Stumped and out of ideas

I have a 1998 four wins sundowner with a 5.0 gi Volvo penta my gauges go from working to dead and flickering as soon as I rev the engine in drive or disengages and as soon as I go back to neutral the gauges work again and engine idles fast, when I continue on the throttle and get up on plane the engine starts to sputter and won't go over half throttle. I have checked every wire and contact and have cleaned every connection and have added di-electric grease to them. I have wiggle every wire from the dash to the engine with no change in the gauges. Is this a sensor or relay somewhere or is it a computer problem or the vdo gauges itself, would bad gauges make the engine act bad or do I have multiple problems. The boat has 563 hours and I have put 60 hours on it this year without a hitch until now. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Re: Stumped and out of ideas

I have close to the same engine as you do....i was having the sputtering problems and the tach was jumping all over the place.
i changed the plugs, cap and rotor and it worked like a charm...quite a bit of corrosion in the cap and rotor.....also check the plug wires...that might solve part of your issue.

Re: Stumped and out of ideas

Thanks for the info I will check those over tomorrow, I have endlessly checked all wires to no avail and have read that the vdo gauges are problematic due to poor grounding but not so Sure that would make the engine act up and I have also talked to a Volvo mechanic and he presumed a bad ignition coil causing problems, but I will take your advice and start at plug wires and coil, thanks again I will keep you posted on progress

Re: Stumped and out of ideas

I also have the VDO gauges in my 2000 four winns horizon 200....i've only had it for a few months so i'm still getting used to it. i heard the VDO gauges are not a good thing to have but of course i didn't know that until after i bought the boat. They're all working fine now and i hope they stay that way.

I don't think the gauges would make the engine act up unless there was some sort of sensor on the gauges. keep in mind that i am not a mechanic but i have done quite a bit of work on my various boats.

I'm sure if you still are having problems someone a lot more knowledgable than i will be along.