Boat engine issues

[stuartsx5]

While I was waiting to try and get into a dealer, I thought I would test coils. It has two new coils and the rest look original or at least OEM. I ohmed from the connector pins to the output. The new ones did not ohm at all on any pin, just gave me the OL. The older ones all tested at .9 on the center pin. Does this indicate the new ones are bad?

[fishinwrench]

5 hours ago, stuartsx5 said:

While I was waiting to try and get into a dealer, I thought I would test coils. It has two new coils and the rest look original or at least OEM. I ohmed from the connector pins to the output. The new ones did not ohm at all on any pin, just gave me the OL. The older ones all tested at .9 on the center pin. Does this indicate the new ones are bad?

Those CDI coils are a different animal.   Resistance tests aren't going to tell you anything because they have condensors inside them.....and some will remain energized when you kill the engine. 

Careful.... because you can Zap yourself and piss your pants !   😅

If you are idling ok then I would assume the CDI coils are all fine.   Each coil is like an individual switchbox/power pack, so it would be highly unlikely for more than one to blink out at the same time......And they aren't cheap !   So...... 

[Maverickpro201]

Careful.... because you can Zap yourself and piss your pants😂

Did that once and once only. Holey Poop was that bad.

But back in the 70's when we had tubes in TV's, I had a bad tube for something in the TV. I reached around the High Voltage Tube that was on the back of the screen. I did not short the High Voltage tube out first. I was 4 ft from the wall and it planted me back to the wall and about knocked me out, when I touched it. I was not right for about 2 hours that day. 

[stuartsx5]

Ok, I'm at my wits end, if I ever had any.  I have a new fuel filter, new fuel pressure regulator and a new high pressure fuel pump.  I have fixed the issue that it originally had but now it is doing something different.  It will stall at 3,000 rpm like it is bogged down.  Then it will eventually get up to 5,000 and get on plane.  Takes a while to get there. Before all this it would pop right out of the water, get to 5,000 and plane quickly.  Any ideas?  I was getting ready to pull all the fuel lines and filter for replacement but I just can't seem to wrap my head around fuel lines being the problem.  The primer bulb does not lose prime during this.  It does lose prime after setting for a few hours.  I just want to get this thing running so I can sell it but I want to have confidence the engine is fixed before I sell it.  Also, the fuel pump and pressure regulator are OEM, not cheap Chinese. 

, 

[fishinwrench]

Again......It is a computer controlled system.   

Take it to a dealership and have them plug-in and run their diagnostic program on it. 

[Maverickpro201]

9 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Again......It is a computer controlled system.   

Take it to a dealership and have them plug-in and run their diagnostic program on it. 

What he says

[stuartsx5]

I did take it to a mechanic. I thought he hooked it up but I will check. He doesn't seem to know why it is doing this either.

[fishinwrench]

5 hours ago, stuartsx5 said:

I did take it to a mechanic. I thought he hooked it up but I will check. He doesn't seem to know why it is doing this either.

I have figured out plenty of them WITHOUT using the computer diagnostic program......but if I have other stuff to do I'm not gonna put myself through that.  

To be honest, there's a good chance that the diagnostic program will not point you DIRECTLY in the right direction.....but that's just the way of life in this business.   Welcome to my world 😉

[stuartsx5]

I just realized I failed to let everyone know what I found.  Maybe help someone in the future. It's gonna be a long one.

