New 190's 4.3 MPI dead in the water

[dburne]

Well today certainly was interesting.

The wife and I put in early this morning, for a fun filled day on the lake - beautiful weather finally, after all the rain we have had the last few weeks.

Boat ran great as always - for most of the day. Ran up to the other end of the lake, anchored in our favorite cove and hung out there most all the day.

First gremlin - apparently the amp quit working. Radio would come on for a second or two, then cut off. Display on the radio still worked, but no sound. Like the amp had no power. Turn it off for a few minutes, turn it back on - sound for a second or two, then no sound. OK, so guess I need to get that amp looked at. Still had fun even though we had no music.

Then, end of the day draws. We head back to the other end of the lake to load up. Luckily made it to the cove where we had put in. Dropped the wife off at the dock, she was going to give backing the truck back a try as it was not too crowded at that time. Started the motor, put it in reverse to back out, then sounded like the engine choked and died while in reverse.

Then nothing - for the next hour and a half - nothing. I am drifting in the cove, and dang engine will not start. I paddled back to the dock where wife still was watching. We tied the boat up at the dock. Sat there, and sat there, trying every few minutes. Nothing, engine kept turning over and turning over, nothing - not even a try to fire.

Thankfully another couple had just pulled out, pulled over and offered their help as well. We got ropes, got the trailer backed in, and quickly got the boat loaded.

Unreal, boat is still pretty new - bought it new in Feb of last year, the Mercruiser 4.3 MPI only has 39 hours on it.
Guess I will be calling the dealer first thing Monday morning to schedule appointment to bring it in and get it looked at.

I thought when I got rid of that old 1990 180 my boat and engine woes would be over for at least a while - augh...

 

[BillK2632]

Try starting it in the morning, sounds like it could be vapor lock.

 

[blaster]

You didn't accidentally bump the kill switch did you.

 

[dburne]

Try starting it in the morning, sounds like it could be vapor lock.

Ok will give that a try, but even if it started I would be very concerned about getting stranded if it happened the next time, without getting it checked out.

Thanks,

 

[dburne]

You didn't accidentally bump the kill switch did you.

No first thing I thought to check, the engine turned over and over, just would not fire. And I had plenty of fuel as well.

Thanks,

 

[dburne]

Well I put the muffs on and gave the engine another try this afternoon, still just turns over and turns over, not a hint of firing up...

Ok so to recap the strange sequence of events yesterday:

Boat ran great as usual, got up to our cove and anchored most of the day.

First thing that happened, stereo starting cutting out - apparently an issue in the amp, as the radio display still worked but no sound coming out of the speakers. Initially the sound would cut out and back in every few seconds, then nothing. Toward the end of the day, even the display on the radio stopped working.

Boat ran great back to the other end of the lake where trailer was parked. Dropped off wife at the dock , put in reverse to back away from dock while she retrieved the truck, engine choked out while backing out and died. Has not started up since.

Now I find it odd that first the weird issue with the stereo, and then eventually the engine would not start back up. Perhaps just gremlins, who knows.
My dealer is closed on Mondays, so will be Tuesday before I can contact to set up an appointment to take her in.

Not sure how it works, but I did purchase the extended 5 year warranty on the engine when we purchased the new boat last year. Yesterday was only our third trip out this season, due to many weekends of bad weather, now no telling how long I will have to put it in the shop for. Bummed.

 

[sibnai1]

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with your baby, I see that you have MPI and I know that the starter is turning the engine over but did you try a different stronger battery?

 

[kiloil]

Three things kill a engine like that, spark, fuel and electrical. Pull out one spark plug with wire attached and try to start engine. If you see a spark at the end of the plug then you've got spark. Remove the gas pressure line ( be careful not to get sprayed in face, but pull main fuse to ECM) and start engine. If a lot of fuel comes out that is not the problem. I don't know if 4.3L has a main 50 AMP fuse to reset or not. These are shotgun approaches to narrowing down the problem, but I think you get what I am saying

 

[dburne]

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with your baby, I see that you have MPI and I know that the starter is turning the engine over but did you try a different stronger battery?

I have a dual battery setup, have tried it with each individual battery and with both combined. They have plenty of power turning the motor over, it just is not firing at all, not even a hint of trying to start. I kept both batteries on a tender in the garage all winter long and both show very healthy.

Boat also has plenty of fuel, I fill the tank after every outing on the way home, and typically only burn 6-7 gallons when we are on the lake for the day, as most of the time we are anchored and just run the boat when we cruise up to the other end to anchor ( about a 30 minute cruise). I also have only ever put non ethanol gasoline in the tank.

