2007 Wakesetter VLX - engine delays starting

[Chippa]

Hi I have a 2007 Wakesetter VLX. Boat has only ever been used in fresh water.

When starting the boat it has been turning over fine but today it’s taken it’s time to fire the engine.

Does anyone Know why yesterday the boat was firing as soon as I turned the key and then then today it’s taking it’s time firing.

note: just got serviced 2 months ago.

[oldjeep]

Battery would be thought number 1.

Number 2 would be cap and rotor.

What does "serviced" mean?

[smileysteve]

3rd would be a starter, especially if the boat has taken on any water in the last year.

[Chippa]

That’s when I Australia you take your boat into a mechanic to have a look over the boat.

battery voltage sits at 16?? It has two batteries. Should it be sitting at 24v ????

 

I can get a very faint/small whistling sound coming from the engine at times.

 

[Chippa]

2 minutes ago, smileysteve said:

3rd would be a starter, especially if the boat has taken on any water in the last year.

This is the 3rd time I have taken boat out this summer in Australia. 3x in past month.

Starter motor doesn’t sound sluggish. It’s turning over strong and fast. Just taking 4-5 seconds to fire the engine.

 

[Chippa]

5 minutes ago, smileysteve said:

3rd would be a starter, especially if the boat has taken on any water in the last year.

That’s when in Australia you take your boat into a mechanic to have a look over the boat.

battery voltage sits at 16?? It has two batteries. Should it be sitting at 24v ????

 

I can get a very faint/small whistling sound coming from the engine at times.

 

 

Quote

[Chippa]

I also got a new amplifier, sub woofer and 4 tower speakers recently. But again had no issues the last two times I took it out. 
volt metre says 16v? Should this say 24v if I am running 2 batteries?

 

shpuld I turn the isolator off if I stop the boat for 30 minutes???

[oldjeep]

8 minutes ago, Chippa said:

That’s when I Australia you take your boat into a mechanic to have a look over the boat.

battery voltage sits at 16?? It has two batteries. Should it be sitting at 24v ????

 

I can get a very faint/small whistling sound coming from the engine at times.

 

Ok, so serviced means nothing;)

16 volts is way high.  The 2 batteries are parallel, so should read same voltage as 1 battery. 13.8 or so would be the norm while running.

[Chippa]

42 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

Ok, so serviced means nothing;)

16 volts is way high.  The 2 batteries are parallel, so should read same voltage as 1 battery. 13.8 or so would be the norm while running.

Hahah.

 

Every year in Australia you take a car, boat, truck or anything with an engine to get it looked over by a mechanic. They usually change the oil, check the engine etc. 

THIS is called SERVICING .

Would turning the battery isolator OFF Everytime we park the boat up for 30 minutes or so make a difference to firing the engine.

[Chippa]

56 minutes ago, smileysteve said:

3rd would be a starter, especially if the boat has taken on any water in the last year.

This is the 3rd time I have taken boat out this summer in Australia. 3x in past month.

Starter motor doesn’t sound sluggish. It’s turning over strong and fast. Just taking 4-5 seconds to fire the engine.

 

[oldjeep]

4 minutes ago, Chippa said:

Hahah.

 

Every year in Australia you take a car, boat, truck or anything with an engine to get it looked over by a mechanic. They usually change the oil, check the engine etc. 

THIS is called SERVICING .

Would turning the battery isolator OFF Everytime we park the boat up for 30 minutes or so make a difference to firing the engine.

I get what you are saying, but unless you have an itemized list of what they did then the servicing is irrelevant.  You need to figure out why you are seeing 16 volts, that would be bad for all the electronics in the boat. 

[atLakeSantee]

Set your battery switch to only use one battery if that’s an option. Working through this issue will be simplified. Does battery A or battery B cause longer to start?

16 volts just after starting while the battery is charging is a little high, but not excessive.

16 volts when the engine is not running means a wiring problem. The new amplifier may have been connected wrong; for example, may have been wired directly to the battery.

Voltage when not running should be around 12.6 volts.  Never should voltage be close to 24 volts!

[BlindSquirrel]

Where are you getting the 16v reading? 

So to confirm... You hold the key to start it and nothing happens for 4-5 seconds. After that it starts and runs fine?

Edited November 30, 2021 by BlindSquirrel

[Bozboat]

41 minutes ago, BlindSquirrel said:

Where are you getting the 16v reading? 

So to confirm... You hold the key to start it and nothing happens for 4-5 seconds. After that it starts and runs fine?

