Pretty rough first trip out

[jbgp1200]

So we got the new boat out on the water last night and all was well. Filled up the new custom Sacs that MLA sent me and surfs up. For a little while anyway.

Boat fired right up, took it for a 45 mph run across the lake everything was perfect. Started surfing at about 11 mph and I noticed the engine sputtering a bit. The engine would run then sputter, run then sputter. The sound was almost as if one of the exhaust pipe was out of the water which isn't the case. However that's what it sounded like. Killed the engine and some one else went for a run at around 10.5-11mph and the sputtering was gone. another run and it was back. Ugh, not mad but a bit concerned at this point. Go to start the boat again and i get nothing. Not even a click. Boat has plenty of power, bilge, lights, stereo 12v all work fine. Turn the key and nothing. First night out and a Kid in a Supra was smiling as he was towing my new Tige across the lake.

Problem 1; The engine sputter at low speed. Could this have been water int he fuel. What else would cause this at low speed?
Problem 2; Dang thing won't start. Wont turn over wont do anything. (Boat was in neutral but that doesn't mean the boat thought it was in neutral.) Could this be a neutral switch, starter, solenoid, distributor?

This boat is a 2007 RZ2 with only 67 hours on it. No problems when I first lake tested it before we bought it. I remember the seller telling me they were selling it because they have not put it in the water in over a year. Did not dawn on me that the over half tank of fuel may have accumulate some water over a year of sitting.

Now the icing on the cake for my night. My trailer brakes locked up on me in reverse. I've had 3 trailers and none of them till now have ever done this to me. This one took about an hour of frustration and a bit of internet education but I think the solution is a 5/7 pin harness. My 7 pin adapter seems to only have 4 contacts and I think the contact I am missing operates the braking solenoid. Frustrated with this one because ive never had it happen and I was at a total loss for how to get the rear brakes to unlock. Fortunately with a couple of nickels I was able to manually disable the brakes to back it into my storage.


Any ideas on the 2 issues with the engine?

[Ewok]

My first thought is bad gas and that fact that the boat only has 67 hours. That means this boat sat, not being used for a long time. Low hours on a boat do not mean the same thing as low miles on a car. With boats and airplanes, lots of stuff goes bad and breaks when it's just sitting. This is just the first problem you will most likely see with this boat. Have you changed the impeller? Oil? Transmission or V-drive fluid? Batteries? Engine Belt? Spark Plugs?

Sorry, back to the gas, if I were in your shoes I would try to drain the gas tank with a siphon, then splash some clean gas in there and siphon it out to and dispose of it properly. Then I would change out the fuel filters, make sure there isn't any hard varnish on the inside of the fuel lines, and fill 1/2 the tank with high octane top tier gas (Shell, Exxon, Valero, Arco, Conoco Phillps), treat the entire tank with Seafoam in the concentration for cleaning a fuel system and run the boat. If it sputters again I would do the same thing one more time.

I would also change all the other stuff as mentioned above. Those are easy things you can do yourself without taking apart injectors and getting deep into the fuel system.

[jbgp1200]

Great feed back, thank you. Oil and impeller have always been changed routinely by the original owner. Everything else I doubt is so ill get all that done.

Any ideas why it was working fine and then suddenly would not start? Not even a click when I turn the key. Seems electrical related.

[Ewok]

I'm not sure about it not starting unless it was seeing a seized fuel pump or some other warning about the fuel system. It could also be a fuse, a loose ground, a bad kill switch. Some of the real mechanics will chime in soon for that piece of the puzzle.

[ChrisBarnes05-12-84]

Starter could be seized up. On my 07 20v every now and again u would have to ever so slightly lift the lock on the throttle shifter and press it forward a tiny bit. Seems like it would do that about once a day at the lake. Move it forward just enough to where it's still in neutral without engaging it into gear. Easy way to do this is to keep key turned with left hand and shift it ever so slightly with your right. The boat will turn over once it senses its in neutral. I totally agree with Ewok on why the engine is sputtering. Do as he says and that issue will most likely be resolved. You may also try going backwards ever so slightly if forward doesn't work.

