2007 Mercury Mod# 1F90413HD 90 EFI 4 stroke Gaurdian Protection Active

[xyabc]

Hello all,

I been troubleshooting this engine for a few weeks and have been unsuccessful to this point so I thought it would be good forum reference material so I registered here to possibly get professional Mercury insight. I'd like to solve this puzzle rather than take it to the shop as I'm sure I'm missing something simple. Hopefully someone has been down this road and has good input.
So here's where I'm at.
I took the boat out for it's first event of this season about four weeks ago and experienced some sputtering. I laid the boat motor up for the winter with Sta-bil marine stabilizer in the fuel system. I've done that for 4 years with no other previous problems. The motor has never had any problems to this point. The sputter would clear for a short period and the experience it again. I thought fuel problem right away and pulled the filters and blew out the fuel in the system. This boat (Boston Whaler 170 Montauk) has two 6 gallon portable fuel tanks that were filled with fresh gas and I used some in the zero turn lawn mower with no problems. Still had the sporadic sputter after flushing fuel. I managed to run the engine at one point to about 3,000 rpms and all seemed to become smooth but after returning to idle it stalled. I began to think injector problems. I believe the Gaurdian Protection feature became active as I had no power much above idle to return to the ramp.
I knew a man last year that since retired at an outboard marine shop that downloaded the Mercury Troubleshoot and Repair Manual on a CD for me. I got the CD out and set out to see what I could do. All I had to troubleshoot at this point was a multi meter for ohms testing. The manual gives pretty good ohm specifics so I set out ohming all the possible sensors. I ohmed the cam position sensor and got an open value on two of the readings described. I ordered the cam position sensor and a week later installed it. I double checked the ohms of the new sensor as compared to the old and once again verified the old part faulty by ohm value. I had an opportunity to put the boat in 2 weeks ago and still only had reduced power as if the Gaurdian was active. I brought the boat home and ordered Rhina Technologies TechMate scanner.
The engine has 144.9 hours of operation with most of the time below 1,000 rpm as I crab and run a trout line. I read the following in the Fault History Screen:

145 hrs Fault #210 Neutral Overspeed (non-critical) I did while starting for a moment....no problem there.
102.5 hrs. #207 Lift Pump Timer (non -critical) Boat ran fine for next 142.5 hrs..... ok there ...
8.6 hrs. #236 Stop CKT active (non -critical) Probably hit the lanyard off way back when..ok there...
141.1 hrs. #206 Block Overheat (non- critical) Happens sometimes when flushing after use. ok for now..
140.8hrs #209 Driver Power Low (non-critical) This I wonder about..

I didn't have the battery in the boat and tried to jump thru with jumper cables to start with truck for a moment. I did this just to start the motor in early spring (cold but above freezing) for a quick turn over and warm up. The started sounded as it does with dead battery and I had to put the battery in the boat to finally start it. It started and seemed to run ok...dunno for sure it wasn't under load in the water.

144.9 hrs. #242 Fuel Vent Valve (non-critical) Probably faulted when I disconnected it trouble shooting.

Never saw a cam sensor fault so I assume that part wasn't bad after all. No diagnostic codes have ever been set. The history faults are now reset.
Now that I explained in detail all anyone can possibly do I'll tell you what the scanner is showing that seems peculiar. No codes or faults show unless I disconnect a sensor while running. I have 50 psi fuel pressure to the rail so I think I'm good there. When in the live scan mode the spark advance reading jumps as best I can read from a -2.0 to what looks like 10 degrees.....This doesn't look right to me.. You'd think that would be pretty steady. Also the reading for Power Limit and Available Power start off at 100% and slowly reduce to 10% after a minute of idle time. Wonder if the ECM needs reflashed? Any help out there?...Thanks

 

[xyabc]

Re: 2007 Mercury Mod# 1F90413HD 90 EFI 4 stroke Gaurdian Protection Active

Just performed the coil test and all the coils fired good on the spark gap tester. The Rinda only performed the test for about 3 seconds of the supposed 10 second test before going into an error. The error was "not communicating with ecm".
I'll call the guy at Rinda and see what he says about the malfunction. It does test enough to know the coils work. The scanner tells to set the gap tester to 1/2"
I think I'm on to something now after completing the "miss fire test". It looks like #2 cylinder has no change in rpm's while #1,3,4 all stalled the engine. The engine did have a slight shimmy that seemed to occur since this has been going on. The engine does start right up and I didn't think it was actually dragging a cylinder. The test calls for the engine to be moderately loaded and at between 1500 and 2000 rpms. I'm in a carport with the hose hooked up so I can't simulate those conditions but the test was pretty obvious.
I'll check the harness for #2 injector and if ok get an injector next week.

 

[xyabc]

Re: 2007 Mercury Mod# 1F90413HD 90 EFI 4 stroke Gaurdian Protection Active

So I figure I better look at #2 injector and wiring now before dinner and it looks like a storm brewing in the distance.

