Jimmy... a diagnostic for you.. or anyone else..

[Questsportfishing]

One of the boats we built has 225 four strokes on her. Engines are left over 06 counter and reg. . boat has been run properly, serviced by good people, broke in per spec. , boat has had two ne fuel tanks (just like all the others I do...) , engines had 428 hours on them. keep in mind BOTH engines pull / feed off the same tank everytime the fuel selector switch is moved, the engine while running started popping and spitting real bad - engine was shut down and boat returned back to the dock on the starboard engine (running time of 4 1/2 hours on 1 engine), boat was taken to a shop where the man said without even hooking up a computer ..'it's the fuel!' so the man had his boats vst tank torn down and paid for the service ... after taking the boat home and getting ready to fish engine would not even hardly run and would only start after you primed the ball, the man has put in 1 call after another trying to get this worked out, after taking the boat to yet another service / dealer the engine was torn down yet again! keep in mind now the boat with a hard headed owner has taken this thing out fishing on 1 engine for a total of almost 50 extra hours on the 1 that is still running fine! the bad engine was now torn down to the injectors fuel rails intakes and throttle bodies, air silencers, intake ports, etc and a new fuel pump was installed. only thing that was warrantee'ed was the fuel pump... after paying the keys were delivered and the boat was started up...engine shook like hell and sounded funny. I went back in and asked them to come see it. the mechanic does seem to be very good at the diagnostic proceduer.. hooked up computer - vac hoses and thing was off,,, when you pulled the plug wire off both middle cylinders it hardly made a difference.... to me this means 'Oh Sh*t!' ... baot was put up high on the forklift and rpm ran up... still popping and spitting and shaking like a washer overloaded on 1 side with towels... after pulling off the plug wires at higher rpms popping got somewhat worse on one cylnder and it didnt make a difference on the other.. with this diagnostic I'd do a compression check myself but it is under warrantee... not my job so to speak... I do trust this shop and I hope for the best ... what would you do in this case with $ paid out, and time lost? BTW the first shop told Merc warrantee division that there was salt water in the fuel... and guess what we did a sample to stick it to them for that! Keep in mind that the starboard engine still to date is on the same fuel same tank same boat with almost 50 extra hours of fishing... computer prit outs were done and mechanic told him to run the engines up more after it gets done because most hours were low rpm hours and they need to get run up more... any thoughts buddy??? price to date paid out over $2k bucks...

[jawz12]

2 dead holes...can't see fuel being a problem-other engine's running fine...
if 2 holes are not firing,you're missing fuel,spark or compression...compression test eliminates compression...gotta see what the ecm says...any codes ???

[Questsportfishing]

?????... strange thing! the compression and leak down test was also done with only 1 lb leak down... bent crank maybe???? wierd as anything!

[Questsportfishing]

yesterday I picked up the boat after fuel injectors were taken out re-cleaned and engine ran smooth so I was carrying the boat home. I am not in any way getting on the shop that has been working on this rig by the way they have been running every scenereo to find the problem and doing it very smart! The mechanics have went step by step trying to fix the problem and have been very professional! I pick up the boat and I start to the dock... things running great nice and smooth so I am thinking ...'gotta get this thing out fishing now!" <~~ the 28's make great fishing boats! I get up the river it is high tide, the wind is blowing about 15-20 a big people hauler comes down the river and is on the wrong side but in this case here everyone runs the river together great, engine starts shaking and dies with two popping noises... I was on 1 and getting out of the way basically on the '2' <~~ (starboard to starboard) .. the current, wake and wind took me up to the seawall dock... so there are scratches down the side... I did not hit that hard but with only the starb. engine running and in this situation 'it sucked!!!' .. so the engine to me is a lemon in my mind..a freak of nature.. a piece of scrap metal ... basically I have no faith in it at all... I don't dock by braile on any boat I run so scratches and bonks on the rub rail is devastating to me.. If anyone has ever had a 225 four stroke engine act like this I would like to know.. it's actually a yamaha bought by merc.. we call them merc-a-has down here but this has been very wierd .. PS the compression and the bleed down were perfect... i still thing crank to gear timing problems or computer some how...

[Dunk]

Sounds to me like the ECU is acting up after it warms up. Also those engines use 3 coils to fire 6 cylinders. Each coil fires two cylinders directly accross from each other. Could just be a bad coil or a combo with the ECU if it's not throwing codes to show you this.

[jawz12]

i would be very hesitant to throw an ecm at that engine...i would look at the harnesses-i've seen some problems with t he injector harnesses...it's very rare for an ecm to fail...

[Questsportfishing]

I guess after this weekend we have a big wig from merc coming to our house to figure it out... the starboard motor still runs like a champ... I was told 3 different times "It's YOUR fuel..." so three times I have paid to have this engine ripped apart ..(once by a shop that let the parts sit out in the rain and just threw them on the ground ..while the boat was sitting on it's tripple axle trailer..) the other shop has a top notch kid working there that is very professional and treats everything he touches on the boat with care.. I cannot wait till this merc guy sees pics of the first shop! the cowling is even all beat and scratched up...oh well... this motor though has been down since labor day.... most sponsored rigs would have had a new engine sitting on the boat the very next day.. . I still don't understand why his engine is catty-whompuss but hope it ends soon . My wife and friends wanted to go diving today so bad also. Time lost on warrantee - time lost fishing - trust in the American way of biz. ....- time lost on our insurance ($3.800.00 a year with bahamas coverage..) oh and not even being able to take the boat out ...Priceless..! Glad our friends have a boat and I run other peoples boats for work... I will just add this to things that make you go crazzy..

[Dunk]

i would be very hesitant to throw an ecm at that engine...i would look at the harnesses-i've seen some problems with t he injector harnesses...it's very rare for an ecm to fail...

Well Jim, considering it's an 06' and still under warranty I say let the factory throw what's easiest for them at it.. No doubt it's probably what the Rep coming will do.

Quest, your in S FL somewhere, right? Boat's been sitting since Labor Day? Is that with E10 fuel in it? If so, there might be a fuel problem by now..

[Questsportfishing]

I re-build these 28's to 2008 standards and one of the first things to go is the fiberglass tank. the whole boat is completely re built even... We have had people point and say fuel for uh... ever since we had the engine trouble ... that day that we lost the engine I did check the filters... everything was fine,... we also came back on the starboard engine from elliott key to ft lauderdale on 1 with 6 people 12 dive tanks, coolers, gear and pushed about 37 miles home and we actually ran her all the way out because of the poor performance on 1.. the starboard has always started ran great and we have actually went almost 50 hours extra now on one... still everyone points at us and says FUEL! You Pay the bill... this is what all the customer service and warrantee you pay for anymore.. since labor day and the way the people at service have treated us sucks.. in all fairness any biz. should look hard at whats up but when this goes this long and as much money we have paid out and time down ..I have no trust in the warrantee division anymore. PS all the fuel ever put into this boat was from the same station except for 40 gallons Bimini at 127hrs ... 65 gallons key west 188hrs... 45 gallons smugglers cove in the keys at 340 hrs .. my wife keeps every reciept, bill, service record and keeps the boat log up so this is like telling her that this just is what it is... try that with your girl at home and see how far you get.. and my wife loves the boat ... how rare and how much of a pain in the ass this has been! Just for a slap in the face again friends from Mn. were down for turkey day.. no boating... but it's sitting out back still we can go look at it and ... well thats all look at it... will update when things happen .. sucks...

[Questsportfishing]

My better half told me to get my calendar right .. this boat engine was down on the memorial day weekend not labor day... long ass time !!! and I have still been running fuel through the tank so ethanol will not win!