Boat won't start after a little smoke!?

[KyleRass41]

Not a good day......I know it happens though.

Here is what happened.

Boat got rained on a lot last week and then we emptied it a day or two after. I checked the oil....looked clear. Haven't changed the impeller for 2 seasons.

Got to the lake. About a 2 hour drive. Still having problems with starting it(something I've posted on here but dealer and myself couldn't pinpoint the issue yet). You have to turn on off...on off...and so on till it starts. Every 6 or so outings it might blow the 20 amp fuse.

So it started and everything ran good for about an hour. Get to a cove....engine status lights came on and beeped twice.....some shaking deeper down in the hatch maybe towards the bottom center or so of engine....more like a higher pitch sound started coming from the engine. Tiny little smoke....but then it started running fine. So I thought bad gas....we boated for about 15 more minutes. Sounded all good....then got loud again at higher speeds. Then it really got loud....smoked a bit and you could hear the prop tighten up and everything shut down.
Now nothing....won't turn over at all. I had the hatch open and every attempt to start you could here like an electrical connection sizzle and smoke so I stopped trying for a while.....and then just for the heck of it tried a few times by the dock after getting towed and it won't attempt to fire over...so maybe whatever it was got burnt or completely fried...

Any thoughts on this? How bad could it be? Need a little piece of mind to sleep tonight.....I just hope the whole engine isn't blown? Would you know if that happened?

We leave for the Ozarks in a week and and a half.....

[KyleRass41]

Just to add....the auto bilge did not kick on. So yes lots of standing water.

I'm thinking the clunking sounds have to be from the impeller....after reading it sounds like this might be the case. But can anyone help with the electrical portion? What could have been burning?

[freeheel4life]

There is a lot going on here....I vaguely remember your thread on the fuse issue. You kept losing the large MAXI fuse on the "Starter" circuit ya?? Maybe link this thread to that one.

When the MIL lit up at the helm was it the yellow/orange "!" Inside of a triangle or was it the red engine outline??
By "tiny little smoke" do you mean from the exhuast or smoke from the bilge??

What were your temps at the screen?? Did you go to the guages screen when you got the MIL at the helm??

Hopefully I'm wrong, but from your above description it sounds like you were overheating, kept shutting down to investigate and then once proceeding continuing to heat up. Hoping your description of "the prop tightening" and "loud high pitch noises" wasnt actually your internals seizing.

Really hope I'm wrong and just being dramatic, though it would explain the no crank condition now and your starter B+ burning up causing the smoke and "electrical sizzle"
What does your start B+ cable look like?? Hopefully the starter motor just finally seized, but wouldn't explain the MIL lamps and the mechanical noises

Also confused, where is all the water coming from?? If everything is functioning normally there should no, to very little water in your bilge?? Where did all the standing water come from??

So many questions.

[KyleRass41]

The water was just from the 10 inches of rain we got in 5 hours. Heat was low 190s. Oil pressure was in the 50s. The smoked seemed to come from under or to the starboard side very low....

[KyleRass41]

The water was just from the 10 inches of rain we got in 5 hours. Heat was low 190s. Oil pressure was in the 50s. The smoked seemed to come from under or to the starboard side very low....

[KyleRass41]

Both left and right lights wents on. Left was yellow I think...and the one on the right was red and outlined

[freeheel4life]

Pull the plugs and see if theres water on them I guess.
While the plugs are out try to turn the engine at the harmonic balancer/crank pulley.
I get the auto bilge not working, and I get the 10 inches of rain thing. So is your boat marina stored or otherwise moored in the water??

[KyleRass41]

It's just the factory cover on it all the time in our drive. And I know it's not very water resistant at all.

[freeheel4life]

So why do you store your boat on trailer and leave your bilge plug in?? Why would you not remove your bilge plug for the 2 hour drive that you towed your boat for?? If you truly had 10" of rain then you hauled literally a ton of water for 2 hours of driving. Boats on trailers should never have the bilge plug left it. Plug goes in on the boat ramp when putting in and comes out upon trailering at the top of the ramp.

[KyleRass41]

I'm not explaining well. We got rain on the 30th. I moved the boat around to let it empty the next day. Debris was actually in the way and a bottle cap and the bilge didn't kick on. But yes. It sat in the drive until today and I pulled it down without any water in it.

[KyleRass41]

There was actually debris and a bottle cap sitting right in front of the outlet.... So that rain sat very high

[freeheel4life]

Okay. Reason I'm asking is with what you WERE describing the serpentine belt would be running in water and throwing water/mist at the intake. Then water ingests and you get hydrolocked.
Regardless, I'd love to hook up diacom and see what it says because 100% you have stored codes. It seems you already suspect the impeller so pull off the belt and start at the raw water pump.
If the impeller has failed you likely overheated. If it's fine it's something else.
When starters get put in that much water they usually fail so hopefully it's just that and the high pitch whine you heard was actually the starter still engaged with the flywheel as the starter was on it's way out... still doesn't explain the MIL lamp at the helm though.
How high was the water in the boat when you popped the plug?? It's a top mount starter is why I ask.

[KyleRass41]

Maybe half way up the side of the engine....maybe more like touching the bottom 3rd of the serpentine

[KyleRass41]

Can you overheat an engine and then it stays in limp mode and won't turn over till you fix the issue or when you say overheated and that it's seized up(overheated)....scaring me!! Lol

[freeheel4life]

Hopefully it's just a starter and I'm being a drama queen. Check your oil. Check impeller. Start with the simple stuff. Or hopefully a local reputable mechanic can get you in before your LOTO trip. Good luck.
There are zero faults on a PCM that would cause a no crank condition that I know of.