Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

BOAT RUNS FINE THEN LOSSES POWER????


Recommended Posts

I agree with them. Especially in light of the fact that you say when the problem happens, you can hear the fuel pump whining. The fuel pump should not whine, bad ignition module or not.

Link to comment

It sounds like people are having way too many dirty fuel issues. I have seen a number of posts on this site with boats having no power because of dirt in the fuel system and with punps costing over $300 it may be worth investing in a good spin on filter system. Here is a link for information on some Racor filter kits that may be worth looking at.

http://www.aram.no/uploadFolder/Marine_Gas...n-on_Series.pdf

According to Indmar a 60 GPH filter should be fine.

Edited by XTI04
Link to comment

Ok I took the filter out of the fuel pump and the boat ran great yesterday. The only problems I experienced is that at full throttle there was a little back firing going on but it never loss power. I'm thinking that could have been old gas. I'm going to try a higher octane gas next time. Ill keep you all updated.

Edited by 121
Link to comment

Ok I finally figured out what my issue was...... There are small screens in the inside of every injector that were clogged with something that looked like rust. Replaced and cleaned all the fuel filters and boat runs like a top thus far. I have to say thanks to the guys a Central Texas water sports for figuring out the issue.

Link to comment

I pulled the screen out of my fuel pump inlet and filled the boat with 93 octane gas and now it runs great. No more problems. Clap.gifClap.gif

Thanks for all of the help!

Link to comment
  • 10 years later...

I have an 04 Malibu VLX that started losing power and bogging down after about 30 minutes of tubing or wakeboarding.  When surfing it was very subtle it was like the prop lost bite or the transmission slipped.  If you drive it at 40-50 mph it would only take 15 minutes to bog down and start backfiring.  I called the dealer multiple times and they were sure it was the injectors.  I changed the plugs, wires, cap & rotor, coil, fuel filter, fuel pump and finally cleaned the injectors which were not dirty.  Nothing helped.  Finally I saw a post about some issues with the ICM.  As a last resort before I loaded it up and took it to the dealer I changed the Ignition Control Module $40 part at Oreillys right under the distributor cap.  I ran it for 30 minutes the first day and 20 minutes the second at 40 -50 mph with no problems.  I hope this helps someone because I have been trying to figure this out for months.

Edited by PineyPointMayhem
Link to comment
11 hours ago, PineyPointMayhem said:

I have an 04 Malibu VLX that started losing power and bogging down after about 30 minutes of tubing or wakeboarding.  When surfing it was very subtle it was like the prop lost bite or the transmission slipped.  If you drive it at 40-50 mph it would only take 15 minutes to bog down and start backfiring.  I called the dealer multiple times and they were sure it was the injectors.  I changed the plugs, wires, cap & rotor, coil, fuel filter, fuel pump and finally cleaned the injectors which were not dirty.  Nothing helped.  Finally I saw a post about some issues with the ICM.  As a last resort before I loaded it up and took it to the dealer I changed the Ignition Control Module $40 part at Oreillys right under the distributor cap.  I ran it for 30 minutes the first day and 20 minutes the second at 40 -50 mph with no problems.  I hope this helps someone because I have been trying to figure this out for months.

good first post, welcome to the crew.

Link to comment
On 2/9/2020 at 7:48 PM, PineyPointMayhem said:

As a last resort before I loaded it up and took it to the dealer I changed the Ignition Control Module $40 part at Oreillys right under the distributor cap.  I ran it for 30 minutes the first day and 20 minutes the second at 40 -50 mph with no problems.  I hope this helps someone because I have been trying to figure this out for months.

Good work!  Please tell me you used the heat conducting grease that comes with the ICM when installing?  Lots of failures shortly after installing due to not using it...

Link to comment

Yes.  I used all the grease and took it on another 20 minute test drive before I trailered it to change the oil and get it cleaned up for summer.  The old grease on the ICM was hard and you couldn't tell it was ever grease.

Link to comment
  • 3 months later...

After doing some preventative maintenance  ( Plugs, Cap, Rotor, Fuel filter and pump screen cleaning) I had the exact same symptoms as PineyPointMayhem above.  I decided to take a look at the ICM to see if mine still had it's thermal grease intact.  Pulled it out of the distributor to take a look and there were no signs of the insulating grease on the bottom of the Module where it rests on the distributor plate.  I figured this was reason enough to throw a new module in and see what happened.  Purchased the Thermal Grease from Amazon for $5.00 ( came in a five 5 pack of small syringes and only used 1) and the Module from Napa.  Typically my boat would start cutting out after it ran at boarding speeds around the 30 minute mark once warmed up.  Took it out yesterday after installing the ICM and ran a half tank of fuel through it pulling Wake boarders and tubers with no acting up.  Thanks to all for contributing to this board and helping me diagnose my problem!

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

my boat ran fine all day ,and I shut her off to hang out on shore . So I went to leave and I turn the switch to crank her and I get nothing. No gauges ,nothing.  I have a 2005 sylvan deck boat

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...