I have a 1995 Rinker 232 bowrider with 1995 Fuel Injected Merc with Alpha 1. For the most part, this motor has been flawless, but has reoccuring fuel injection issue.
This season, I have run approx 100 gallons of gas through the boat.
Yesterday, I fueled up 30 gallons at a marina on Lake Winnepesaukee in NH. with 8 people on board, we went for a cruise for about 2 hours. We cruised mostly on plane at slow speeds.
After about 2 hours, our trip took us thru a no wake zone and we idled for about 20 minutes total in and out of a marina. When I got back to open water, I went to WOT and the boat started revving up and the bow started lifting up, then it sounded like a puff of air came out of the engine and it lost all power, and the bow dropped back down. I throttled back down and tried again (the motor never cut out completely). I tried again and same thing happened. Then I eased into the trottle and stayed under 1/2 throttle. It took a while, but the boat slowly came up on plane. Once i was on plane, I could throttle up and down as hard as I wanted and no problem. We cruised back to the starting point and I dropped everyone off. I then went back out into the lake with just one other person in the boat. Same results, I could not accellerate out of the hole hard or it would "puff" and lose power, but I could ease into the throttle and get it up on plane. Once on plane, i could go WOT without a problem.
This morning, I filled up at an Automotive gas station (while on trailer), and put in Star Tron Enzyme and Sea Foam in quantities recommended. I put the boat in the lake to run it hoping the additives would help clear up any fuel contamination/separation issues. As I pulled away from the dock, I went to WOT and the same problem occurred, So i eased into it and got it up on plane and proceded to run it for about 1/2 hour on plane. When I backed it down to headway speed and then Throttled up, it worked perfect. I did several "hole shots" and it worked flawlessly, so I assumed the fuel treatments had worked. I then idled for about 3 minutes and tried again, and the problem reoccurred....crap! It seemed if I throttled up immediately after coming down off plane, it worked fine. However, if I let it idle for any period of time then tried, it would not function properly.
I then changed fuel filters. I expected the one I took off to be full of water, however, there was very little, if any. there was some dirt and junk in the filter though. Unfortunately, when I left the marina after changing filters, I had to go through a no wake zone that took about 4 minutes, and when I got to open water and throttled up, the problem was still there. The boat also revs up fine in nuetral, this only happens in gear with a load on.
Its back on the trailer now.
I am virtually positive this is a fuel/fuel injection issue. When I first got the boat 10 years ago, it did the exact same thing when I was extremely low on gas (i learned never to trust my guage when it was below 1/2 tank). Since then I have always kept the tank at least 1/2 full.
The mechanic fixed similar problems in the past, 6 years ago for $400, and 3 years ago for $180. Each time it seemed like he said it was a Fuel Injection "module" or "board". I would like to know what is causing this to avoid it in the future. Also, money is a little tight, and if this is an easy fix, i would like to do it myself if at all possible.
One note, the noise it makes as it cuts out may be a backfire, but it does not make the normal "bang" noise, it is more like the sound of a blast of high pressure air.
let me know what you think
This season, I have run approx 100 gallons of gas through the boat.
Yesterday, I fueled up 30 gallons at a marina on Lake Winnepesaukee in NH. with 8 people on board, we went for a cruise for about 2 hours. We cruised mostly on plane at slow speeds.
After about 2 hours, our trip took us thru a no wake zone and we idled for about 20 minutes total in and out of a marina. When I got back to open water, I went to WOT and the boat started revving up and the bow started lifting up, then it sounded like a puff of air came out of the engine and it lost all power, and the bow dropped back down. I throttled back down and tried again (the motor never cut out completely). I tried again and same thing happened. Then I eased into the trottle and stayed under 1/2 throttle. It took a while, but the boat slowly came up on plane. Once i was on plane, I could throttle up and down as hard as I wanted and no problem. We cruised back to the starting point and I dropped everyone off. I then went back out into the lake with just one other person in the boat. Same results, I could not accellerate out of the hole hard or it would "puff" and lose power, but I could ease into the throttle and get it up on plane. Once on plane, i could go WOT without a problem.
This morning, I filled up at an Automotive gas station (while on trailer), and put in Star Tron Enzyme and Sea Foam in quantities recommended. I put the boat in the lake to run it hoping the additives would help clear up any fuel contamination/separation issues. As I pulled away from the dock, I went to WOT and the same problem occurred, So i eased into it and got it up on plane and proceded to run it for about 1/2 hour on plane. When I backed it down to headway speed and then Throttled up, it worked perfect. I did several "hole shots" and it worked flawlessly, so I assumed the fuel treatments had worked. I then idled for about 3 minutes and tried again, and the problem reoccurred....crap! It seemed if I throttled up immediately after coming down off plane, it worked fine. However, if I let it idle for any period of time then tried, it would not function properly.
I then changed fuel filters. I expected the one I took off to be full of water, however, there was very little, if any. there was some dirt and junk in the filter though. Unfortunately, when I left the marina after changing filters, I had to go through a no wake zone that took about 4 minutes, and when I got to open water and throttled up, the problem was still there. The boat also revs up fine in nuetral, this only happens in gear with a load on.
Its back on the trailer now.
I am virtually positive this is a fuel/fuel injection issue. When I first got the boat 10 years ago, it did the exact same thing when I was extremely low on gas (i learned never to trust my guage when it was below 1/2 tank). Since then I have always kept the tank at least 1/2 full.
The mechanic fixed similar problems in the past, 6 years ago for $400, and 3 years ago for $180. Each time it seemed like he said it was a Fuel Injection "module" or "board". I would like to know what is causing this to avoid it in the future. Also, money is a little tight, and if this is an easy fix, i would like to do it myself if at all possible.
One note, the noise it makes as it cuts out may be a backfire, but it does not make the normal "bang" noise, it is more like the sound of a blast of high pressure air.
let me know what you think