[long post, sorry!] Getting fed up with my dealer, boat keeps beeping...

[dtm8119]

Hello All, you may remember some posts from me early on this spring when my boat was running poorly (warning horn would start to beep, and when this happened the motor would misfire and run poorly). Then one time out the boat just quit and wouldn't start. I start to diagnose and the fuel pump wasn't coming on at key turn, so I thought the pump went out on me, but it would power up if I jumped it with a different power supply.

After many hours of troubleshooting why it won't start, I finally ended up taking the boat to the dealer in May, and sure enough, they diagnose it and tell me that my ECM went out on me. There were two options for me, go the rebuild route for $500, or swallow a big pill and buy a new one for $2000 (apparently they don't make the MEFI 2 version anymore).

So I asked my dealer to send it out to the shop they found to rebuild it. After they get it back, they install it, start it up in the shop and tell me "it's ready for pickup." I pick it up, drop it in my lake and and once I get up to speed, it starts to beep again and misfire. Bring it back to the dealer and tell them that the same symptoms are happening previous to the ECM going out on me the first time. The scan the computer and sure enough, 4 codes are showing (I'm unsure which 4...should have asked).

So the dealer talks to the ECM rebuilder, ECM rebuilder says send it back to me so I can look at it. He must have determined it was un-fixable at this point, so he sent up a new one. Dealer gets it, installs it, actually tests it on the water this time and scans the ECM to make sure there are no codes showing this time. They say it's good to go now.

So I get it yesterday, back in the water and the SAME thing starts happening. I took videos this time so the dealer could see that I'm not an idiot...I'll post them below...

I'm getting very upset that they can't figure out what is going on, so I'm asking you guys, has anyone had this happen, what I show in the videos? I've lost 6 weeks of my summer due to this dealer not being able to figure this out!!!

Thank you in advance for reading this long post!

[dtm8119]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug8bdU-KbKE

[dtm8119]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6itn4USNjuc

[dtm8119]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhQa-8Z0b5k

[turbojamie]

Im guessing you / your dealer checked the simple things like plugs / wires. Also my 99 did this after we had surfed it and got a bunch of water into the tank vent my fuel filter was full of water. Just a couple thoughts it sure can be frustrating.

[rinconking]

Seems like an Ignition Problem, I would Replace the Ignition coil / Module and check your Cap, rotor, plugs, and wires. Also Make sure your engine grounds are good.

Edited June 24, 2012 by rinconking

[srintx]

Is the boat losing power or are you moving the throttle? Also do you think the misfires could have anything to do with old gas?

[dtm8119]

It loses power when it starts beeping and the rpm's vary...i'm not moving the throttle when that happens.

When the dealer scans the computer tomorrow, I'll be interested to see if the same 4 codes come up as last time, or if they will be completely different.

Plugs/wires/cap/rotor were all done in the spring, and the boat was running flawlessly for the first few weeks of the season before I started having issues and the ecm went out.

[turbojamie]

Water in gas?

[SmoothWaterMan]

What dealer are you working with?

Thanks,

Peter

[dtm8119]

What dealer are you working with?

Thanks,

Peter

Minnesota Inboard - New Germany service dept.

It's frustrating having them tell me two times now that the boat is good to go and ready for pickup, just to drive out there an hour, drive it up to the lake, and have it run like I've described.

[SmoothWaterMan]

Sorry to hear that, but I believe MN Inboard is a very competent dealer and will resolve it for you.

Thanks,

Peter

[tccombs]

1st I am no expert so take this for what it is worth.

but if it was dropping out only at higher RPMS and not when running at lower ones i would suspect a fuel issue 1st. but it could be spark too. Did it ever sound like a backfire?

Before i take anything to the shop like to try the cheap and simple stuff 1st.

So if it were me i would

1 replace fuel filter you might have 2 on your year i'm not sure.. check fuel/water separator if you have 1

2 check/replace plugs and whole ignition system

[dtm8119]

Just wanted to close the loop on this...

The beeping and stumbling was due to my distributor going out. Dealer put in a re-manufactured one and there have been no issues since.

Also want to thank MN Inboard for taking care of me in the end

[Pistol Pete]

So, did you get your money back for the ECM?

[dtm8119]

So, did you get your money back for the ECM?

Well...it appears that I actually had two issues going on all along. The first was that the ECM stopped working properly (wouldn't tell the fuel pump to come on), so that was rebuilt, then eventually replaced since the "rebuild" basically did nothing. I received a credit towards the new ECM since the rebuild didn't work properly. The second issue was the distributor flaking out.