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Engine bogging

P

persuaderkurt

Member
Worst day ever. I put the boat in at a Yonkers, NY boat ramp and went down to the statue of liberty. Nice ride, however, anytime I tried to go faster that 30-35 the engine would act like it drank some fuel it did not like and almost stalled. It would do this every couple of minutes. The engine never actually stalled it just bogged down bad enough for me to come off plane. I never took it out of gear and let it putz for 5 or 10 seconds, then off we would go again. As long as I stayed slow, about 20-25, it ran smooth as silk. I am wondering if I may have ethanol, bad gas, water in the fuel problems. I am hoping that is the issue. Any thoughts. I am wondering if my fuel water separator would not work well enough to separate the water at the higher speeds.

Oh, by the way never use the Yonkers boat ramp if you are launching with you wife that will only hold the boat. The tide and waves were so rediculous I ended up getting washed into some rocks which gauged the bottom of the boat and bent my prop. My boat is a 1996 234 Persuader with a 454 EFI. I love the boat.

So, in addition to replacing my prop, I will be figuring out how to repair the gouges on the bottom of the boat and figure out my engine problem. And did I mention I completely detstroyed the fender on my trailer as well.
 
What kind of prop bends touching rocks? or did it bend when you drove off the rocks! Sounds like a real bad day!
 
Sounds like one bad day... " Driving off the rocks".. OUCH!:yell:

I think you are on the right path with the water in the fuel/bad fuel theory. When was the last time you used the boat?

HD
 
The last time I used the boat was about 1 month prior. The funny thing was that the engine never stalled. I waited literally 5-10 seconds for my stress level to come down, said a prayer, and gave it gas. It always took off like nothing happened. I have an idea about engines but not to level of figuring out this kind of stuff.

Driving off rocks feels exactly as you would imagine. Each spin of the propeller moved the boat about 1 or 2 inches.

I am just now gettig to the point where I can find some humor in the debacle. (just a little).
 
Fuel flow obstruction is my guess. Our Baja jet boat would go under 35 just fine, then just wouldn't go any faster than that. We eventually discovered the metal outlet in the fuel tank had an obstruction.
 
How did you discover that? I am hoping it is not one of those intermittent problems that are hard to isolate and find or something wierd that is going to send a technician on a wild goose chase.
 
Sounds like a fuel restriction. From easiest to hardest; Check filter, primer bulb and anti siphon valve in tank. Could also be a bad fuel pump. Or dirty carbs. If it was water it would not run well slowly either.
 
If you haven"t changed the prop yet I would start there first. Don't know how bad it's bent, but a damaged prop will not allow you to get get good performance in the full throttle range. (hence the loss of power,bogging down, engine not able to reach full power or RPMs).Is it a stainless prop or aluminum?Start with the obvious by replacing the prop then start to diagnose the engine if the problem persists. Good luck!
 
persuaderkurt said:
How did you discover that? I am hoping it is not one of those intermittent problems that are hard to isolate and find or something wierd that is going to send a technician on a wild goose chase.
Click to expand...

After pulling our hair out, we took out the tank to drain it and see if any carp was in it. While doing so, we noticed the outlet tube had a hex fitting, so we put a wrench on it and lo and behold it spun. So we took it out, looked in it and you couldn't see thru it. Then we shoved a ramrod down it and a bunch of carp came out. We put it back together, took the boat out and all of a sudden it would go past 35. Yes, I'm misspelling carp on purpose (family friendly!)
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I did take it out over the weekend to get the Stabil into the fuel lines and it ran fine. I did not go over 25 because I haven't bought a new prop yet.
 
Glad it worked out.I hate when carp gets into the fuel system. Darned fish should know their place.
 
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