Fuel drama's?

[forsterfisho]

Had a few drama's with my 60hp EFI motor this morning. I was driving along, doing around 30 knts when I lost all power. It started off feeling like I had driven into a sand bar, but I was in 8ft of water. The motor then started vibrating/shaking and finally the motor revs dropped and cut out. Water was still coming out of the tell tale, and I could re-start the motor with no drama's, so I figured it wasnt an over heating or battery issue.
I could re start the motor, it would run fine for a a minute, then start to vibrate...then shake and then stall.

I scratched my head for a few minutes, then I checked the primer bulb and it was very soft, so I pumped that for a while untill it became harder, re-started the motor and it was fine for about another kilometer or so, then same symptons again....lose power, vibrate...shake and then stall. Re-pump the primer bulb and it was fine...

Bad fuel?

Water in fuel?

Stuffed fuel pump?

Any other ideas....?

Looking forward to any ideas!

Dion.

[chrislocke]

does the motor make a beeping sound whilst doing it? my EFI does that sometimes and i think it has to do with the fuel pump. i had it serviced and told them and they fixed it no worries

[seamonkey]

FF

Soft primer bulb is often an indication of air being drawn in to the system causing fuel starvation and the symptoms you describe. Check all the connections along the pipe for loose clamps, cracking perishing etc particularly around the bulb as a first step.

And I'll ask the obvious - you got fuel in the tank? Seen this happen with low fuel. Motor stops, bulb is soft but the stern drops when staitionary and fuel flows to the back allowing the bulb to be pumped hard. Back on the plane and fairly level you "run out of fuel" again. ...and repeat the process.

Anyway check integrity of fuel lines first. Has it ever had E10 fuel in it?

smky

[boris]

is there an alarm sounding while you try to apply power above idle rev range?

If there is and you can still run the engine at idle revs it way be an ignition problem, ie ignition coil because I had the same thing happen on my old EFI. just ask col mate he'll map the engine fault if it is one if not I would assume a fuel supply issue...

hope that helps mate

[max]

petty simple but have you got a remote fuel tank or built in,if remote is breather open

[jameshallam]

check the plugs

[crabcrusher]

Sounds like the ignition coil... Not fuel.

[Hazell]

My boat did this the day I was going to buy it. The previous owner took it home, flushed the fuel and we took it out the next day. It ran perfectly and has ever since.

Chuck it in your car and re-fill. It's an easy thing to rule out and look at the fuel as you pore it. water, rust, etc could be an issue.

[the_fanatic]

Originally Posted by forsterfisho

Had a few drama's with my 60hp EFI motor this morning. I was driving along, doing around 30 knts when I lost all power. It started off feeling like I had driven into a sand bar, but I was in 8ft of water. The motor then started vibrating/shaking and finally the motor revs dropped and cut out. Water was still coming out of the tell tale, and I could re-start the motor with no drama's, so I figured it wasnt an over heating or battery issue.
I could re start the motor, it would run fine for a a minute, then start to vibrate...then shake and then stall.

I scratched my head for a few minutes, then I checked the primer bulb and it was very soft, so I pumped that for a while untill it became harder, re-started the motor and it was fine for about another kilometer or so, then same symptons again....lose power, vibrate...shake and then stall. Re-pump the primer bulb and it was fine...

Bad fuel?

Water in fuel?

Stuffed fuel pump?

Any other ideas....?

Looking forward to any ideas!

Dion.

Is yours a merc efi 60? if so i have the same motor and have been having exactly the same problem, went out today, drove around for ages, and had no problem, then it "ran out of fuel" twice two times in a row quite quickly, i sqeezed the primer bulb then it ran fine for ages again. it has happened the last few times ive been out, sometimes it does it more than others and ive replaced the fuel. motor is only 1year old

[Ratbags]

FF, check your hose connection at the motor, I had they same prob a while back, looked like everything was connected, however the hose fitting for some reason had come loose, would start & stop as you describe. I changed over the fitting & all fine now.

[forsterfisho]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your responces, yeah its a merc EFI 60 and doesn't have any alarms sounding.

I thought it might of been sucking air into it somehow, so I'll check all the connections and hoses tomorrow to see if its that. There wast atleast 1/2 a tank of fuel onboard - silly question, is there anyway I can check the fuel level of an inbuilt tank if the fuel gauge is faulty?

THe motor is only 4 months old, so I'll probably take it into the shop and get the pro's to check it all over anyway.

Many thanks again!

[max]

have you straight down access to your fuel tank if so get yourself a stick or similar with marks on it for your fuel levels.I drained all my old fuel out & put it in the missus car,went to the servo with my stick & marked it with the litres as I put new fuel in 20 -50- 70 etc.,I dont overally trust the dash gauge.

[yellow door 1]

Originally Posted by forsterfisho

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your responces, yeah its a merc EFI 60 and doesn't have any alarms sounding.

I thought it might of been sucking air into it somehow, so I'll check all the connections and hoses tomorrow to see if its that. There wast atleast 1/2 a tank of fuel onboard - silly question, is there anyway I can check the fuel level of an inbuilt tank if the fuel gauge is faulty?

THe motor is only 4 months old, so I'll probably take it into the shop and get the pro's to check it all over anyway.

Many thanks again!

When I had a similar problem it turned out to be a split O-ring in the primer bulb.

Make sure you get the pro's to check your fuel line first - otherwise they will charge you countless hours of labour to fix a $20 problem

[treetop]

I'm with Y.D. I had a similar problem with mine. It turned out to be a munted o ring in the engine end of the fuel hose conector.

[Timmah]

I had this happen on a Yammie and found out the the fuel filter bowl was loose. Onced tighten it fixed the problem and i have never had it happen since.

Cheers
Tim