Sea Trial Issues

Willhound

Well, the day finally came, sea trial and delivery of new to us 2000 FV270. 5.7L EFI, not the MAG model. When picked up the boat had a little less than a 1/4 tank of old fuel with stabilizer in it. I topped up the tank with premium on the way to launch.
Engine fired right up, oil pressure all good, idled like a dream. Hit the throttle to get on plane, and a little sluggish at first, but first time on the water in over a year. Finally up on plane, and all of a sudden, engine cuts out for a second, two beeps and then comes back up to speed. Shut her down, checked oil levels, drive oil tank, etc. All good. Start her back up, no problem, throttle up, just past 3000 RPM, same thing, engine cuts, two beeps, then back to speed.
A call to the shop suggests that it's just the "old" fuel working its' way out of the system, but as we try and continue, issue crops up with more frequency, anywhere from 2500 RPM and up. At no wake speed, no problem, runs like a champ. IAC? MAP sensor? Simple as gummed up fuel filter?

randy56

http://rinkerboats.vanillaforums.com/discussion/3445/mercruiser-engine-alarms-and-fault-codes-reformatted-as-a-handy-referencek .

Print this for future reference. Sorry about first day out.

reneechris14

Could just be the fuel filter,is that a mpi.

J3ff

Sea trial AND delivery? Who has the money? 

Willhound

Checked the post on beeps. But there's about 15 things covered under the scenario from a short in the temp sender system to MAP. Temp sender was changed and guage is working fine. Maybe the fault needs to be cleared?
Could be fuel filter, not MPI, it's the old Chevrolet throttle body system. 
There is a small hold back to cover final acceptance and clearance of issues like this. Boat has otherwise been carefully surveyed and there is some give and take involved in the acceptance of a trade from me with no hassles. Long story short, plan on working through the issues with the dealer, hopefully without having to return to the dealer as its a bit of a haul. But be sure that if it's not a dockside fix, it will go back. 
Thought maybe somebody has seen a similar situation to get an 8dea which way it might go. 

J3ff

Ah sounds like a good situation. I'm the king of buying bad boats around this forum... ( 3 days of use in my used boat needed a new motor )... Really not sure about "old gas" being the cause here. But I'm sure others will chime in.  Can you post a picture of the engine? 

Willhound

Here's a couple. 

randy56

Yes, it could be a number of things, that why I sent the fault codes, It a lot of guessing,  Your dealer should have a scan tool to diagnose the problem. I bet it's not old gas. How many miles back to the dealer?

Willhound

60 miles  or so. Im going to suggest they send mechanic with hauler. He can be present while we go for a run, then decide if he wants to try anything dockside, or haul to shop. Hoping for something simple l8me fuel filter. Wondering if as per previous post, If it had a bad temp sender fault, and they changed it but didn't clear the fault, would it still crop up from memory?

randy56

I not the expert on memory, but I thought once you turn it off and back on again it reset itself.

Cableguy Greg

If it isn't going over 3000 RPM, the engine is going into protection mode. A scan tool will help diagnose the issue.

Willhound

Roger that on the scan. No problem going over 3000 RPM, all through the revs and for a short spurt had it all the way to about 4600-4700 RPM and an indicated 41 MPH on the GPS. But then the intermittent issue with the cut out and two beeps. 
But definitely more predominant after 3000 RPM, was happening still randomly but spaced together as close as 5 to 10 seconds apart. No problem at all below 2500 RPM's or so. And doesn't seem to be going into protection mode, just a split second cut-out, like someone turned the key off and right back on again.
Had taken yesterday and today off to commission the boat, so hopefully get a resolution today. Will keep you posted.

Cableguy Greg

I must've misread the OP. I took it as you couldn't get her to go over 3000 RPM. My bad.

planesailing

Be interested to know the outcome. I have the same engine in my 242 and had a similar problem at start of last season. My engine didn't cut out after 3000rpm but it started to become a bit bogged down. Was like this for first 3 or 4 runs last season and then all was fine. I just put it down to old fuel. Havnt taken it out yet this season so unsure if it will be the same again.

