350 Mag MPI engine Miss

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Oh I forgot, Rodbolt, my mechanic friend has a vehicle diagnostic tester, one of those 7K deals, somehow I don't think it will work on this system. He also has the Pressure guage to check the fuel pressure, he is just busy as a bee right now!

 

[tylerin]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Godsbeast, Happy belated birthday. Don't give up on your situation. You may want to check the anti-syphon valve, could have floated some deposits from your tank when you filled her up. I'm still sticking w/ something happend when you filled her up and went to put it in gear. Thats when the problem started. moisture in your cap would have been there all day, not just after leaving the pumps. When I have problems I try to go back to when they started and than ask why

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

tylerin, I don't know the beginning of the problem, but this morning I got out there and pulled the dist. cap and wipped it all out with a paper towel. Put it back on and WAlai! The dad burned thing started right up, first try, it is purring like a kitten.<br /><br />The wife is finishing supper and then we will pull it to the dock launch to try her out in the immediate area. See how she will run. She idle's real good and I let her run till the temp came up (on the muffs) then killed her and she started right up again. <br /><br />The moisture under the cap, was keeping it from starting.

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

I plan to let others know we are going out to try it, and don't plan to get too far from the dock, to see how it is going to continue running, if you have any other cautions, post, I will check the board before pulling out.<br /><br />No matter what, still plan to have it diagnosticly checked Monday.

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Can anyone tell me, how condensation builds up in the distributer Cap, How to prevent it in the future?

 

[Pilot954]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Hello,<br />The condensation in the capwill happen occasionally because of the cap cooling after being hot, it draws the moisture out of the air. The best way to prevent it is to go buy a Silicon spray from the auto parts store. Then spray the entire Dist. cap inside and out. Let it dry for a few hours then wipe any excess out of the inside of the cap. It will keep water from sticking to the cap, thus preventing your miss. There also should be a vent on your Dist., make sure it is not plugged. Hope this helps you. Happy Boating!!

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Hey everybody I made it back! <br /><br />Thanks for your reply Pilot, before leaving I only blotted the Dist. Cap dry, wiped it out good. We ran for a good while this evening. We slowed down to look at some camps, one layed out, like I had described to my wife, that I'd like to build, for when we retire. Anyway after looking, I went to speed up and noticed a miss or two. The engine would not run over 4200 RPM's (and we were in a real bad head wind, with a 25' Tripontoon boat) so I slowed to 3500 RPM's and it ran pretty smooth all the way back to the launching dock. I docked up, and the wife handed me tools, I took off the cap, blotted and wiped dry, sprayed with WD 40 and blotted and dried twice, as well as sprayed and blotted the roto cap. I even found a pretty comfortable working position on the back of the Engine Compartment, with my back against the Ski Bar! Anyway got it all bolted back up, then sprayed the outside of the Dist. Cap with WD 40, headed out of the no wake Zone, and throttled up, and wali 5050 RPM's, ran like a champ, even with a 17 PITCH S.S. blade. <br /><br />So I know I have two seperate problems, one that Monday I plan to have a Diagnostic check, find what is wrong, and I also plan to advise them of the moisture problem, and see what they advise. But I agree with Pilot's suggestion, and plan to do that also. <br /><br />I want to thank everyone that participated in helping me get this thing running. Yall made a Cajun Woman very happy, she really enjoyed the evening cruise. I plan to take her out again tomorrow, bring along the tools, and WD 40, just in case! Hey I even caught 2 Bass today, and had to do the Catch and release! <br /><br /> A SPECIAL THANKS TO JohnKC, your suggestion to pop off the dist. cap, was the ticket to this engine firing right up! Thanks so much, it was a quick fix problem, which saved us 2 days, and got us boating again. I'll let the Warranty and Mercruiser Diagnostic checkers, get the fine tune things Monday! <br /><br />I really appreciate all the help! Yall are the Greatest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Hello<br /> glad to hear ya got it going. I try to tell people that FI is nice but most of the failures are low tech stuff. points had that same problem 100 years ago. the last MPI that I had to deal with had a bad coil. 7 mechanics had printed out all sorts of stuff. the computer said there was nothing wrong, the symptoms kept pointing at fuel due to the IAC opening. it took me 3 hours to make it fail and it turned out that the old style oil filled coil was bad. imagine an oil filled 1940 technology coil on a MPI mercruiser anyway good luck and keep the WD handy. also look very close at the circulating pump. we had a lot of probs with them leaking and spaying a mist of water everytwhere. merc says they had no such problems but they also say the old black stator was ok too

