Boat is a Dogg

[firefed22]

Keep us updated. I'm curious as to the results.

the mechanic threw out one thought of the intake manifold. said he has another boat in with same kinda issue. Although he has not checked this one or hooked it up to the diagnostic. I am not thinking this is it. That sounds kinda extreme. Boats opp temps are good. Doesn't smell of fuel. We shall see you soon. If it is something big, I will be disappointed in the guy I bought it from who I work with and trust. Just speculation.

[bnew03xti]

My Bu did this too, I bought a fuel pressure gauge and hooked it to the schrader valve and when I gunned it in the water the fuel pressure dropped significantly; turned out to be my fuel pump.

Hope that helps a little.

[RTS]

I haven't read the entire thread, but have you ruled out your engine temp sensor (the one that goes to the ECM, not the one that goes to the guage)?

The reason I say this might be a problem is that the Indmar FI Engines have a phased warm up schedule built in. If the ECM does not think your engine is at least 139 degress, it limits the RPM. My manual says the limit is 4200 RPM until 139 degrees + 10 seconds, but the 3800 RPM max you are getting might be the setting for your newer engine, or your tach may be a little off.

Also, in your first post, you mentioned the engine would not go above 2800 RPM. That would be in line with the first pahse of the warm up, which should limit the RPM to 3000 if the ECM thinks the engine is not over 103 degree + 10 seconds.

If you are intermittantly hitting these two 'max RPM' settings, I would give a real close look to the ECM temp sensor. If it is failing or giving false readings, this could explain your problem. Probably a cheap enough fix to go ahead and get the sensor and replace it...it is a do it yourself job, for sure.

And just to be clear, this sensor will have nothing to do with what your temperature guage is showing you.

Here's the part. When I said it was cheap, I wasn't kidding...

ECM Temp Sender

Edited May 14, 2010 by rts

[firefed22]

Ran by the mechanic shop...he hooked up the diagnostic didn't get much...said he will try he laptop tomorrow. So he was listening to it run and said it sounds a bit rough(slight). So he started pulling plugs on the distributor to see if it changed the way it ran. He would take one off, ran rougher. So on and so on. But 2 of them didn't make any change. So he said, seems to me you don't have power cause your boat is running on 6 cylinders not 8. He said he will get to trouble shoot tomorrow. Start at the wire, then plug, then pressure the valve and see if the injectors are bad. I hope its the plugs. I will let you all know and thanks for all the thoughts.

[firefed22]

Talk to the shop today and he said clogged injectors. That is why the 2 were not even working. Only talked to one of the workers not the main guy. Any thoughts on what I should ask him on tuesday? I quess they plan to pull them all and ship them out to be cleaned. My understanding is that they will be as good as new but cheeper that way.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Talk to the shop today and he said clogged injectors. That is why the 2 were not even working. Only talked to one of the workers not the main guy. Any thoughts on what I should ask him on tuesday? I quess they plan to pull them all and ship them out to be cleaned. My understanding is that they will be as good as new but cheeper that way.

I have pretty good success doing this with injectors....sounds like your home free.

[firefed22]

I have pretty good success doing this with injectors....sounds like your home free.

what did your boat due? and does anyone know about how much something like this costs? I am sure a lot less then intake manifold.

[areamike]

I have pretty good success doing this with injectors....sounds like your home free.

not if it ran long enough to cause rings or piston damage. This happened twice to my boat due to clogged fuel injector.

Edited May 16, 2010 by areamike

[Intense]

My old 98 Sunsetter had a bad injector that I didn't even realized until I took it in for an inspection for a prospective buyer. Finding a replacement was a pain (damn out-of-date GM part numbers), but it eventually got fixed. Boat run better once that had been replaced.

If two are clogged, I could definitely understand the problems you're having. Make sure you do a compression check to see fi you don't have the aforementioned ring or piston damage from a starved cylinder. If no damage, consider yourself lucky.

[firefed22]

My old 98 Sunsetter had a bad injector that I didn't even realized until I took it in for an inspection for a prospective buyer. Finding a replacement was a pain (damn out-of-date GM part numbers), but it eventually got fixed. Boat run better once that had been replaced.

If two are clogged, I could definitely understand the problems you're having. Make sure you do a compression check to see fi you don't have the aforementioned ring or piston damage from a starved cylinder. If no damage, consider yourself lucky.