Cableguy Greg

Here is a different fault list covering other flavors of the engines.

http://media.channelblade.com/EProWebsiteMedia/3506/Mercruiser warning horns.pdf

Willhound

Thanks @Cableguy Greg much appreciated. The two short beeps don't seem to be listed. But the dealer did contact me from home early this morning saying that when shop opens he'll discuss with mechanic and arrange to have him meet me at marina. They're going to try a few simple things like check sensor connections and change out filters and water separator and if anything beyond that will go back to the shop.
Fingers crossed....

davidbrooks

Gotta reiterate what @Alswagg said.  Got to read out the codes on the pcm.  On my last boat I had the same thing happen during a sea trial.  Ran fine one day, two beeps every few minutes the next and diminished output.  The mercruisers are very similar in how they handle this.  Non critical faults all give the same beeps and put the engine in guardian mode.  All the gauges looked fine.  In the end it turned out to simply be a faulty water pressure sensor.  Water pressure was fine.  Sensor just picked that day to go bad.  If the issue is just a one time thing then turning the engines off and on again will reset the guardian mode.  Unless the issue is still there.  I had a mechanic that just wanted to swap parts.  Fired him and bought my own scan tool and it has paid for itself in the last year.

Willhound

So, after some back and forth on the phone today, they offered to send the mechanic out tomorrow morning with his diagnostic tools etc. But I can't be there tomorrow so have arranged for next Tuesday which is my next available day. I want to be there and so we can trial it again with him on-board. Figure there's no sense him trying to trouble shoot unless we run it, and I can be sure whatever fix works before he takes off. To add to the issues, I had discovered late yesterday when I was able to fill the fresh water tank that the pressure pump isn't working. It runs, but won't prime or pull water from the tank, even after me priming the lines. So mechanic is bringing a new pump too.
And then today, while checking some more, find that the Jabsco electric head pump is also not working properly. Won't suck raw water in, and although after a few seconds it will drain the bowl, after a few minutes what's in the waste tank is flowing back into the bowl. I confirmed with some coloured tank treatment I had. So the seals in that are bad.
And after all that, and using a hose to try and prime the Jabsco pump I noticed the shower sump also not pumping, water was building up in the shower sump box and overflowing into the bilge. Makes me think maybe things weren't winterized properly at some point.
So will be adding that to the Tuesday list also. Starting to wonder....

J3ff

Keep looking for stuff man!! If they are going to fix it for free, get it in now! 

reneechris14

Almost time to rename the boat,@J3ff has quite the list to chose from.

J3ff

reneechris14 said:

Almost time to rename the boat,@J3ff has quite the list to chose from.

I still haven't changed the original name of my boat... it really does fit it nicely "4 Pete's Sake!"  

Willhound

Yeah, starting to get a little frustrated. But I know the boat sat for at least a year, if not more.  Things dry out and seize up I guess. 

randy56

@Willhound, Good job finding hiccups, you will be ready and have spring start up behind you soon.

J3ff

Fill up the bilge with water, make sure it pumps out just fine too.. just so you know, I have a bigger engine that is brand new and can't hit 41 on a gps even with newly reconditioned props!! Talk about frustrating! 

Willhound

J3ff said:

reneechris14 said:

Almost time to rename the boat,@J3ff has quite the list to chose from.

I still haven't changed the original name of my boat... it really does fit it nicely "4 Pete's Sake!"  

I guess our's fits also. "Knot Quite Shore" about the whole thing...

Willhound

On a positive note, everything else seems to check out ok. Both bilge pumps working fine. Fridge (and control), electric stove top, power windlass, remote spotlight, wiper, horn, trim tabs, hydraulic steering, blower, nav lights, switches, battery charger all good. All the issues seem to be plumbing and the engine hiccup.

J3ff

that reminds me, I haven't fixed the horn yet either.  That was a surprise. SIGH

hot water heater is rotted out as well, I just dont have the energy for that one.. 

Willhound

Oh yeah....that's about the only thing I haven't been able to test, until the pressure pump gets changed. Looks pretty good though. I was able to push some water into it by running water from a hose into the feed line and no leaks that I can see.

craigswardmtb

For what it's worth changing the water heater is a 2 beer job. Maybe 1.5. 
Hopefully that engine is broken in j3ff?