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Thanks Rodbolt, you may be on to something else here also. I noticed before taking off the dist. cap to spray and clean, that there was some water puddled on top of the Dist cap. Another boater, mechanic, on another site, also suggested I may look at a possible cracked Dist. cap. Makes sense to check this out also. I too am curious as to how the water got on top of the Dist cap to puddle. May be one of those leaks your talking about. I do have a rear cover, and I notice a lot of water spraying straight up from the prop and rear transom area. Was hoping the water is not coming in from there. <br /><br />Will keep the WD handy no matter what is found, but will check out, everyone's advise and suggestions. Again, good point Rodbolt, I appreciate the help!

 

[BRIAN03]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

The engine is pulling water in thru the exhaust side of the engine. Check the valve covers inside for signs of water or rust. milked up.

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Thanks Brian, I will pass your notation onto the Mercury diagnosis mechanics, Monday Morning. I would not want to pull the valve covers as of yet, it is still under warranty! But I will ask them to check it out!

 

[johnkc]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

godsbeast ,glad to be of service , there is a bulletin that addresses the water in the distributer.i don't remember the # but it is a 2003- something .call yor dealer and have them order the new distributer for you. on a mpi they are now calling the distributer a HVS short for High Voltage Switch and also while they are at it have them verify that the shift ANTICIPATER switch is adjusted properly.don't confuse this switch with the shift INTERUPTER switch.good luck.

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Again, JohnKC, Thanks, will make a note of this and have it all checked out. It is great to have so many folks looking at the problem from different angles, and different experiences with simular problems, and what it turned out to be. <br /><br />Very interested in the bulletin on the 2003 models. This may very well tie in to the problems I am having in both areas.

 

[loadnet]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

GodsBeast.. just so you know, I personaly called JohnKC and told em to tell ya all that stuff about checking for moisture under the cap.<br /><br />yup! that was me allright!<br /><br />It was nothing.

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Thanks to you too CaptainHooknfinger, I appreciate the time you put into your post. It was informative, and gave me knowledge of what to do in case that should ever happen to me in the future.<br /><br />I may or may not have a crack in the distributer, but at least today I learned where the water is coming from. Either they mounted the rear ladder 2 inches off, or planned it bad. <br />Let me explain, the water rushing between my center toon and the Starboard side toon, is hitting the edge of my rear ladder. The water is spraying straight up onto the back panel. The water then runs down and into the hinge of my rear flip up engine cover. Then it drips into the engine compartment. Guess where it drips? You guessed it, right on the dist. cap. I still plan to have it diagnosticly checked tomorrow, but after that, I plan to move the ladder over 2 inches placing it directly behind the starboard side log, so the water rushes by it, not against it. I also plan to make and add a drip rail under my hinge in my engine compartment, so water that may hit the back panel in the future, will drip through the hinge into the drip rail, and run across to each side of the engine compartment, instead of driping on top of the engine. HOW DOES THIS SOUND? I will also get them to check if the cap is cracked, and if the gasket is ok under the dist. cap. <br /><br />Anyway, spraying with WD 40 yesterday, must have helped. I ran to 5000 RPM's around lunch time today, noticed the driping later, when seeing all the water spraying straight up, any time over 3200 RPM's. By the end of the day, I could only run 4800 or 4900 RPM's. So either the moisture/water was finally getting into the dist cap, or one of the computer sensors was begining to act up again. So, I am leaving it as is, for when they check it in the Morning! <br /><br />Will check the board in the morning before leaving, so this is your last chance to post a suggestion to have checked by the pros, tomorrow.<br /><br />I guess when my dad and I was running above 3000 RPM's Thursday, we got water on the dist. When docking to fuel, and him getting a snack, the engine cooled and the water saturated the cap. I too, was very worried that I had some bad gas. <br />It seems this was not the case, though, it purred like a kitten, when the cap was not wet!<br /><br />Again, thanks to ALL, yall really saved mine and the wife's weekend. Thanks for a GREAT BIRTHDAY PRESENT! I hope I can repay the favor someday.

