engine stalling after a few seconds

Hi,

I just purchased a 97 proline with a new 2010 efi 320hp mercruiser engine in it. ran ok with some surges and then when i got out of the harbor and tried to take it up to speed it died. It would start for 2-5 seconds and then die. the longer I waited between starts the longer it ran.

I thought it was fuel - still could be - so i purged a lot of fuel from the tank - about 2 gallons and then tried it on the mufs. no luck. same symptoms. I also drained the water fuel seperator - about a pint of clear gas water came out. Still no luck - same symptoms. Finally I tried taking the priming bulb off a outboard and use new gas from a fuel can. no change, but I wasn't able to prime the bulb though.

im worried that the fuel pump is shot now since it is clear that water got into the system. I've heard they fail pretty quickly if exposed to water.

anyother suggestions on fuel and how to test the fuel pump?

Local shop quoted me 3 weeks to even look at the thing even though I have a warrentee

Re: 2010 320 efi merc w/bravo 3

Re: 2010 320 efi merc w/bravo 3

Howdy,

I would try doing the priming bulb thing again only get it to prime. However, it's possible that it doesn't put out enough pressure....the priming bulb thing it really for carbureted engines....

The other thing you could do is power the pump with it disconnected from the EFI system. With the filter connected, let it run into a container see if the pump REALLY IS "bad".


If you got water in the system, you may not have any warranty......

Re: engine stalling after a few seconds

I tried a spare fuel tank with a longer hose and put the tank higher than the engine by several ft. I turned the engine over and had the same issue at the start. then it stopped running at all. I pulled the hose off and no fuel came out! Does an electric pump still create a vaccume when there is no fuel in the line? If so then I think ive identified the problem. if it needs to be primed how do I do that? I did try the priming bulb after the first round of tries, but no change.

thanks

Re: engine stalling after a few seconds

Ok so I answered my own question by reading the Adults only section: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=283269

Thanks to all who put that together and to HT

I'll most likely be replacing the fuel pump after replacing the filter and checking for vacuum again.

Re: engine stalling after a few seconds

final part of the saga - turns out the fuel pump was the problem all along. I got one ordered by a local shop..... 250 bucks later and a 2 day wait i get the part home and it is not correct. I'm pissed now.

so I grab the old fuel pump and do what I should have done in the beginning - cuz frankly it never should have gone bad since it is BRAND NEW - I smacked it on the deck 3 times, hard wired it to test it and poof! I WORKS!! I'll get a spare just in case however.

Boat works fine now...... except for a knocking noise when turning ...... gimble bearing anyone?

sigh, the joys of boat ownership!

Re: engine stalling after a few seconds

Great news, thanks for sharing your fix.

and your knocking noise is either the gimbal or the ujoints, both??
Steve