BlueWaterBandit
Cadet
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2019
- Messages
- 13
I have a 2007 Tahoe Q4 with a Mercruiser 4.3 with TKS. The boat has always been very reliable and I have maintained it for the five years I've owned it.
Out of winterization, the boat cranked up and ran fine this year on muffs. I'd taken it out a couple of times with no problems at all.
Last week I went out by myself. Boat cranked up normally, it ran fine. I got it up to about 45 or so, then cruised around 25mph to a cove a few miles away. The boat would have been fully warmed up by the time I got to the cove. I drifted for an hour and a half or so with the motor off. When I went to crank it back up, it did crank, but it was very stumbly. It was running rough. In gear, it died out. I repeated this process a few times, but nothing got better. I eventually was towed back.
I went down to the dock on Monday, and it cranked up normally and ran fine. I ran carb cleaner through it and it was still running fine. After a while though, I guess around the time it was fully warmed up, it began exhibiting the same symptoms. The rough idle, stumbling.
Wondering if it was a fuel problem, I had brought starting fluid. Spraying starting fluid directly into the carb did not help the rough idle, in fact it made it worse, which makes me think there isn't sufficient spark or the fuel is too rich. The spark thing is confusing though, because it ran fine from a cold startup.
I'm now thinking this possibly has something to do with the TKS system? Any other suggestions? I'm going to change the fuel-water separator next, but I'm a bit at a loss. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Out of winterization, the boat cranked up and ran fine this year on muffs. I'd taken it out a couple of times with no problems at all.
Last week I went out by myself. Boat cranked up normally, it ran fine. I got it up to about 45 or so, then cruised around 25mph to a cove a few miles away. The boat would have been fully warmed up by the time I got to the cove. I drifted for an hour and a half or so with the motor off. When I went to crank it back up, it did crank, but it was very stumbly. It was running rough. In gear, it died out. I repeated this process a few times, but nothing got better. I eventually was towed back.
I went down to the dock on Monday, and it cranked up normally and ran fine. I ran carb cleaner through it and it was still running fine. After a while though, I guess around the time it was fully warmed up, it began exhibiting the same symptoms. The rough idle, stumbling.
Wondering if it was a fuel problem, I had brought starting fluid. Spraying starting fluid directly into the carb did not help the rough idle, in fact it made it worse, which makes me think there isn't sufficient spark or the fuel is too rich. The spark thing is confusing though, because it ran fine from a cold startup.
I'm now thinking this possibly has something to do with the TKS system? Any other suggestions? I'm going to change the fuel-water separator next, but I'm a bit at a loss. Any suggestions are appreciated.