 

[johnkc]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

I do get some strange phone calls from time to time but the one from capt. tops them all!<br />although the dist is getting water on it from the boat there is still a reason to get the dist.replaced under mercs warranty as the bullitin describes .don't let your dealer just dry off the dist. and solve the water spray problem.<br />there is a problem with venting that merc recognizes and they will replace the dist.although the water this time was caused by spray from the boat ,you might get moisture when the spray problem is corrected due to the venting problem.

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

I believe your right JohnKC, I was wondering why it had not happened before now. I have at least 70 hours on the boat now. I guess I tried to play it off as the summer heat, was keeping it dry. But, I will ask for a dist. change as well.<br />You don't by any chance recall the bulletin # by any chance yet? Would be nice to present it to them, if they advise they know nothing about it. <br />Your right, I have until July 3rd, 2004 to get this right by warranty, then it is all my baby.<br /><br />I won't point out to them about the spray, then just let them get the dist, and computer stuff right. Then I will fix the spray problem, myself. Really that would be for Odyssey to fix, but, it would be faster for me to do it myself, on days off during the week, instead of the boat being at their shop. Not a lot of expense, just a little time.

 

[loadnet]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

GB....<br />It started raining on my boat out in the ocean one day. My engine started acting up...skipping and stuff, so I sprayed my cap inside and out with WD 40 and the skip went away.<br /><br />My cap was being dripped on thru the deck hatch like yours is.<br /><br />Before I shut my hatch I doubled up a plastic trash bag and rapped it over the top of my dist cap, AND COIL, and used plastic ties to hold it in place.<br /><br />I stretched the bags over in a manner where AIR could still get under to the cap and coil but not water drips.<br /><br />My plan was to make a gutter out of vinyl or aluminum to re-route the drip elsewhere into the bildge but since putting the plastic in place I've NEVER had another problem with the engine all season.<br /><br />Looks like crap on there but I just tell people it's a secret weapon I use to catch more fish.<br /><br />Someday.. during the colder month's I'll make up a new (1 piece) floor board engine cover that will rectify this issue.<br /><br />JohnKC is a good sport. <br /><br />I am VERY happy JohnKC was able to help you isolate the problem with your boat.<br /><br />It's what this forum is all about.<br />A piece of advise here and there, will eventually add up, thus enabling you to find your culprit.<br /><br />Take care!

 

[johnkc]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

hey all! the bulletin is 2003-06 and there is also a ser# range that affects you on replacement of the dist. check your ser#, if it is between om320590 and om 642305 then they will replace the dist.if it is above om642305 then you do have the newer dist. and all you need to do is fix your spray problem. make sure that you get the dist real dry in the mean time maybe take the cap off when you are not using the boat till you get it all squared away i'll send you the bulletin if you give me your email address.good luck !

 

[GodsBeast]

Re: 350 Mag MPI engine Miss

Hey Guys, the boat is at the Mercruiser Diagnostic Warranty Center now. They are going to do a complete check. They also loved my idea of the drip rail to keep the water off of the engine, and diverting it to the outside edges of the engine. In fact I am cutting the aluminum drip rail to where it drips just outside of the engine compartment, onto the carpeted sides, out of the engine compartment all together. <br /><br />Captain Hooknfinger, I always carry on plastic garbage bags, great idea, and your idea is good, for a temperary solution! Once I get the boat back and install the drip rail, I plan to spray the top of the dist. cap with silicone spray, and see it that will work. The Mercruiser Warranty center, already said that (here in Louisiana especially) Moisture content is already a problem in these I/O contained in these Aluminum Engine Housings. They too wanted to make sure that nothing else was going on besides this problem.<br /><br />JohnKC, my e mail address is GodsBeast@cox.net<br />I would appreciate the bulletin. Also John, will make sure the Dist is good, clean, and dry, with a good gasket, before bolting up and spraying the outside with silicone. The warranty center already said not to spray the inside with silicone.<br /><br />Again thanks for the Help! Your right Captnhooknfinger, these sites are great to help each other, and JohnKC does appear to be a good sport!