Talked to the mechanic today. Said the injectors are being shipped out to be cleaned. He put all new plugs in. Also did a pressure check and had no bleed down. I will consider myself blessed not lucky. Now she should run like a boat with 180 hrs. Cant wait to see it open up.

[areamike]

Talked to the mechanic today. Said the injectors are being shipped out to be cleaned. He put all new plugs in. Also did a pressure check and had no bleed down. I will consider myself blessed not lucky. Now she should run like a boat with 180 hrs. Cant wait to see it open up.

I can believe that. I had one injector almost completely clogged due to bad gas. The filter obviously let some crap by.

[firefed22]

I can believe that. I had one injector almost completely clogged due to bad gas. The filter obviously let some crap by.

Got the boat back yesterday..$940 OUCH....2 injectors totally blocked and 4 had poor spray pattern. I guess that would make it run like crap. Hope this doesn't happen again. The mechanic put cleaner in the fuel tank and ran it through a pump for 2 hours, took all the fuel lines off and let them sit in cleaner. He said he got a lot of crap out of the fuel system. Hope to get it out next weekend and see what its got. The best news is when he pressurized the cylinders, it had no leak down.

[NorCaliBu]

...were all the plugs (drain plugs) in the boat? That's how I determined one was out of my boat, drove like a pig.

The water, several inches deep, on the floor probably would have been a good indication as well.

...seems odd it would be something big on a boat with so few hours.

Lack of use is the worst thing for an engine. Especially one not properly prepped for storage.

...I will consider myself blessed not lucky.

Good perspective, brother.

Got the boat back yesterday..$940 OUCH....2 injectors totally blocked and 4 had poor spray pattern....He said he got a lot of crap out of the fuel system...

Any chance of recouping some of that ~$1000 from the seller? The gas that he left in the tank is what caused your problems. Of course, he did disclose to you that the boat hadn't been used in a year and a half and you chose to run 1½ year ago gas through the engine... Either way, sounds like you should be good to go.

[Lance B. Johnson]

what did your boat due? and does anyone know about how much something like this costs? I am sure a lot less then intake manifold.

Wasn't a fix for my boat....I am an automotive tech and have done this for a few customers cars with pretty good results.

[shawndoggy]

This thread should be stickied or cross-referenced somewhere for the answer to the "why do I need to add fuel stabilizer?" question.

[firefed22]

This thread should be stickied or cross-referenced somewhere for the answer to the "why do I need to add fuel stabilizer?" question.

This has generated a lot of good talks. I appreciate it all and hope to get it out Saturday. I will let you all know how she does. As for getting some of the money back.....hahahahaha. When I told the guy,(who i work with) he said," oh that sucks I didn't have any problems." I figure that's on him. I would do 50/50 if the role was reversed so my conscious was clear. Oh well such is life I have a nice boat and will spend good time with family and friends.

[NorCaliBu]

...As for getting some of the money back.....hahahahaha. When I told the guy,(who i work with) he said," oh that sucks I didn't have any problems." ...

That guy is headed for a karmic beatdown.

I would be sure to take lots of pic's of your good times on the boat and make sure to show them to him.

[970MIKE]

I am the previous owner of this Malibu boat. I have never had any problems with this boat. I have always over serviced this boat more than the manufacture recommends, as that is what I do to all my vehicles. This boat has had the oil and filter changed every year. I have changed the fuel filters and spark plugs, rotor and cap and impeller as needed. Every year the boat gets Gasoline Stabilizer by Amsoil placed in the tank prior to winter storage. I also use two bottles of Chevron Pro-Gard fuel injector cleaner at the start of every season and add another two bottles about half way through the season. This boat is also started several times during the winter and ran until the motor is at operating temperature using the fake a lake. It is also hooked up to a battery tender year round.

I had just serviced this boat prior to selling it. I changed the oil and filter along with the impeller. The boat was running on all cylinders with no hesitation what so ever. I also added two bottles of fuel injector cleaner in the fuel tank. I also took a look at the fuel coming into the filters finding the fuel to be clear and no bad fuel smell. If you have ever smelled bad gas you know how bad it smells like varnish and has a green cloudy cast to it.

There has been a lot of problems with fuel in the last few years which is causing problems to all types of vehicles. You have gas stations selling contaminated fuel or the wrong mix inside their tanks. There has also been a major problem with Ethanol in the fuel. Here are a couple of links I found searching for fuel problems.

