Engine not giving power, 280EC 2010

Philip

Hi all,

I took my 280EC 2010 (350 MAG) out today, and everything went according to plan. When I throttled up into approx. 4000 rpms everything still went smoothly. Then - out of the blue 5 minutes later, the rpms started to drop, and the engine went kinda like if it was drenched in gas while a smell of gasoline started. Oli psi was raised to 60-ish, while 40 being normal. I could not get the rpms back up above 3000-ish and still a severe lack of power. 

When in low rpm everything was fine - psi went back to normal, then smell og gasoline disappeared. 

Any ideas?

PS. I am a novice when it comes to engines and all, so please bear with me

skennelly

The smell of gas is scary...don't run the boat until you figure that out.  Very dangerous.

I would find a mercruiser mechanic to put a diagnostic tool on it.

rasbury

Yep- beyond me - fuel swirling around is not goid!

Aqua_Aura

I wonder if a fuel leak came about and that might explain the smell and no power above 3000. Not sure about the oil pressure though. Have you looked in the engine bay at all with the engine running to do some troubleshooting? 

212rowboat

no new beeps?  

sounds like you hit guardian mode... 

given the conditions you describe, pushing up to 4k for five minutes may have exposed an issue with cooling... which will trigger guardian mode and result in a loss of power from 20 to 100% (shut down).  

at that point, basically the engine stops sparking- but as it's turning that fuel is still being delivered which can result in smelling it as you did... 

report back any beeps before you key over to start, and after you key over to start (engine running) at idle.. pay attention to beeps as your RPMs climb... 

a simple if not very accurate test is a IR temp on the elbow of each riser/elbow and the delta between them... there will always be a difference, but a significant difference speaks to issues with manifolds... has it been in salt water it's entire life? OE manifolds? it may be time.... when did you last replace the impeller in your raw water pump? it may be tired... 

that would be my guesses, anyway, based on the info provided... 

tk1973

I've got a 2008 280 and had a crap ton of issues last year with the boat running great one day and then sputtering and sounding like a bag of hammers the other. When I changed the fuel filters ( the can shaped one and the round disc) and it ran ok for an outing and then the same issues. I took it apart again and noticed back paint peeling all inside the cool fuel module. Ended up calling mercruiser and the first guy I spoke with had no clue. The second guy said it was a known issue and ended up sending me a new cool fuel module and injectors for free. This is on a 10 yr old boat. Was very impressed. The caveat was to have it shipped to a mere dealer and have them install it. Cost about $800 cad for the labour and they cleaned the fuel rail, installed the new injectors and new cool fuel module. This year no issues at all. Might be worth checking out. 

trip_n

thats great @tk1973 =  older i get - less wrenching and trying to figure out = peace of mind is worth a whole lot

Philip

Thanks all. Verdict was that the block had cracked  Luckily insurance kicked in and now I have a brand new engine 

Aqua_Aura

What insurance do you have. Someone else got a head replaced from insurance and it seems like insurance wouldn't cover any of this. If my car breaks they sure as heck won't fix that so why a boat. 

Philip

I live in Denmark, and the insurance company is called IF... (Oh, the irony) I opted in for an additional extra machine-damage coverage. Obviously it does cover mistreatment, lack of maintenance, tear and wear, but if it's a sudden incident - apparently like mine, they were very helpful. 
PS. They didn't cover the whole thing - 50% of the engine, and all the hours used.

Aqua_Aura

Well that's certainly better than 0%.