[boatwakes]

Chris is right about the neutral safety switch: hold the key in the start position and move the throttle/gear shift back and forth. If the boat starts or tries to start, the neutral safety is to blame. If not, proceed to next step.
Are you getting warning beep at the dash? If not, look for the starter, down low under the exhaust manifold on the starboard side or up top behind the engine, just behind the distributor and slightly starboard. This is where the main power 12volts is fed to the engine electronics from the large battery cable. I'm sorry but I have to start with the basics so please bear with me.
- verify battery switch is on
- verify batteries are good, use a multimeter to determine if the battery is actually at 12volts +-1 but test on the battery terminals and not the cable connections. This step will help determine if the battery is good and if not help diagnose a possibly bad alternator.
- if the above steps test good, check at the starter connection for a 3/4"square apparatus. If it's there, usually Mercruiser, that's the 90 amp fuse. Test both sides of it to determine if it's good, but keep the key on for this test.
Try these tests and get back.

[little_criket]

Now the icing on the cake for my night. My trailer brakes locked up on me in reverse. I've had 3 trailers and none of them till now have ever done this to me. This one took about an hour of frustration and a bit of internet education but I think the solution is a 5/7 pin harness. My 7 pin adapter seems to only have 4 contacts and I think the contact I am missing operates the braking solenoid. Frustrated with this one because ive never had it happen and I was at a total loss for how to get the rear brakes to unlock. Fortunately with a couple of nickels I was able to manually disable the brakes to back it into my storage.

Yep, I found this out when my adaptor was stolen and my spare adaptor was 7/4. You need 7/5. Around 20 bucks Walmart.

[jbgp1200]

Yesterday I turn the key for the first time since Wednesday and the boat fires right up. After that nothing. 45 min later fires. Then nothing. I can hear the relay clicking when I try to start it.

- Tested the Battery and its good
- Tested the battery terminals and they are good
- Moved the shifter back and forth slightly with the key on and, nothing.
- Crossed the leads on the neutral switch and still nothing.
- Checked all the connections with a multi meter and I was getting 12v+ all the way to the leads connected to the starter.
- The 3.4 inch relay was clicking. Swapped it out with a new one just to make sure and still nothing.

image.jpg

I think I may have found the problem shown above. I have a feeling these corroded leads are causing the issue. What I can't explain is why it wanted to start after sitting for a bit.

[jbgp1200]

Also I crossed the leads on the neutral switch and still nothing.

[jbgp1200]

Well, I cleaned off all the connections shown above as well as the battery terminals that were not that bad and it seems that the starting issue is now resolved. fires up every time now.

Thanks for the advice on this one.

Still need to figure out how I'm gonna get 25 gallons of gas out of the tank. I've got a pump but I don't have 5 empty gas cans.

[loudelectronics]

No sense throwing the gas away. Just buy two cans of seafoam and put that in tank and top off with premium fuel. Your problems will go away after about 15 minutes of driving.

Also, have you changed your fuel filter? If the filter is clogged or old, it will cause these symptoms. Also if the pump had to pull many hours through the clogged filter it gets weak. On my 24V I had similar issues, changed the filter and it got much better but would still have vapour lock issues after boat was ran and it was intermittent. Changed pump and what do you know, boat ran like brand new.

[jbgp1200]

Seriously? Ive been sitting here scratching my head trying to figure out how im gonna locate 5 empty 5 gallon gas cans.

Ok, so its safe to run 2 cans of sea foam in a full tank? (I just happen to have 2 cans since they were buy one get one free) There is a little more then half a tank in there now I figure 25 gallons.

As far as the fuel filter, probably needs to be changed. Stupid question, any idea where it is in a 07 RZ2. Since I have not noticed it I'm guessing maybe its under the floor.

[rensink]

Yep, I found this out when my adaptor was stolen and my spare adaptor was 7/4. You need 7/5. Around 20 bucks Walmart.

You can in a pinch use a 7/4...the first female slot on a flat 4 is the running lights so all you need to do is place the fifth pin (brake release) in the first female slot and turn your headlights on this will apply power to the solenoid.

[Stingreye]

As far as the fuel filter, probably needs to be changed. Stupid question, any idea where it is in a 07 RZ2. Since I have not noticed it I'm guessing maybe its under the floor.

If Marine Power, it looks like this thread:
http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...parator-thingy

There may be another one. On my PCM motor, I only have the one in the fuel cell cylinder.

[dj2]

I am making an assumption that you have a trailer with a swing away tongue. I had the same problem with reverse on mine and the issue was a loose butt connector on the wire that locks the brakes out in reverse. The other issue I have seen is a need to give your contacts. Really good cleaning on the trailer and the truck.