Motor cutting out at 22 mph

[harv]

Hey guys,
We were on the lake the other day for our wakeboard club with about 8 kids in my boat and 2 adults (Switch V, 340 hp). For the first 2 hours the boat ran fine. I was coaching so another guy was doing the driving, he ran the boat much harder than I ever do (such as power turns, quick starts etc.). I insisted on driving after our break due to water over the bow a few times from the other driver. After pulling a kid or two the motor sounded like it was starting to cut out at 22 mph. The rpm's seemed to stay constent though. I brought the kids back to shore and took the boat out by myself and it ran great even up to 35 mph.

Any ideas? I haven't checked the water/fuel seperator yet, but why would the boat run fine with less weight in it?

Thanks.

[chpthril]

check the transmission fluid level.

[22Veee]

I had similar symptoms recently on my boat. Ran fine at low speed, or even if I cranked the engine up to high rpm's in neutral. As soon as I hit 20ish the engine acted like it was fuel starving. It turned out that my low pressure fuel pump wasn't working properly. Mine turned out to be the wire had slipped off the low pressure pump, so it wasn't running at all. This made the high pressure fuel pump starve out at load. Check it out, as I am told it will fry your high pressure fuel pump if run that way too long. Good Luck!

[harv]

I checked the tranny fluid early this spring. I'll check it again tonight.

I'll also research the fuel pump connections also. I finally have a dealer within minutes of my house. yeah!

[brody66]

where is the dealer at?

[harv]

Garfield, MN. The dealer name is "Alexandria dock and lift" Their a brand new dealer as of this spring.

[harv]

Fluid levels are fine. Moving forward... if I follow the fuel line from the tank it goes to a small canister then to a large canister. Which of these is which? Fuel filter? water / fuel separator?

On a bright note... I took the old steering cable out of my boat and replaced it with a new one (total time = less than 1 hour), after reading posts I was prepared for a major job, I was pleasently suprised.

[22Veee]

The first one should be the low pressure pump....the second will be your high pressure pump...I think...

[harv]

Possibly good news... I added a bottle of Techron (fuel system cleaner), idled the boat around for 10 minutes then gave it a good work out. Ran fine at all speeds with no ballast, so I filled front and rear bags (roughly 1000 lbs), and it still ran fine at surf and wakeboard speeds. I also noticed that one of the fuel pump connections was on but loose, so maybe a comination of things got me going good again.

It's also great to have steering that can be done with one hand!

Thanks for the input.

[Jason B]

Fluid levels are fine. Moving forward... if I follow the fuel line from the tank it goes to a small canister then to a large canister. Which of these is which? Fuel filter? water / fuel separator?

On a bright note... I took the old steering cable out of my boat and replaced it with a new one (total time = less than 1 hour), after reading posts I was prepared for a major job, I was pleasently suprised.

That was the result of Karma. The boat gods felt bad making you chase your tail with the fuel issue so they threw you a bone. Steering cables are the devil!!

ps. I'm coming to your house when mine goes out again lol

[harv]

I re-routed the cable above the gas tank. The lowest the cable sits now is about 2" above the hull right at the connection to the rudder. I know that if I would've tried going under the gas tank again I would have been in a battle.

Jason B, if you want to bring your boat for a cable replacement, I'll only charge half of what the dealer charges. lol