350 Mercruiser wont REstart.... 93 Euro F3

[nirish]

Hi all, very confused

So my 93 Euro skier has the regular competition ski carb engine. Few days ago went out boarding; engine started without any problem and warmed up nicely. We cut the engine around 10 mins after starting while i got ready to get in the water. On restarting maybe 3 or 4 mins later the engine cranks and cranks but will not fire. I checked circuit breaker in engine bay and searched for a lanyard kill switch but could not find one (incidentally, does anyone know if there is a kill switch lanyard type job at the throttle in this boat - mine appears to have none?). Waited for the engine to cool and cranked again, still no fire.

So after a tow home I tried again the next day and the engine started first time, no prob. Again I allowed it to warm up and killed the engine. Waited a few minutes and tried again. Again no fire - cranks and cranks but will not start.

I have never had any trouble with the ignition system before and the dizzy cap, plugs, leads, and fuel filter have all been recently changed. Very confused by the intermittent and sudden onset of this issue, and have long since exhausted my expertise in this area

Any suggestions/advice out there crew? Thanks in advance!!

[eyepeeler]

Sounds like old gas. How fresh is your fuel?

[nirish]

thanks for reply,

just filled with new fuel the week before...

[Woodski]

Given the either go or no go aspect of the problem, I would look at perhaps an oil pressure switch or water temp switch that might be faulty causing a no start condition. It certainly sounds like a "kill switch" of some sort. There should be a couple of water temp sensors, one is a warning buzzer that just might be wired to ground the ignition.

[cbmalibu98]

I hade a simular problem on my 98 sunsetter, but I am not sure if it would apply on a 93. Anyway my duplex coupler connection at the engine had become loose and would cut off all electrical power to the engine. It was east to figure out the it was electrical due to all of the gauges quit when I lost power. It was a pretty simple fix, just thought I would add a suggestion. Good Luck

CB

[JDubya]

Check the neutral safety switch.

Could be a bad ignition module (heat is causing it to fail as it is mounted to the exhaust elbow IIRC).

However, it sounds like a simple problem (i.e. lose wire. safety switch, loose cannon plug).

[footnlongline]

Check the neutral safety switch.

Could be a bad ignition module (heat is causing it to fail as it is mounted to the exhaust elbow IIRC).

However, it sounds like a simple problem (i.e. lose wire. safety switch, loose cannon plug).

That would be my guess, jiggle the throttle control and make sure it is in neutral position on the trans. Pretty sure you have a borg warne,r

check the wiring.

[eyepeeler]

thanks for reply,

just filled with new fuel the week before...

Did you have any old gas in the tank?

[85 Barefoot]

my guess is it's flooding. Are you giving it ANY gas when starting it once it's warm? HAve you looked down the carb to see if it's dumping fuel?

[Shine]

my guess is it's flooding. Are you giving it ANY gas when starting it once it's warm? HAve you looked down the carb to see if it's dumping fuel?

Adjustment or carb rebuild needed maybe?

[nirish]

So thanks for all the replies,

I can confirm there is no old fuel in the system, all drained at beginning of the season and have been using it regularly since then.

Woodski, is the oil pressure/water temp switch likely to be at fault when the pressure and temp gauges are reading proper and appropriate levels when the engine does run? The audio buzzer isn't sounding and definitely works, it was going off when the impeller self destructed a few weeks ago!

The throttle is in neutral when i crank the engine, but can I test the neutral switch? Is there any way for me to check the ignition module (and i dont know what a cannon plug is )?

Dont think the engine is flooding once warmed, as I dont pump the throttle to start the boat first time, and dont pump the second time until it just cranks endlessly. If i remove the flame arrestor can i check the fuel delivery to the carb or is that the wrong way (never really worked on an engine before)?

A friend of mine suggested the condenser, but not sure if there is one in this ignition system?

Thanks guys

[85 Barefoot]

So thanks for all the replies,

I can confirm there is no old fuel in the system, all drained at beginning of the season and have been using it regularly since then.

Woodski, is the oil pressure/water temp switch likely to be at fault when the pressure and temp gauges are reading proper and appropriate levels when the engine does run? The audio buzzer isn't sounding and definitely works, it was going off when the impeller self destructed a few weeks ago!

The throttle is in neutral when i crank the engine, but can I test the neutral switch? Is there any way for me to check the ignition module (and i dont know what a cannon plug is )?

Dont think the engine is flooding once warmed, as I dont pump the throttle to start the boat first time, and dont pump the second time until it just cranks endlessly. If i remove the flame arrestor can i check the fuel delivery to the carb or is that the wrong way (never really worked on an engine before)?

A friend of mine suggested the condenser, but not sure if there is one in this ignition system?

Thanks guys

I'll just speak to my suggestion that it was flooding. Yes you can remove flame arrestor just be careful what you're doing it's there for a reason! After cranking the engine when it does not fire push the flap open and look to see if fuel is getting dumped in. If not, how strong is the gas smell? Maybe spray some starting fluid in the carb to see if that will get it to fire and may isolate an electrical problem. My prediction is that this is 90% chance fuel delivery related. On my old boat the beutral safety switch won't let it turn over. In fact, come to think of it, that's how yours (should) be too since no ECM withholding a spark like these folks talking about it turning over but not firing. If it's like my classic carb then safety switch doesn't even allow it to turn over BICBW.

