Greetings all,
I recently purchased a water/flood boat for a learning project and have been working to get it back on the water. I figured it would be a good learning opportunity and man was I correct. The boat completely sank and sat on the bottom long enough for fish to swim into the motor compartment and they were still laying in the bilge when the boat was lifted and I purchased it (for mostly nothing). I started by pickling the engine with diesel fuel. I then went through each wiring connector and dried and cleaned each connector (sensor, harness, ECM etc..). I change the plug wires, pulled the distributor cap and cleaned it (no water present), and changed the oil. I then proceeded to start the engine.
Miraculously the engine started and ran for about 5 minutes. I then shut it down, changed the oil, and restarted the engine. Engine cranked, ran about 20 minutes, and I shut it down and change the oil again.
I connected my Rinda scan tool and noticed a lot of odd codes, the ECM would lose connection and things seemed off. I decided to pull the ECM and surprise, surprise (not really), the ECM was full of water. I then opened the ECM, cleaned the board in "Isopropyl alcohol 90%" and dried the ECM under a lanmp. I put the ECM back together and reconnected it to the boat and the ECM connected immediately to my Rinda and had one error code that was not a false read (Pitot, Trim etc... are not used on my boat). The one code I noticed was TPS1 low voltage. I replaced the throttle position sensor and cleared the code and confirmed that the TPS now showed correct values when manually changing throttle position (throttle cable disconnected at the throttle body and operated by hand). I thought I had cracked it but then the following happens. I decided to let the engine run on muffs in the yard for a while and maybe change the oil again.
After running about 30 minutes while recording in Rinda, the motor just stopped like the key was turned off. No dieseling, no backfire, just like you would expect if the key was turned off. It's important to note that I had been running the boat from fresh gas in a can so no water should be present (though I have not checked the fuel separator after the initial replacement).
I stared to investigate so I wanted to know if it were fuel or fire so I sprayed starting fluid in the engine, replaced the flame arrestor, and tried to crank the engine. No go, not even a cug so I tested the coil wire to the distributor and verified no spark. I then made my way to the coil and checked voltage (key on) to both the 3 and 4 wire plug in the ignition coil. I didn't write down the values but each had 12v, 5v, and what seemed like 0v with just the key on not cranking.
On the Rinda tool, while spinning over the oil pressure is around 25 PSI (engine had 50 PSI idling). The IAC was 0%, the temperature was 82 degrees which is about right. Engine power was 99% with key on and dropped to around 65% while cranking over.
NOTE: The dash oil and RPM gauges show no change when it was running before and also now. All sit at zero. BTW, the reason I checked the ECM is because I noticed voltage on the ECM housing which is insulated so I assume the power was moving across water and activating circuits ion the board randomly and likley covering up the now remaining issue(s).
Any ideas what I should try next?
I recently purchased a water/flood boat for a learning project and have been working to get it back on the water. I figured it would be a good learning opportunity and man was I correct. The boat completely sank and sat on the bottom long enough for fish to swim into the motor compartment and they were still laying in the bilge when the boat was lifted and I purchased it (for mostly nothing). I started by pickling the engine with diesel fuel. I then went through each wiring connector and dried and cleaned each connector (sensor, harness, ECM etc..). I change the plug wires, pulled the distributor cap and cleaned it (no water present), and changed the oil. I then proceeded to start the engine.
Miraculously the engine started and ran for about 5 minutes. I then shut it down, changed the oil, and restarted the engine. Engine cranked, ran about 20 minutes, and I shut it down and change the oil again.
I connected my Rinda scan tool and noticed a lot of odd codes, the ECM would lose connection and things seemed off. I decided to pull the ECM and surprise, surprise (not really), the ECM was full of water. I then opened the ECM, cleaned the board in "Isopropyl alcohol 90%" and dried the ECM under a lanmp. I put the ECM back together and reconnected it to the boat and the ECM connected immediately to my Rinda and had one error code that was not a false read (Pitot, Trim etc... are not used on my boat). The one code I noticed was TPS1 low voltage. I replaced the throttle position sensor and cleared the code and confirmed that the TPS now showed correct values when manually changing throttle position (throttle cable disconnected at the throttle body and operated by hand). I thought I had cracked it but then the following happens. I decided to let the engine run on muffs in the yard for a while and maybe change the oil again.
After running about 30 minutes while recording in Rinda, the motor just stopped like the key was turned off. No dieseling, no backfire, just like you would expect if the key was turned off. It's important to note that I had been running the boat from fresh gas in a can so no water should be present (though I have not checked the fuel separator after the initial replacement).
I stared to investigate so I wanted to know if it were fuel or fire so I sprayed starting fluid in the engine, replaced the flame arrestor, and tried to crank the engine. No go, not even a cug so I tested the coil wire to the distributor and verified no spark. I then made my way to the coil and checked voltage (key on) to both the 3 and 4 wire plug in the ignition coil. I didn't write down the values but each had 12v, 5v, and what seemed like 0v with just the key on not cranking.
On the Rinda tool, while spinning over the oil pressure is around 25 PSI (engine had 50 PSI idling). The IAC was 0%, the temperature was 82 degrees which is about right. Engine power was 99% with key on and dropped to around 65% while cranking over.
NOTE: The dash oil and RPM gauges show no change when it was running before and also now. All sit at zero. BTW, the reason I checked the ECM is because I noticed voltage on the ECM housing which is insulated so I assume the power was moving across water and activating circuits ion the board randomly and likley covering up the now remaining issue(s).
Any ideas what I should try next?
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Is it a usb/laptop or standalone, like an HP or Tektronics?