I could be wrong but I read the OP to be a situation where the engine turns over normally but does not catch and start as fast as it used to catch and start. 

[justgary]

The faint whistling from the motor may be a vacuum leak.  You might try spraying some carb cleaner or ether around the base of the throttle body and intake manifold to see if the RPM changes. 

[Chippa]

19 hours ago, BlindSquirrel said:

Where are you getting the 16v reading? 

So to confirm... You hold the key to start it and nothing happens for 4-5 seconds. After that it starts and runs fine?

From the dash.

No, the engine is turning over but won’t start for 4-5 seconds.

I contacted the guy who serviced the boat and he said that sometimes when the weather is very hot the fuel can sometimes not get to where it needs to as quickly as it would on a cooler day?? Seems a little hard to believe.

apologises the volt reading on the dash is 14.5V

[Chippa]

19 hours ago, Bozboat said:

I could be wrong but I read the OP to be a situation where the engine turns over normally but does not catch and start as fast as it used to catch and start. 

Correct. That’s what’s happening.

I contacted the guy who serviced the boat and he said that sometimes when the weather is very hot the fuel can sometimes not get to where it needs to as quickly as it would on a cooler day?? Seems a little hard to believe.

apologises the volt reading on the dash is 14.5V

 

Quote

[Chippa]

On 11/30/2021 at 2:22 PM, atLakeSantee said:

Set your battery switch to only use one battery if that’s an option. Working through this issue will be simplified. Does battery A or battery B cause longer to start?

16 volts just after starting while the battery is charging is a little high, but not excessive.

16 volts when the engine is not running means a wiring problem. The new amplifier may have been connected wrong; for example, may have been wired directly to the battery.

Voltage when not running should be around 12.6 volts.  Never should voltage be close to 24 volts!

Apologises. Volt reading is 14.5V when running.

 

I contacted the guy who serviced the boat and he said that sometimes when the weather is very hot the fuel can sometimes not get to where it needs to as quickly as it would on a cooler day?? Seems a little hard to believe.

 

 

Quote

[IJM]

Possibly vapor lock is what the mechanic is talking about. Does it happen on the first start with a cold engine or all the time. Agree check for a vacuum leak or possibly a fuel line is sucking air and the system is losing pressure. Try priming the fuel line first before engaging the starter. Turn the key to on and wait 5 seconds or so. Then back to off, then try starting it. Malibu recommends this procedure on the first start of the day. After that though you shouldn’t need to do this if the fuel system is functioning properly. If priming each time solves your problem then troubleshoot why the fuel system is losing pressure quickly.

[IJM]

All this assuming your boat is fuel injected with an electric fuel pump.

[formulaben]

The next time you have a cold start, key up several times (turn key to ON for 3 seconds, then OFF, then back to ON) before you start and see if it behaves differently.

[Chippa]

Thanks everyone for there feedback.

I am taking the boat in next week. 

Will get back to you all once he has diagnosed the issue hopefully!!

 

👍👍👍

[Chippa]

Hi,

Took my boat back into the mechanic this morning and he hooked it up to his computer.

It came with a fault in the ECM (onboard computer) 4 x.

He cleared the fault and said to keep an eye on it but didn’t seem to worry about it.

He did say it would cost $3000 Australian dollars if the ECM needs replacing and the wait time is 4 months.

 

[justgary]

6 hours ago, Chippa said:

Hi,

Took my boat back into the mechanic this morning and he hooked it up to his computer.

It came with a fault in the ECM (onboard computer) 4 x.

He cleared the fault and said to keep an eye on it but didn’t seem to worry about it.

He did say it would cost $3000 Australian dollars if the ECM needs replacing and the wait time is 4 months.

Did he happen to mention which codes?  That could be important.

I don't think that anybody mentioned a full tune up yet, but it might be a good Christmas gift to the boat to change the distributor cap, rotor, plugs, and wires.  You might be surprised at how much power even a cruddy rotor can rob.

[formulaben]

3 hours ago, justgary said:

You might be surprised at how much power even a cruddy rotor can rob.

I've told this many times before but I'll say it again: long story short, helping a friend diagnose an ignition problem.  After hours of labor and multiple trips to the auto parts store we had replaced what I though was EVERYTHING ignition related.  I went down the list and noticed the rotor wasn't changed; I asked why and he said it looked perfect (inside the cap.)  I pulled it and there was corrosion on the contacts.

Moral of the story: replace these consumable maintenance items and chalk it up to preventive maintenance, especially when troubleshooting.