Engine Gardian Mode I'm at 10% Power!!

[bake0296]

Hey Guys,
I have a 2003 20i. Bought it 2 months ago from Son Watersports who used to be a Tige dealer and still carries alot of our boats. I have put 28 hours on it since then. I took it on vacation (my one vacation of the year) and the first day I got there it goes into limp mode. It starts great, can idol until gas runs out, but if I give it throttle, it cuts power to ten%. The boat is in at the biggest Mercruizer Deal in the state but they are getting mixed signal from the computer. They replaced the thermostat and fuel filter on the engine and cannot figure it out. Today they call me back and say they want to replace all 8 fuel injectors at $200 a piece. This is bullshit so I want to see if anyone else has had problems similar to this. The dealer I bought it from is three states away since I moved. I am stuck and would like to hear anyones opinion.

Thanks, Bakes

[raythompson]

I would find a dealer that knows what they are doing rather than guessing at your expense. Bad fuel injectors will not cause a safety mode and the chances of all 8 injectors being bad at the same time is extremely slim to non-existant. If the injectors were bad you could not start the boat and idle. There is something telling the computer to restrict power, low oil indication, high temperature indication, low fuel pressure indication, whatever. Computers don't give mixed signals, they report a fault and store the fault unless the computer is defective.

[wlfnvegas]

Sounds a lot like a problem I had last year - it ended up being the low pressure fuel pump. That was replaced and I haven't had an issue since.

[bake0296]

The low down on the fix

So my engine was in Guardian mode because after I began to accelerate it still thought it was in neutral. The ECM was going bad. The dealership I had it at had it on their computer for weeks and could not figure that out... They replaced the thermostat, all fuel filters, checked pressure on both fuel pumps... nothing worked. Finally the mechanic asked Mercruizer if they had some problems with the 350 Mag MPI Tow edition and the ECM. They apparently have had alot of problems with them tweeking out. They set one for free (boat has 71hrs) and it works like new now. So everyone out there having problems like the one I first described should definately keep this in mind. If you need any more info just let me know.

[Domsz06]

I wonder if that's my problem. I"m having a lot of problems where my boat will go, and then just die. Like it's staving for fuel. I can turn it off, let it sit for 5 minutes, turn it back on and it starts great. I guess I should take it up to the dealer since it's still under warranty and get a new ecm, maybe that would help. I have your same boat/engine combo.

[Graham Morris]

ecm problem

I had similar problem with my 2004 20i black scopion 330 mercruiser would keep loosing power. Mercruiser reflashed the ecm chip and was fine after that.