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-regional/14365197-1.html

http://www.evinrude-parts.com/boat_ethanol_danger_precaution.html

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/ethanol_class.html

There was no intent on my part to sell a boat or any vehicle with problems. But as we all know anything mechanical can have problems new or used, that is just the facts of life. The new owners both used the boat running two tanks of fuel through the engine. The one experienced part owner had used the boat on a weekend and did not report any problems to me. The other inexperienced partner used the boat and then stated he was having problems with it not running as fast as he was hoping.

Thank you for your time!

Mike

Edited May 30, 2010 by 970MIKE

[davemac]

As I understand it, If someone added (10%) ethanol based fuel to a tank w/ a significant amount non-ethanol fuel already in it...that could be the recipe for disaster.

[REW]

I am the previous owner of this Malibu boat. I have never had any problems with this boat. I have always over serviced this boat more than the manufacture recommends, as that is what I do to all my vehicles. This boat has had the oil and filter changed every year. I have changed the fuel filters and spark plugs, rotor and cap and impeller as needed. Every year the boat gets Gasoline Stabilizer by Amsoil placed in the tank prior to winter storage. I also use two bottles of Chevron Pro-Gard fuel injector cleaner at the start of every season and add another two bottles about half way through the season. This boat is also started several times during the winter and ran until the motor is at operating temperature using the fake a lake. It is also hooked up to a battery tender year round.

I had just serviced this boat prior to selling it. I changed the oil and filter along with the impeller. The boat was running on all cylinders with no hesitation what so ever. I also added two bottles of fuel injector cleaner in the fuel tank. I also took a look at the fuel coming into the filters finding the fuel to be clear and no bad fuel smell. If you have ever smelled bad gas you know how bad it smells like varnish and has a green cloudy cast to it.

There has been a lot of problems with fuel in the last few years which is causing problems to all types of vehicles. You have gas stations selling contaminated fuel or the wrong mix inside their tanks. There has also been a major problem with Ethanol in the fuel. Here are a couple of links I found searching for fuel problems.

http://www.allbusine...14365197-1.html

http://www.evinrude-...precaution.html

There was no intent on my part to sell a boat or any vehicle with problems. But as we all know anything mechanical can have problems new or used, that is just the facts of life. The new owners both used the boat running two tanks of fuel through the engine. The one experienced part owner had used the boat on a weekend and did not report any problems to me. The other inexperienced partner used the boat and then stated he was having problems with it not running as fast as he was hoping.

Thank you for your time!

Mike

Intresting articals., thanks for the post

[areamike]

I am the previous owner of this Malibu boat. I have never had any problems with this boat. I have always over serviced this boat more than the manufacture recommends, as that is what I do to all my vehicles. This boat has had the oil and filter changed every year. I have changed the fuel filters and spark plugs, rotor and cap and impeller as needed. Every year the boat gets Gasoline Stabilizer by Amsoil placed in the tank prior to winter storage. I also use two bottles of Chevron Pro-Gard fuel injector cleaner at the start of every season and add another two bottles about half way through the season. This boat is also started several times during the winter and ran until the motor is at operating temperature using the fake a lake. It is also hooked up to a battery tender year round.

I had just serviced this boat prior to selling it. I changed the oil and filter along with the impeller. The boat was running on all cylinders with no hesitation what so ever. I also added two bottles of fuel injector cleaner in the fuel tank. I also took a look at the fuel coming into the filters finding the fuel to be clear and no bad fuel smell. If you have ever smelled bad gas you know how bad it smells like varnish and has a green cloudy cast to it.

There has been a lot of problems with fuel in the last few years which is causing problems to all types of vehicles. You have gas stations selling contaminated fuel or the wrong mix inside their tanks. There has also been a major problem with Ethanol in the fuel. Here are a couple of links I found searching for fuel problems.

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-regional/14365197-1.html

http://www.evinrude-parts.com/boat_ethanol_danger_precaution.html

There was no intent on my part to sell a boat or any vehicle with problems. But as we all know anything mechanical can have problems new or used, that is just the facts of life. The new owners both used the boat running two tanks of fuel through the engine. The one experienced part owner had used the boat on a weekend and did not report any problems to me. The other inexperienced partner used the boat and then stated he was having problems with it not running as fast as he was hoping.

Thank you for your time!

Mike

That is what caused my fuel injector issues. Bad gas with what appeared to be black grit like sand in it. Some managed to get past the fuel filter and proceeded to almost completely clog one injector. No amount of injector cleaner will ever prevent injectors from becoming clogged.

[firefed22]

Got the boat out today and the problem is fixed. Good post by Mike. My mistake. hmmmm