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Don't want to waste another ski season need advise please.

powderjay

By powderjay,
in General Discussion Area

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powderjay Deck Hand

powderjay

Posted
Posted

Ski season is slowly approaching (wishful thinking I know) . Had lots of reliability issues with heat soak on my echelon with the 454 in her. Got a line on a 95 sunsetter, question is will I be happy with the slalom wake as that will be the only reason for using the boat. Already have a newer Wakesetter for the other sports. So do I dump the echelon and get the sunsetter? ( gonna cost a bit ) but hoping for more dependable service. Or sink more money into fixing this damn warm start issue? Thoughts? Discuss... and thanks.

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95echelon Crew Devotee

95echelon

Posted
Posted (edited)

fuel injected no fuel cooler but will have to look into that. have a good link by chance?

My 95 echelon had a fuel cooler installed. We had so many problems that they flew two mercruiser engineers out and they custom fabbed one on our boat. It helped a TON however we would still get vapor locked and be pouring cooler ice and water over the fuel pump on hot days.

If you have an echelon and are a skier don't go sunsetter. Your boat has won so many slalom based awards you probably couldn't count them. I wouldnt compromise personally. i think you will regret it.

Edit: There is a response for sale in kalamazoo with fiberglass issues for $5,500. Check craigslist. Do an engine swap, sell the nice trailer (galvanized) and then part out the interior, windshield, and helm. The lady that owns the response is a barefooter.

Edited by 95echelon
  • Slayer and Bozboat
  • Like 2
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Steve B. Spam Happy

Steve B.

Posted
Posted

My 95 Sunsetter wake is awesome. I'd fix the heat soak issue first. After you shut it off, raise the cover a few inches. Make sure you aren't using gas that has lots of ethanol added. Those two things fixed my heat soak issue completely.

Steve b.

  • footndale and TCdave
  • Like 2
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powderjay Deck Hand

powderjay

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Don't want to move it but the wifey doesn't like being stranded in the middle of the lake :Frustrated: And i rely on her for those early morning glass runs. Thanks for the replies.

  • Slayer and Steve B.
  • Like 2
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waterskier23 Ballast Buddy

waterskier23

Posted
Posted

FWIW - This past season I had good results running low ethanol fuel and Sta-bil marine 360. Also in the habit of keeping the blower running when we are out. My 454 is a 95 and has the VST (vapor separating tank) and the fuel filter relocated off the block and remove mounted closer to the pylon. Our heat soak issues tend to show up if we have let the engine sit all closed up for an hour after running. Good luck!

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Technicallyabu A Decent Third

Technicallyabu

Posted
Posted

Had vapor lock issues with a Merc 5.0L. Boat start fine unless it sat for between 20 and 30 min, then it would have trouble starting. I got around it by cycling the key several times prior to starting and not using fuel blended with ethanol. A service bulletin on this issue included adding a boost pump ahead of the primary pump. A friend with a 350 of the same year as my 5.0L with the pump installed never had a problem with vapor lock.

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mwfillmore Wrench Monkey

mwfillmore

Posted
Posted

Keep the echelon. You won't be happy with the sunsetter as a slalom only boat. Find a way around your issues. Additives, extra blower. I don't know if it would help. But what about sending your TBI to an injector cleaner? I have a friend that swears by it. Check out www.docinjector.com

your mileage may very.

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95echelon Crew Devotee

95echelon

Posted
Posted

My 95 Sunsetter wake is awesome. I'd fix the heat soak issue first. After you shut it off, raise the cover a few inches. Make sure you aren't using gas that has lots of ethanol added. Those two things fixed my heat soak issue completely.

Steve b.

I forgot to second steve: You should always lift the cover (i lifted all the way after every stop, and only turned the engine off at all at the end of a 2-3 hour wakeboard session.

The big difference: When we moved to michigan I filled up on a Marina with Ethanol free gas instead of filling up with gas station stuff. I never had a hydrolock in Michigan even during the 100 degree summer.

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95echelon Crew Devotee

95echelon

Posted
Posted

Keep the echelon. You won't be happy with the sunsetter as a slalom only boat. Find a way around your issues. Additives, extra blower. I don't know if it would help. But what about sending your TBI to an injector cleaner? I have a friend that swears by it. Check out www.docinjector.com

your mileage may very.

Our boat also had the second blower added. One would run with the acc switch all the time, the other was switched in the dash as usual. Keep at it! If you ever want someone to swear at it with you or turn a wrench I will come by. I work from home and during the weeks I am always up for a little road trip to detroit.

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blk93jeepzj Crew Devotee

blk93jeepzj

Posted
Posted

Had vapor lock issues with a Merc 5.0L. Boat start fine unless it sat for between 20 and 30 min, then it would have trouble starting. I got around it by cycling the key several times prior to starting and not using fuel blended with ethanol. A service bulletin on this issue included adding a boost pump ahead of the primary pump. A friend with a 350 of the same year as my 5.0L with the pump installed never had a problem with vapor lock.

I added the boost pump to my 04 Wakesetter after a couple of vapor lock issues. That was 4 summers ago and never had a vapor lock issue since (knock on wood). I do use 87 octane from the local pumps with 10% ethanol. Have two other Malibus near us 05 VLX only uses premium or marina gas, so no ethanol, and has never had a problem with vapor lock. The 05 LSV uses a mix of pump gas and marina gas and has had a couple of vapor lock issues before they installed the boost pump, since then no issues.

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Bill_AirJunky Crew Member For Life

Bill_AirJunky

Posted
Posted

A number of years ago I had vapor lock issues in a Prostar. We solved it by installing a fuel line insulation kit that SKIDIM.com supplied..... and running the blower all the time. The kit was cheap & running the blower costs you nothing. I figured it was worth a shot at the time. And kept the problem in check over 3 or 4 summers.

Good luck with yours.

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dalt1 Spam Happy

dalt1

Posted
Posted

A number of years ago I had vapor lock issues in a Prostar. We solved it by installing a fuel line insulation kit that SKIDIM.com supplied..... and running the blower all the time. The kit was cheap & running the blower costs you nothing. I figured it was worth a shot at the time. And kept the problem in check over 3 or 4 summers.

Good luck with yours.

As you know it didn't work for my 06 Monsoon. Only adding the low pressure boost pump would finally fix mine.

  • blk93jeepzj
  • Like 1
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