baddogz28

Also posted in general Q and A, but I figured I'd throw it up here too:

Got to East Chicago marina yesterday, fired the boat up on the trailer, and then pulled the trailer out. Boat idled while I parked the truck.

About two minutes after I got aboard and ready to leave, the motors sputtered and then died. Tried to restart both motors numerous times, but they would crank and then sputter and die. Both motors failed to start and stay running again. Had the boat out for the first time last weekend and it seemed to run fine... Anyway:

I removed, inspected and reinstalled both fuel filters which appeared to be functioning normally.

Also removed and inspected hose going to the mechanical fuel pumps from the fuel filter at the pump. Noted that the inside of the hose appeared dry, and no fuel leaked out whatsoever when it was disconnected.

All of my sherlock holmes powers of deduction lead me to believe I have some obstruction in the tank or activated some kill switch that I don't know about when I was installing my stereo (?) by accident....

Opinions? Other things to check? Power is 2 Merc EFI 502's on fresh rebuilds.

I'm going to pick up one of those fake lake things weds so I can run this thing off the hose in my driveway and try to troubleshoot this.

Thanks in advance guys. I'm glad it happened on the ramp and not in the middle of the lake!!!

jayhawk261

Are you saying you ran the boat without water in the cooling system from the ramp to the parking space? I don't know if you have a problem with the fueling system or not, but I would be that you now have bits of water pump impeller strewn throughout the cooling system. The first thing to do is to check those, and then back flush all the bits and pieces out. I'm not sure how that would affect start up, but I would definitely look at the impellers.

TexomaPowerboater

Check the fuse on the fuel pump. I have had an exposed wire hit metal and short out the entire fuel pump. Pretty fkn scary when it happened while on plane........Good thing all 10 of my passengers were seated. Took forever to chase down the culprit. Had to wait until the wire stayed stuck onto the metal before we could trace it.

baddogz28

Nope, started it in the water sitting on the trailer.

Thanks for the response. It's got mechanical fuel pumps... Would they still have a fuse?

michigan troll

Are you sure you have fuel.
The gas prices are high enough, people are finding alot of ways and places to steal gas. A boat would be very easy if its not inside a building.

jayhawk261

Ok, I misunderstood. I thought you had put the boat on the trailer and let it idle while you parked it! Nevermind!

If it is EFI, then it has a main electric fuel pump and then has a supplemental mechanical pump mounted on the raw water pump (depending on the year). Al of the Merc efi motors have an electric main pump. It is on the port side of the engine underneath the motor mount. I would definitely check the fuel pump wiring. If both motors did it at roughly the same time, then it will be somewhere before the wiring splits off to run the two pumps. Also, have you checked for spark just to be certain it is a fuel issue? Sputtering and dying does sound like a fuel issue, but it wouldn't hurt to verify spark at the coil.

jayhawk261

VERY GOOD QUESTION! It seems there has been more than one thread lately about this happening in trucks, so why not boats.

baddogz28

Yeah, it definitely had gas. We topped it off on the way to the lake.

Will be checking for spark on thursday to make sure... It did seem like the motor had spark as it was running for 5 mins or so though. I'm also going to investigate that electric main pump. Thanks for all the help man.

jayhawk261

Also, as far as your fuel pumps go, when you turn the key into the power on/run position, you should hear the fuel pump run for a second or two to pressurize the system. Listen for that when you first turn the key and before starting it. If you hear it, you know the pump has power and is pressurizing the rail. That doesn't mean it is putting out enough pressure to run it though.

txriverrat2001

Just a bit of advice - if your picking up a flusher (fake lake thingy) get one designed for a Bravo. It has the wire that goes through the drive - not a wrap around generic type. I've seen way to many incidents where someone puts the wrap around on and while in the boat it falls off eating the impeller all to hell and now you have another problem.

In regards to your running issue - If you have the VST type fuel system (I suspect you do) you may or may not hear the pump cycle - they are much quieter than the later cool fuel system. You can stick you hand on the pump on the VST tank and feel it cycle. If no cycle - you have no power feed to the ECM - fuse, relay, bad connection, etc...

And you mentioned motors - both of them died at the same time? If so - you have something other than an engine EFI issue. Stereo? Low voltage??? Are the batt switches in the "BOTH" position? If both died realtively at the same time - it's something else ruining your day - my guess.......