The more I think about it, the more I feel this is somehow related to the issue with the stereo system that began earlier in the day yesterday. Maybe not, I just find it a large coincidence that it stopped working gradually throughout the day to totally dead, then the engine not running.
I will get her in the shop and let the dealer get it sorted I guess. He custom installed that stereo system for me anyway, and hopefully the engine is covered under my warranty.

Thanks,

 

[dburne]

Three things kill a engine like that, spark, fuel and electrical. Pull out one spark plug with wire attached and try to start engine. If you see a spark at the end of the plug then you've got spark. Remove the gas pressure line ( be careful not to get sprayed in face, but pull main fuse to ECM) and start engine. If a lot of fuel comes out that is not the problem. I don't know if 4.3L has a main 50 AMP fuse to reset or not. These are shotgun approaches to narrowing down the problem, but I think you get what I am saying

Thanks for the feedback kiloil,

This is probably a little beyond my level of expertise at this point, heck I don't even know where the fuses in this Sport 190 are, have never really found them anywhere with the little I have looked around. Think at this point my best bet will be to let the dealer get to the bottom of this one.
I am leaning toward electrical, as I mentioned in my previous post with the strange behavior of my stereo yesterday...

I am just disappointed to be having issues like this with such a new boat, hopefully they will get it sorted and I can finish the season out trouble free once again.

 

[thegotoguyr]

I would be expecting the stereo issue to be related to the engine issue. I could see something like alternator putting out too much current and a breaker cutting out for the amp before a stronger engine breaker cut out. I would also not be messing with such a new, expensive item that I too would expect to not be having problems with. Hopefully your dealer is not too far away and good for service.
Sometimes random things just happen, especially on boats, new or old.
Good luck.

 

[dburne]

I would be expecting the stereo issue to be related to the engine issue. I could see something like alternator putting out too much current and a breaker cutting out for the amp before a stronger engine breaker cut out. I would also not be messing with such a new, expensive item that I too would expect to not be having problems with. Hopefully your dealer is not too far away and good for service.
Sometimes random things just happen, especially on boats, new or old.
Good luck.

Agree, yes the dealer is only about 20 miles away, so at least a reasonable distance. However he is closed on Mondays, so I will be calling first thing Tuesday to schedule a time to bring it up to him to get it checked out. Hopefully they can get this sorted and fixed sooner rather than later. Been a crappy summer so far, and I want to get as many good weekends in as I can before it is over.

Thanks,

 

[LawyerMan]

Sounds like you might have a grounding issue. Check your negative on the battery. Check your grounds on the ground bar in your engine bay. Check your grounds on the bus bar under or behind your dash.

Also take your battery out and take it to AutoZone and have them load test it.

 

[Bt Doctur]

the fuses are in a rubber coverd block usually near the rear port side of the motor

 

[dburne]

Thanks for the feedback gang, I really think at this point will be best for me to take the boat in to the dealer and let him get this sorted out.
They are closed on Mondays, will be calling them first thing in the morning to schedule an appointment to bring it in.

I want to make sure this issue gets fixed properly, I was really lucky where it died on me Saturday I was close to the ramp/dock where we put in and was able to paddle to it. Thankfully it did not happen when we were all the way on the other end of the lake. I really don't want to go through that again...

 

[jeffw]

I am curious, did this happen after swimming and you got water on the back pad. This happened to me with the same boat and we found that the distributor cap had a crack in it and the water shorted it. When it dried it started again. And of course there is the dreaded I didn't know the kill switch got knocked down.

 

[DiSH]

I agree. It sounds like an electrical problem, and you should take it to the dealer. Your boat is practically new! Probably something simple...

 

[dburne]

Well I spoke with the dealer, going to haul it up there and leave it with them tomorrow. He said they are down to 1 tech and are covered up.
Great, no telling how long this will take now, finally get some nice weather after all the rainy weekends we have had...

Maybe I will get lucky and it will be something simple and they can get it sorted sooner rather than later.

 

[sibnai1]

Well I spoke with the dealer, going to haul it up there and leave it with them tomorrow. He said they are down to 1 tech and are covered up.
Great, no telling how long this will take now, finally get some nice weather after all the rainy weekends we have had...

Maybe I will get lucky and it will be something simple and they can get it sorted sooner rather than later.

hopefully it is something simple and a quick fix and you are back out on the water post haste, good luck!! We will be keeping everything crossed for you

 

[dburne]

Well I dropped it off at the dealer this morning, he had a bunch of boats there to work on and the service manager said he was down to 1 tech. I told him I really would like it back for the weekend, as we have not got to use it much this year yet, and it is still pretty new... he said he would put it on the " hot sheet" and hopefully it will not be anything major and they can get it done quickly and ready for me on Friday.

We'll see, somehow I am not feeling real optimistic, he seemed kind of scattered this morning.
Kind of bummed, my baby never been away from home.

I will let y'all know how it turns out.