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Drive issue above 13-15 mph


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We rode for awhile with no trouble today on the first day out*.

At the end of my last ride my buddy said he noted a vibration for the last 5-10 seconds.

On driving it again, at speeds up to ~13-15 mph, with steady acceleration, no troubles. When I try and get it up on plane, it initially starts to vibrate but then really starts to shudder and start and stop and lurch up to about 20-23 mph but very hesitatingly. The boat is lurching forward in spurts and is not smooth at all. I THINK the engine is ok, but rpms start to vary when the issue really starts.

I can get my rpms high at low speeds with no trouble, so I think the engine's fine.

My first thought was "hit something with the prop" - that's what I was hoping at least. I've done that before, though, and this was different. Got the boat out of the water, and the prop turns fine and feels perfect. Damn.

I don't know enough of the innards of the v-drive system in these boats to know where something's gone wrong, but that's where it seems to me the problem's located.

I have an '09 VTX with ~185 hours on it. Was winterized last year no problem.

Any ideas?

*After the Hydrotunes guys came through HUGE for me and told me how to fix my previous problem.

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We rode for awhile with no trouble today on the first day out*.

At the end of my last ride my buddy said he noted a vibration for the last 5-10 seconds.

On driving it again, at speeds up to ~13-15 mph, with steady acceleration, no troubles. When I try and get it up on plane, it initially starts to vibrate but then really starts to shudder and start and stop and lurch up to about 20-23 mph but very hesitatingly. The boat is lurching forward in spurts and is not smooth at all. I THINK the engine is ok, but rpms start to vary when the issue really starts.

I can get my rpms high at low speeds with no trouble, so I think the engine's fine.

My first thought was "hit something with the prop" - that's what I was hoping at least. I've done that before, though, and this was different. Got the boat out of the water, and the prop turns fine and feels perfect. Damn.

I don't know enough of the innards of the v-drive system in these boats to know where something's gone wrong, but that's where it seems to me the problem's located.

I have an '09 VTX with ~185 hours on it. Was winterized last year no problem.

Any ideas?

*After the Hydrotunes guys came through HUGE for me and told me how to fix my previous problem.

All battery terminals tight (where you can not move them by hand)

If that's not it, the first spot I would look at is fuel pressure, from what your describing a low fuel pressure or low voltage issue to me. It's common to see fuel deleivery issues after its sat for the winter, did you run Sta-Bil with ethanol treatment in your fuel system prior to winter storage? I would say more than 75% of fuel pump failures are after the winter storage from people that usually don't winterize (varish build up in the fuel pump/ injectors) or forget to put Sta-bil in the fuel system.

-Paul

PS: What did you other issue end up being?

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We rode for awhile with no trouble today on the first day out*.

At the end of my last ride my buddy said he noted a vibration for the last 5-10 seconds.

On driving it again, at speeds up to ~13-15 mph, with steady acceleration, no troubles. When I try and get it up on plane, it initially starts to vibrate but then really starts to shudder and start and stop and lurch up to about 20-23 mph but very hesitatingly. The boat is lurching forward in spurts and is not smooth at all. I THINK the engine is ok, but rpms start to vary when the issue really starts.

I can get my rpms high at low speeds with no trouble, so I think the engine's fine.

My first thought was "hit something with the prop" - that's what I was hoping at least. I've done that before, though, and this was different. Got the boat out of the water, and the prop turns fine and feels perfect. Damn.

I don't know enough of the innards of the v-drive system in these boats to know where something's gone wrong, but that's where it seems to me the problem's located.

I have an '09 VTX with ~185 hours on it. Was winterized last year no problem.

Any ideas?

*After the Hydrotunes guys came through HUGE for me and told me how to fix my previous problem.

I might still vote for a dinged prop. Sometimes you can't see the imbalance, although what Paul said makes sense. I just figure it's easier to pull the prop and have it looked at.

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On driving it again, at speeds up to ~13-15 mph, with steady acceleration, no troubles. When I try and get it up on plane, it initially starts to vibrate but then really starts to shudder and start and stop and lurch up to about 20-23 mph but very hesitatingly. The boat is lurching forward in spurts and is not smooth at all.

A buddy's Centurion was doing exactly that. Mechanic kept insisting "fuel issue". Changed all fuel filters, pulled and cleaned injectors,.... Problem continued. It ended up being a coil gone bad. There are a number of things it could be but a dinged prop isn't one of them. :no: An out-of-balance prop cannot cause engine surge / hesitation.

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Well...the boat was professionally winterized, so I'm not sure there's a problem there.

