Engine died

[fastskipper]

Got the new to me Concivcor on the water for the first time Sunday. What fun..nice day out on lake Erie. Boat ran for an hour then started to miss, then died. Not so fun, $400.00 tow back to the ramp. At least the fridge worked good to keep the beer cold for the two hour tow back.

Tried to start the engine the next day and it did fire but ran like chit. I was really worried that something major was wrong. I started with a compression test. I did the test cold and dry and all were between 165 and 170psi. What a relief at least the mechanicals are sound.

I don't seem to have a fuel problem as there is plenty of fuel at the carb. I plan on replacing the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, distributor sensor, and coil. Could anyone provide part numbers for these parts?
The engine is not stock. So it could be hard to order by S/N. It has a Thunderbolt IV ingition that I assume came with the boat. The plugs are champion RV9YC, is that a good choice?
I have always been a fan of NGK. The number on the sensor is 90924, is that the correct number? Anything I need to know to install a new sensor?

Thanks for the help

[fastskipper]

Got the new to me Concivcor on the water for the first time Sunday. What fun..nice day out on lake Erie. Boat ran for an hour then started to miss, then died. Not so fun, $400.00 tow back to the ramp. At least the fridge worked good to keep the beer cold for the two hour tow back.

Tried to start the engine the next day and it did fire but ran like chit. I was really worried that something major was wrong. I started with a compression test. I did the test cold and dry and all were between 165 and 170psi. What a relief at least the mechanicals are sound.

I don't seem to have a fuel problem as there is plenty of fuel at the carb. I plan on replacing the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, distributor sensor, and coil. Could anyone provide part numbers for these parts?
The engine is not stock. So it could be hard to order by S/N. It has a Thunderbolt IV ingition that I assume came with the boat. The plugs are champion RV9YC, is that a good choice?
I have always been a fan of NGK. The number on the sensor is 90924, is that the correct number? Anything I need to know to install a new sensor?

Thanks for the help

[vinny p.]

I can't help you with part #'s but I have had great success with ordering parts from the following site. www.mercruiserparts.com (http://www.mercruiserparts.com) They are not affiliated with Mecruiser, so you get a little break on the price. Also, the site is great for reference purposes.

What does the motor do when you attempt to start it? You seem confident that it is getting fuel, did you try to pump the throttle while looking down the carb to see if the fuel is getting into the intake manifold? Did you check for spark at the plugs with a spark tester? If no spark at plugs, check for spark out of coil. If no spark out of coil, check for 12 volts to coil. Check for pulse to neg. side of coil. Is the rotor turning when you crank the engine?

[fastskipper]

vinny
first thing i checked to see if the rotor was turning and it was. It does have fuel when I pump it..lots of it. The spark is on and off. kind off wierd..thats why i'm going to replace everything. Are there any setting to replace the sensor or is it bolt in??

[Bill]

I have only seen this twice, but if all checks out okay that Vinny recommends, is your fuel good. You stated this was your first time out. How old is the fule? Was it stabilized? Open the gas cap, does it smell like varnish? What I have seen twice, I mean, was this problem from bad fuel, which in turn plugged up the fuel system. Both times I saw this was at the beginning of the season. One time actually the alcohol in the gas started eating the rubber fuel hose and a piece of rubber plugged the system the other time, the card got so varnished up and there was so much water in the system, it first dropped a cylinder, then eventually quit. Sorry to add more confusion. What year is your motor? If I remember correctly, in the early 90's Merc started with the ECM'son the motor that could be plugged inta a computer to tell what is going on. You can order parts from the serial number off of the motor, actually with merc, you must have that number off of the motor to garuntee you get the right part because they swapped stuff around so much depending on their inventory level.

2003 ZT 240 6.2litre/Bravo 320 H.P. 25P Mirage Plus

[Bill]

Have you checked all of the grounds on the motor?

2003 ZT 240 6.2litre/Bravo 320 H.P. 25P Mirage Plus

[fastskipper]

transom number is OC632668 if that helps any

[vinny p.]

When you say sensor, I think that you mean pick-up coil in the distributor. There is no adjustment for it. The air gap is factory set. T-bolt IV systems also have an spark module, should be bolted to the riser. If the spark is on and off, most likely either the pick-up coil or spark module. If you are guessing, I would try the pick-up coil first. I think it sells for about $30. , the spark box is about $200. From what I have seen, the spark boxes just don't die like your boat did, they tend to go bad slowly. Pick-up coils tend to just take a dump on you at any time.

[fastskipper]

Bill
first time out really was the test drive b4 purchase..the thing ran great. Three weeks later I took it out and had all the problems. I did fill it with fresh fuel b4 all the chit happened.

[fastskipper]

and changed the fuel filters

[Bill]

I just called a friend of mine who's boat has been missing all of a sudden this year, it did not quit, but it would not get on plane from such a loss of power, He had a corroded ground wire, he said it did not look bad, but when he played with it some, it made a differance, so he replaced it and fixed it. Don't ya' love boating? http://www.checkmate-boats.com/6/ws/,s,8626072361/Graemlins/thumb.gif http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

2003 ZT 240 6.2litre/Bravo 320 H.P. 25P Mirage Plus

[Eriktheviking]

I'm not sure what year your boat is but I had a problem with mine where the main wiring harness plugs into the engine harness. The prongs got a little corroded,so I lost the ground. Another possibility is that your carb float stuck and flooded it out.See what the plugs look like when you remove them. If you've got good spark but a couple plugs are fouled, that would certainly make it run like chit! http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gifGood Luck

[fastskipper]

Thanks for all the help.
Disconnected and cleaned every electrical connection on the boat. None of them looked bad but cleaned them anyway. Checked the fuel filters again. Replaced plugs,wires,cap,rotor and sensor. Starts and runs perfect now. Ran it for an hour on the lake. Going out again today.

[Chris]

Glad to hear! http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

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