To begin with, I thought I had a fuel delivery problem so I changed out the High Pressure pump.  Took it to the lake, ran worse.  At this point I took it to a mechanic.  He told me it wouldn't throw any codes because I wasn't getting an alarm.  I mentioned that I didn't get the tone when I started it so I was curious if the alarm was working. He said some do give you a tone, some don't.  He hooked it up to a fuel pressure gauge and said that the cheap pump I bought coupled with a bad fuel pressure regulator was pegging his gauge causing too much fuel in the cylinder.  He sent me a link to OEM parts and I paid $800 for the parts and $400 for him to put them in.  When he was done he mentioned that it didn't like to get on plane, which had never been an issue.  When I picked it up, I put it on the water.  It would plow water for almost a hundred yards then get on plane and start cutting out just like before. At this point, I have a friend who is a vehicle mechanic so he came over to see what he could do.  We discovered that my fuel pressure was still too high.  After some experimentation with fuel lines removed, we deduced that the pressure regulator wasn't getting any fuel.  Took the vapor tank apart and discovered that when you put a pump in there and you don't get the outlet seal in right, it blocks the port to the regulator so you have unregulated fuel.  Got that put back together correctly, tested that pressure was good and off to the lake.  Same issue of cutting out.

Brought it home and decided to pump out the gas, clean the tank and put in all new fuel lines.  Found a Sta Byl bottle seal and a ball point pin in the tank.  All new ethanol free gas, new pickup tube, and new fuel line.  Off the the lake with my mechanic buddy, same issue, runs good then starts cutting out.  He mentioned that it sounded more like a rev limiter cutting out cylinders than a fuel issue.  This led to some research and finding the term guardian mode and what would cause a Merc to go into guardian mode.  This is temperature and oil.  I knew it wasn't getting hot so I started looking at oil and why I didn't get an alarm.  Two issues.

Alarm:

Sometimes the annunciator goes bad on your alarms in a marine environment.  So, I tested the annunciator and sure enough, it was bad.  Replaced that and started getting the "All Good" beep on start up.

Oil:

If the small tank on the side of a Merc engine is not full, the motor will go into guardian mode and will not let you get above 3,000 RPM.  I had oil in that tank but it was only half full.  I discovered that the small tank on the engine is kept full by crankcase pressure on the storage tank in the bilge.  The tank is pressurized by a small amount, under 10 psi.  The oil goes through a tube that has a screen on it in that bulk tank.  Over time, 2 cycle engine oil can gel on that screen, reducing the flow. Took it apart and sure enough, the oil was gelled on the screen.  Cleaned it off, dumped all the oil and refilled the storage tank.  Reduced my air compressor to like 5 psi, hooked it up to the storage tank and filled the small tank full.  

Result:

Took the boat to Pomme, ran it 20 mile plus at WOT most of the time. No issues.  Engine ran great.

So, what I learned. 

1) If I ever look at a boat to buy again and it doesn't give the "All Good" beep, I will find out why.  I'm not boat mechanic but I would think any outboard with auto mixing on the oil would have an alarm to let you know it is all good. If I had fixed the alarm first, I would have at least known it was an oil issue, not a fuel issue.

2) I don't have the mental fortitude to be a boat flipper or a boat dealer.  I like my money too well.

3) Just because a guy hangs a shingle saying he is a boat mechanic, it doesn't make him a boat mechanic. I should have taken it to a proven boat mechanic like Fishinwrench.  I was trying to help a guy out. 

Thanks for the input to try and help me. 

 

[fishinwrench]

Once you fully understand the Mercury oil injection system on the carbureted & EFI motors, I feel that it becomes obvious that unless you typically run 20+ miles at a time @ 3/4 throttle to WOT, or idle for at least 2 miles, every time that you turn the key.....the designed metering of oil is totally redundant.....and improper. 

The vapor separator (or carburetor bowls) are always going to be full of whatever metering of oil was demanded 15 minutes ago.  Regardless of what RPM you are running NOW.   

So why not just run a 60:1 or 50:1 pre-mix.....and eliminate any possibility of potential oil metering issues?   

 

 

FYI:   50:1 has been the industry standard for 2 cycle motors forever, only because those numbers roll off the tongue easier. 🙄

65:1 is honestly the best oil ratio as far as lubrication, lower carbon buildup, lower engine temperature, better performance throughout the entire RPM range, AND LESS EXHAUST SMOKE is concerned.  😉 It's easy to measure and remember too.... just remember 2 ounces per gallon.  👍 (1.9 if you really wanna do the math)