I thought I better swap #1 and #2 injector just to see if problem follows the injector to #1 cylinder. I find it doesn't. That surely means wiring/electrical issues on #2 injector circuit.
The manual states that for 5 seconds after turning on the ignition key the power relay will deliver the batterys (B+ 12 VDC) to the red wire w/pink stripe at the injector connector and that looks good. No fuse or wiring problem there I don't think.
The only wire left is the wire to the ECM from #2 injector connector. Manual shows it's on pin 2 of the C1 EMC connector. The manual says I should have 12 ohms, +/- .5 and I have 13.3 so that looks good thru the circuit. All the pins and connectors look brand new. There's no corrosion or signs of loose or damaged pins or sockets. Only one thing left is the ECM. I'm figuring now that module has a bad triac and not completing the #2 injector citcuit to ground. I tried to tweak the pin on the ECM a bit to see if it would make any difference and no luck.

Looks like a new ECM for $500.00. Damn shame being the Merc only has 150 hrs. on it. Whaler is 6 years old now (times flying) but looks showroom new. The motor has never seen hard drive time.
Still not sure about the spark advance value jumping around.

I'll get back next week with the control and hopefully conclude this troubleshooting thread.

 

[xyabc]

Re: 2007 Mercury Mod# 1F90413HD 90 EFI 4 stroke Gaurdian Protection Active

I edited about the #2 fuel injection circuit to give accurate information as to the ohm value of the readings as obtained from pins 23 and 2 on C1 connector.

OK back to the story.

I call up the guy at the parts and order an ECM and find it's on factory back order and not available for a couple weeks. I call around to find no one has one and get the same information so I stick with my regular dealer and tell him to place my order. The part comes in a few days early and I go pick it up.
After verifying with the parts guy that the part is plug and play I carefully remove the old and install the new ECM. I start the engine and notice the same shimmy and verify the same decrease in power available and power setpoint as indicated by the Rinda scanner. Now I feel like this ***** of a mechanical hussy just smacked me in the face and I lay on the concrete with a bloody nose and thoroughly had an *** whoopin. WHAT....!!! this IS a mechanical motor with sensors and wires???...surely this nasty girl doesn't have a mind of her own???...I wash you, I flush you, I feed you grade A fuel...why are you doing this to me??!!! Then I pick myself up off the concrete and stare hopeless into the abyss of the situation at the same time reading the ECM package that says "not returnable if opened".
Oh well fellas I been knocked down before but I'm not knocked out yet. No turning back now. Suck it up and move forward.

Back to the scanner troubleshooting with the misfire test now. I ask myself what what wrong with this test? Surely the tester didn't lie to me. The coil test proved the coils worked and the plug gap tester proved the plugs fired with a 1/2" gap.....hum.....What is going on here???
#2 cylinder still shows no change when the mis fire test is performed so I looked closer at the ignition components. I swapped #2 plug for #1 spark plug.......holy crap....now the problem followed to #1....are you kidding me?? Did I overthink the fuel injection thing? Is this just a spark plug problem? I thought the $10 plug gap tool troubleshot this possibility. It must be the plug doesn't fire under compression!!!
So now with my *** dragging behind me as I call to the parts guy and tell him to order me 4 new NGK LFR4A-E's
Another few days go by until I can get the plugs but I'm happy to say I put them in and "alleluia kumbaya" all the cylinders are working and the engine is smooth. I am putting the Whaler in the water today to test it out. I removed the new ECM and reinstalled the old ECM. The old ECM seems OK and retains the run hours so I'd like to keep that. I will take the scanner and new ECM with me. I do notice that the "power available" and "power setpoint" as displayed by the Rhinda scanner still scale back from a start of 100% to fluctuating 54%,32% and spark advance still jumps around on the reading. I may come home dragging my *** still.
I'll post more as developments unfold. Hopefully I can conclude this. I want this to help anyone. It seems even understanding what's normal with readings on the scanner is a learning experience.

 

[xyabc]

Re: 2007 Mercury Mod# 1F90413HD 90 EFI 4 stroke Gaurdian Protection Active

Ok just got back from a nice boat ride. The engine runs smooth and I'm confident it's repaired. This has been a learning experience. I'm confident that now I stand a good chance of repairing probably most if not all problems related to the fuel injection.

To summarize everything I can make the following statements:

Although I paid for a couple parts not needed and into this engine for a grand (parts and scanner), I own a good scanner now and know I didn't get taken by possibly the same amount by a shop.
I'm familiar with the functions and operations of the engine systems.
I can read/log normal functions and parameter readings with the scanner and compare to for later problems.
I can reset any faults/run histories with the scanner.
I have a couple of known good spare parts for possible future repairs and troubleshooting.
I'm confident the engine won't be going to a shop for these type related problems.

 

[Timestep]

Re: 2007 Mercury Mod# 1F90413HD 90 EFI 4 stroke Gaurdian Protection Active

Thank you for this. On other engines I have had faulty plugs, this never happened in the old days ! In fact a Honda scooter I have had a few from eBay, all perked up with a new plug and a new air filter..........

And thanks to this thread, I have asked Rinda if they can supply one for me 2012 60efi.

Again, many thanks

Dave