up and running for the long weekend.
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It definitely sounds like an IAC problem. As far as I know you cannot clean the IAC. You can however clean the IAC Muffler. I would try replacing that before replacing the IAC. The Mufflers should be replaced periodically. They are only about 70 cents each so not a big deal. Some people clean them but for 70 cents I just replace them. You will need a pair of tweezers to get the muffler out.

Replacing the IAC Muffler did fix this problem for me once.

It has said by others here that replacing the mufflers will prolong the life of the IAC because it has to work harder when the air flow is restricted. I would recommend carrying a spare IAC on board in your parts kit. It is an easy change even out on the water.
 
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Thanks Jason. I did some more searching on this site and found that it definately is my probelm. I'll pick up a new IAC and gasket tomorrow and should be running by Wednesday.
 
Bucit said:
Thanks Jason. I did some more searching on this site and found that it definately is my probelm. I'll pick up a new IAC and gasket tomorrow and should be running by Wednesday.
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No problem, make sure you change those mufflers while you are at it. :grin:

You may want to keep the bad IAC as an "Emergency Spare" since it does (kind of) work, that is, if you don't plan to buy a new one as a spare. At least then you will have something if one ever goes completely out.
 
I'll pick up a spare to keep on board just in case. After reading through the posts it looks like these are prone to fail.
 
jmunro123 said:
What the heck is an IAC?
What is that short for?
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Idle Air Control. When this valve goes bad your engine will stall at idle speed, and it usually fails while you are making a trip to a new marina, and you have to dock with one engine!
 
sfergson727 said:
Let me add to Hack's rather brief response. The IAC valve was invented in 1812 by Sir IAC Newton. He was a brilliant mathematician and janitor. He would spend most of his days at work, eating various things out of the garbage. Eventually, and after being made fun of for most of his adult life, he decided to turn to the dark side.

He sought out General Motors, who was battling the French somewhere, for some reason or another, and showed him a device of his making. General Motors, was working on a futuristic new prototype engine for the new horseless carriage that his buddy Lee Ill'Cockya had been designing. They all got together in a barn, which they had just built, and hatched their evil plan. Fortunately a meteor landed on the barn, thus saving society from their dastardly deeds....until.

It seems that a copy of Sir IAC's invention was discovered by General Motor's distant grandson and he chose to continue legacy of his past. He inserted this device, the IAC valve into a perfectly good running engine, and laughed an evil laugh as he sat back to watch the carnage.

As Hack said, this valve will take a otherwise perfect engine and turn it into a 900 pound paperweight. It often fails at the worse possible time, and though easily fixed, often causes users to have to wait weeks for parts, and endure the cost of a mechanic to diagnose the issue. All of this serves to torture humanity and to put money into General Motors and their subsidiaries.

We here at CSR have taken the issue head on and have saved many a hapless boater the money for diagnosis and repair, thus circumventing the dastardly plans of Sir IAC Newton.

And now you know, the rest of the story.
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Very creative Scott! I'll take it the pain meds are doing their job? :grin:
 
sfergson727 said:
Let me add to Hack's rather brief response. The IAC valve was invented in 1812 by Sir IAC Newton. He was a brilliant mathematician and janitor. He would spend most of his days at work, eating various things out of the garbage. Eventually, and after being made fun of for most of his adult life, he decided to turn to the dark side.

He sought out General Motors, who was battling the French somewhere, for some reason or another, and showed him a device of his making. General Motors, was working on a futuristic new prototype engine for the new horseless carriage that his buddy Lee Ill'Cockya had been designing. They all got together in a barn, which they had just built, and hatched their evil plan. Fortunately a meteor landed on the barn, thus saving society from their dastardly deeds....until.

It seems that a copy of Sir IAC's invention was discovered by General Motor's distant grandson and he chose to continue legacy of his past. He inserted this device, the IAC valve into a perfectly good running engine, and laughed an evil laugh as he sat back to watch the carnage.

As Hack said, this valve will take a otherwise perfect engine and turn it into a 900 pound paperweight. It often fails at the worse possible time, and though easily fixed, often causes users to have to wait weeks for parts, and endure the cost of a mechanic to diagnose the issue. All of this serves to torture humanity and to put money into General Motors and their subsidiaries.

We here at CSR have taken the issue head on and have saved many a hapless boater the money for diagnosis and repair, thus circumventing the dastardly plans of Sir IAC Newton.

And now you know, the rest of the story.
Click to expand...

Thanks Scott, I am trying to keep my blood pressure under control so I went with the condensed version.
 
How are you doing these days after the scare Bill?
 
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