[JDubya]

I'll just speak to my suggestion that it was flooding. Yes you can remove flame arrestor just be careful what you're doing it's there for a reason! After cranking the engine when it does not fire push the flap open and look to see if fuel is getting dumped in. If not, how strong is the gas smell? Maybe spray some starting fluid in the carb to see if that will get it to fire and may isolate an electrical problem. My prediction is that this is 90% chance fuel delivery related. On my old boat the beutral safety switch won't let it turn over. In fact, come to think of it, that's how yours (should) be too since no ECM withholding a spark like these folks talking about it turning over but not firing. If it's like my classic carb then safety switch doesn't even allow it to turn over BICBW.

Come to think of it, I think 85 is right.

If you can get it running check your fuel pressure, might be that the fuel pump is about to go out. Other than that I would suspect carb like 85 is siggesting. The ignition sustem on these is pass/fail and is usally a all or nothing thing. Since you are not having problems with it dying once it is running (which is usually a symptom of ignition related issues) then fule would be the next likely culprit.

And the card is the best place to start, My brain is shutting down since my work week is almost over and all I can think about is beer I can't provide much more guidance at this point.

[nirish]

Yeah, I have no problem once she is running, and my neutral switch is working as it should, now I think on it.

Ok, I'll check the fuel supply to carb tomorrow, thanks for the help 85.

JDubya, enjoy the beer and have a good one!

[nirish]

Well colour me confused (even more so). I am postin this from the boat on my phone - when When I turned the key first time she starts very quick. No pumping required to make it turn over. Nothing new there, it was getting it restarted which has been the problem. So I let it get up to temperature and killed the engine. So when I go to restart it fires off the first turn. Tried several times and no issues. This might be seen as lucky but I would rather get to the bottom of the problem than think all is well and get caught out again.

No worries with fire or fuel for now although I have noticed 2 things. First is the sight hose from the fuel pump to the carb has been melted into 2 against the block. I guess I need to address this?

The second thing is the manifold elbow port side can get much warmer than the other one causing high temp light to come on when revs arequite high. This will then clear itself and cool back down.

So I guess I'm back to square one?

[eyepeeler]

Old gas man.

[tvano]

check out tthe no start troubleshooting doc.

[nirish]

eyepeeler, dude, I love your tenacity but I got no old gas!!!

That's a great guide tvano .

No chance of vapour lock over here, we're lucky to get to 70F .

Really interesting reading on shawndoggy's post which ended up being due to poor voltage. I'm gonna head back out with a multimeter and check it out...

O wait, where should I take the readings from (block for ground, but do I read off the starter motor, ignition module...??)

[eyepeeler]

eyepeeler, dude, I love your tenacity but I got no old gas!!!

That's a great guide tvano .

No chance of vapour lock over here, we're lucky to get to 70F .

Really interesting reading on shawndoggy's post which ended up being due to poor voltage. I'm gonna head back out with a multimeter and check it out...

O wait, where should I take the readings from (block for ground, but do I read off the starter motor, ignition module...??)

Did you not have any old gas in your tank when you put the fresh gas in. In Feb this year, I had to gas up with high grade three times before my boat ran right

[eyepeeler]

eyepeeler, dude, I love your tenacity but I got no old gas!!!

That's a great guide tvano .

No chance of vapour lock over here, we're lucky to get to 70F . Really interesting reading on shawndoggy's post which ended up being due to poor voltage. I'm gonna head back out with a multimeter and check it out...

O wait, where should I take the readings from (block for ground, but do I read off the starter motor, ignition module...??)

You could vapor lock if you got some winter grade fuel.

[msuwaterski]

This happened to me 3 or 4 times one summer when I owned my '92 Euro F3 with the same engine you have. With my boat it was definitely a fuel supply/ carb issue. It would run great, I'd turn it off, and then she'd turn over a thousand times and not fire. Fortunately I had a gear head buddy with me on the lake the first time it happened and he noticed that the carb did not smell of gas when it was turning over and he could see no gas being sprayed in. So he took the fuel filter off and dumped enough fuel in the carb to get it started and we drove home. This happened a few times and every time the fuel filter trick got her started when we were stranded on the lake.

A few weeks later my buddy showed up with some sort of special carb cleaner and, with the boat in the water at the dock, he sprayed the whole can of it into my carb while the engine was running and I was reving it up and down. It took about 10 minutes. I have no idea if this is a good idea or not but I never had the problem again. Good luck!

[nirish]

No, drained the tank before launching this season (keep it in the water) as it had old gas from last September in it. Refilled in March.

Could be vapour lock I suppose. Anything's possible. I'll bear in mind the cool down procedure for the pump and pipes from tvano's guide.

[tvano]

check out tthe no start troubleshooting doc.

obtw, if your problem ends up being something that should be added to the .doc, give a shout.

[nirish]

Will do

[footnlongline]

Doubt it is related to the starting issue but you really need to get you manifold flow problem fixed. It is prolly clogged