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Bad computer...


Souperfly

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Ok guys, I'm outta hibernation! I always seem to leave the forum around November and pop my head back in around Feb.. lol

Anyway, I didn't get a chance to take my Bu out more than 3 times all last summer due to moving/new job and a problem I was having. Some may remember I posted something of the problem back in Aug. Well I finally found out that the computer is going out. Its a 96 Sunsetter with the 350 Mag MPI. Anyone know where I can pick up a computer for cheaper than what the dealer will sell/rape me with it? Right now I'm looking at between 700-800 installed at my local Malibu dealership for a 2 hr job... And that was only an estimate, so I'm guessing it will be closer to 1k.

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Ouch, there is no way to send it back to the Manufacture and have it rebuilt or exchanged. I know on cars you can send in the PC's and have them flashed or modified for certain parameters when upgrades are made, but these are aftermarket options.

Just wondering if you tried contacting the manuf. of the PC itself?

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Ouch, there is no way to send it back to the Manufacture and have it rebuilt or exchanged. I know on cars you can send in the PC's and have them flashed or modified for certain parameters when upgrades are made, but these are aftermarket options.

Just wondering if you tried contacting the manuf. of the PC itself?

I haven't tried and the dealership made is sound as it HAD to be replaced...

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Ouch, there is no way to send it back to the Manufacture and have it rebuilt or exchanged. I know on cars you can send in the PC's and have them flashed or modified for certain parameters when upgrades are made, but these are aftermarket options.

Just wondering if you tried contacting the manuf. of the PC itself?

I haven't tried and the dealership made is sound as it HAD to be replaced...

If you have the part number, try doing a search on google. You would be surprised what you can find out these now a days, I can assure there is some warehouse out there with some of these available. You just have to know how to find them :) unless you fork out the cash and have it done by the dealer.

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Anyone have a part number for a 96 Malibu Sunsetter LX w/a 350 Mag MPI engine main computer? Whistling.gif

And the worst part about it is that boat only has 318 orginal hours.....

Edited by Souperfly
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You might want to check with "another" dealer.

According to the dealer here, those computers can be "re-programmed" The software they use is very expensive and only a few select dealers have that software. I know of one here in Indiana.

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So can it just be re-programmed? I would think that if it is "messing up" that it would need to be replaced... I'll start calling other dealers.

If it were me, I'd be calling anyone and everyone just to be "sure"

It could need replaced, but where is the harm in finding out if it can be re-programmed at a cheaper cost?

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So can it just be re-programmed? I would think that if it is "messing up" that it would need to be replaced... I'll start calling other dealers.

If it were me, I'd be calling anyone and everyone just to be "sure"

It could need replaced, but where is the harm in finding out if it can be re-programmed at a cheaper cost?

Plus1.gif

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Ok guys, I'm outta hibernation! I always seem to leave the forum around November and pop my head back in around Feb.. lol

Anyway, I didn't get a chance to take my Bu out more than 3 times all last summer due to moving/new job and a problem I was having. Some may remember I posted something of the problem back in Aug. Well I finally found out that the computer is going out. Its a 96 Sunsetter with the 350 Mag MPI. Anyone know where I can pick up a computer for cheaper than what the dealer will sell/rape me with it? Right now I'm looking at between 700-800 installed at my local Malibu dealership for a 2 hr job... And that was only an estimate, so I'm guessing it will be closer to 1k.

Could you ask a GM guy ( mechanic ) if he can help or suggest?

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Ok guys, I'm outta hibernation! I always seem to leave the forum around November and pop my head back in around Feb.. lol

Anyway, I didn't get a chance to take my Bu out more than 3 times all last summer due to moving/new job and a problem I was having. Some may remember I posted something of the problem back in Aug. Well I finally found out that the computer is going out. Its a 96 Sunsetter with the 350 Mag MPI. Anyone know where I can pick up a computer for cheaper than what the dealer will sell/rape me with it? Right now I'm looking at between 700-800 installed at my local Malibu dealership for a 2 hr job... And that was only an estimate, so I'm guessing it will be closer to 1k.

Could you ask a GM guy ( mechanic ) if he can help or suggest?

My brother is a GM ASE certified Master Mechanic, and he has no clue. I talked to a couple different Malibu dealerships in Tx and basically got a big run-a-round.

Round Rock Malibu said that he's never heard of a computer going out and that they only get reprogrammed from the factory if there is a fault from the factory. And that it could be numerous things.

San Antonio Sail and Ski (CC dealer) said that it is a/are stuck injectors, possibly the computer

Houston Malibu said its def the computer as he's replaced 3 in the past 2 years, not programmable.

So on Saturday I plan on pulling outta hibernation and get the codes read, we'll see... Keep your fingers crossed that its something small!

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Ok, so today I pulled the boat outta its winter storage, checked the oil, topped her off with new gas, hooked up the water line and prayed for a miracle. Turn of the key and about 8 turns she fires right up purring. Let her run for about 30 min at about 2k rpm, shut her down for 10 min and fired right back up... I repeated that step a couple times and every time she fired even quicker.

During my inspection, I was making sure all the spark plug wires were tight and giving them a twist to account for any corrosion. What I did find is that two of the wires "popped on" when I pushed them on the spark plug. These 2 were possible not all the way connected. Could this be the problem that I was having during my three times out?

A recap on the problem... Basically the boat would start fine, run good pulling boarders then when it was time to shut off and move ballast, it didn't want to restart acting like it was out of gas. It would finally start back up and run, but not great for at least 3 min then it would pick back up. Someone said in my original post that it was a computer, then after talking with a local malibu dealer they agreed. I haven't had the boat inspected for this problem yet, but today was def a good day!

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Ok, so today I pulled the boat outta its winter storage, checked the oil, topped her off with new gas, hooked up the water line and prayed for a miracle. Turn of the key and about 8 turns she fires right up purring. Let her run for about 30 min at about 2k rpm, shut her down for 10 min and fired right back up... I repeated that step a couple times and every time she fired even quicker.

During my inspection, I was making sure all the spark plug wires were tight and giving them a twist to account for any corrosion. What I did find is that two of the wires "popped on" when I pushed them on the spark plug. These 2 were possible not all the way connected. Could this be the problem that I was having during my three times out?

A recap on the problem... Basically the boat would start fine, run good pulling boarders then when it was time to shut off and move ballast, it didn't want to restart acting like it was out of gas. It would finally start back up and run, but not great for at least 3 min then it would pick back up. Someone said in my original post that it was a computer, then after talking with a local malibu dealer they agreed. I haven't had the boat inspected for this problem yet, but today was def a good day!

don't you mean it was a souper day!

glad it worked out for you so easy.

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A hard start on a warm engine is usually a sign that the coolant temperature sender (for the computer) is acting up, sending misinformation to the computer. Also, improper ignition timing (overadvanced) could cause hard starts when warm.

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