I was able to turn the boat off, hop into the water, swim under and take a look at the prop, hop back on and turn it on again and it started right up, so I don't think the battery's going to be the problem.

I agree that it doesn't seem like a prop ding. I've had small ones of those before, and usually they just cause worsening vibration as speeds increase but not lurching and hesitation.

Going to take it in tomorrow morning, so we'll see.

t

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It ended up being a coil gone bad.
Well...the boat was professionally winterized, so I'm not sure there's a problem there.

Winterization (or even lack thereof) would have no effect on the ignition coil. They just sometimes go bad. My buddy's worked fine until the engine got hot enough to heat the coil then it started acting up.

I was able to turn the boat off, hop into the water, swim under and take a look at the prop, hop back on and turn it on again and it started right up, so I don't think the battery's going to be the problem.

Battery wouldn't be your problem but battery terminal connections (if loose) can cause hesitation as their connection becomes intermittent (not likely but possible).

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Specifically does the steering wheel shudder/vibrate when the engine does this?

I was on a 23LSV last year same issues..engine/steering wheel shudder/vibrate during a decently aggressive takeoff. Smooth slow takeoff no issues.

We replaced the prop, issues solved. No visible dings in the prop, it must have had a slight bend or warp from striking something under water he never felt or noticed. What we thought was engine hesitation, was just the prop having a hard time getting a "bite" on the water caused by cavitation by the problems and the bend in the prop.

What threw me for a loop was in figuring it out before we replaced the prop, is that I couldnt understand how a ding in the prop could affect the steering..as they arent even connected....the cavitation under there caused by a messed up prop is so violent and only inches away that it shakes the rudder and shakes the steering wheel.

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Specifically does the steering wheel shudder/vibrate when the engine does this?

I was on a 23LSV last year same issues..engine/steering wheel shudder/vibrate during a decently aggressive takeoff. Smooth slow takeoff no issues.

We replaced the prop, issues solved. No visible dings in the prop, it must have had a slight bend or warp from striking something under water he never felt or noticed. What we thought was engine hesitation, was just the prop having a hard time getting a "bite" on the water caused by cavitation by the problems and the bend in the prop.

What threw me for a loop was in figuring it out before we replaced the prop, is that I couldnt understand how a ding in the prop could affect the steering..as they arent even connected....the cavitation under there caused by a messed up prop is so violent and only inches away that it shakes the rudder and shakes the steering wheel.

See THIS is the experience I had when I had a slight ding in the prop, but this time really felt somewhat different.

I'll check the distributor cap, not a bad idea.

A mechanic I spoke with mentioned the rpm limiter could be kicking in, which can sometimes mean a bad sensor.

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Sounds like an ignition problem to me. Maybe the coil. But I'd look over the plugs, wires, inside the distributor cap, rotor, etc.

BTW, we've all seen what some "professionals" do when they winterize a boat. They can be backlogged with boats to winterize. Rushed. Or just don't care. It would be easy for them to be pulling hoses & draining things & accidentally yank a plug wire off. :crazy:

Doing it yourself, not only do you "care", but it makes you familiar with your boat. So when there is a problem, your not just popping the engine cover & staring at the engine hoping something will jump out at you.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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It seems to me something must have gone bad- we were riding for a good hour before, all of the sudden, something went wrong.

This was the first time out after a 3-month hiatus and winterization. They did miss one thing at the winterization- the plug for the shift-by-wire forward control was disconnected. I would expect most winterization issues- like that one- would have prevented us from riding for as long as we did.

Could old fuel left in the gas tank gummed up the fuel filter after it ran through? I like footn's fuel filter idea. Seems easy to fix.

This is why I keep crew numbers low for the first few runs of a season. Have to work the kinks out.

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It seems to me something must have gone bad- we were riding for a good hour before, all of the sudden, something went wrong.

This was the first time out after a 3-month hiatus and winterization. They did miss one thing at the winterization- the plug for the shift-by-wire forward control was disconnected. I would expect most winterization issues- like that one- would have prevented us from riding for as long as we did.

Could old fuel left in the gas tank gummed up the fuel filter after it ran through? I like footn's fuel filter idea. Seems easy to fix.

This is why I keep crew numbers low for the first few runs of a season. Have to work the kinks out.

When I use stabil instead of sea foam to stabilize my gas, I get similar problems until I replace the inline filter. My rpms will rise and drop off under most speeds above 2500 rpms. I now carry a spare filter. FWIW we have had 10% ethanol here for years and I think this also contributes to the filter gumming.

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