jeffthedccguy
Recruit
- Joined
- May 26, 2009
- Messages
- 2
I apologize if there has been a post covering this already, but I searched and didn't come up with anything that matched the exact problems I'm having.
I recently purchased a 1999 Chaparral 240 Signature with a Volvo 7.4gi with 233 hours on it and a DPS outdrive. The drive is a 1.78 ratio and is turning F4 props, and has only been used in the Utah area in fresh water. The boat was purchased from a consignment dealer, and I have no service history or records for it.
When I found the boat on a local lot, it was exactly what my wife and I had been looking for. The dealer told me that I couldn't lake test it as the ECU was bad and needed replacing. He assured me that the work would be done in about a week and then we could lake test it.
On the first lake test the waterpump was leaking, but we ran the boat long enough to determine that the motor had a bunch of strange issues as well. First off, when cold the boat was extremely hard to start. Also changing from neutral to forward or reverse would kill the boat instantly. The motor also surged at idle, and ran extremely rough. Once warm things improved slightly and the boat was somewhat driveable, but it would only turn 4000 rpm.
The dealer took the boat back and had it three days to make the repairs. The mechanic (who seems knowledgable) told me he replaced the waterpump, plugs, fuel filter and and cleaned the distributor and plug wire ends. He also claimed the motor wasn't throwing any codes, and that everything was ok.
So we hitched it up again and went for lake test number two. Again the motor was extremely difficult to start and required over a minute of total cranking to fire. The idle was also erratic and the rpm surge was still present. The worst part was when shifting from neutral to forward or reverse, strong throttle input caused the motor to backfire through the intake and twice it completely died. We verified the waterpump was ok and then put it back on the trailer.
Again the dealer took it back and put his mechanic to work on it. The mechanic claimed he ran some injector cleaner through it, and then tested in their tank and told me everything was ok. After speaking with the owner of the dealership, I agreed to sign the paperwork and took ownership of the boat as the repairs were done (my mistake).
My first solo outing with the boat two days later was a disaster. First off, the boat wouldn't start again. It took several minutes of off and on cranking to get it to finally start. Once started, it ran roughly as before and had the same backfiring issue under any load from idle and continued to have a crazy surge. Also, I still wasn't convinced the WOT rpm was right, but at least once the boat warms up it was usable. The next day I contacted the dealer and he and I both agreed I should have a third party look the motor over, so I towed it to another local dealer who I have had experience with in the past and agreed to pay for a diagnostic.
After a few days they called me and I went down to check out the situation. Not realizing the fuel filter had been changed, they did it (no big deal). Then running it on the hose they determined that the IAC was bad and they replaced it. So $439.00 later and with a guarantee that all was well, I went to the lake again today for another run.
Well guess what, the boat runs exactly the same as it did before I spent the $439.00 and even has a new problem. Part of the issue with diagnosing the backfiring I think is that the boat seems to rev fine in neutral (ie no real backfiring), but the minute it's in gear and under load in the water it runs very poorly. Also it still doesn't start fast when cold, and even when warm, I think the 5-7 seconds it takes is too much crank time (but I could be wrong). And on top of the old issues, the boat now idles at 1500 rpms sometimes, and then slowly returns to normal after fifteen seconds or so.
So now my only option is too take it down to the same dealer and let them take another swing at it. Long story short, this thing is quickly turning into a money pit, and as I signed the papers it's mine. I expect little to no support from the consignment dealer, and I have no idea what the repair dealer is going to say. Is there anything I can check myself before handing over my life savings to make this thing run right? I had this exact motor in a new 2000 Crownline 230 and it was a peach for the 200 hours or so that I ran it, so I know what the motor can and should run like.
Any help I can get would be fantastic and thanks in advance!
I recently purchased a 1999 Chaparral 240 Signature with a Volvo 7.4gi with 233 hours on it and a DPS outdrive. The drive is a 1.78 ratio and is turning F4 props, and has only been used in the Utah area in fresh water. The boat was purchased from a consignment dealer, and I have no service history or records for it.
When I found the boat on a local lot, it was exactly what my wife and I had been looking for. The dealer told me that I couldn't lake test it as the ECU was bad and needed replacing. He assured me that the work would be done in about a week and then we could lake test it.
On the first lake test the waterpump was leaking, but we ran the boat long enough to determine that the motor had a bunch of strange issues as well. First off, when cold the boat was extremely hard to start. Also changing from neutral to forward or reverse would kill the boat instantly. The motor also surged at idle, and ran extremely rough. Once warm things improved slightly and the boat was somewhat driveable, but it would only turn 4000 rpm.
The dealer took the boat back and had it three days to make the repairs. The mechanic (who seems knowledgable) told me he replaced the waterpump, plugs, fuel filter and and cleaned the distributor and plug wire ends. He also claimed the motor wasn't throwing any codes, and that everything was ok.
So we hitched it up again and went for lake test number two. Again the motor was extremely difficult to start and required over a minute of total cranking to fire. The idle was also erratic and the rpm surge was still present. The worst part was when shifting from neutral to forward or reverse, strong throttle input caused the motor to backfire through the intake and twice it completely died. We verified the waterpump was ok and then put it back on the trailer.
Again the dealer took it back and put his mechanic to work on it. The mechanic claimed he ran some injector cleaner through it, and then tested in their tank and told me everything was ok. After speaking with the owner of the dealership, I agreed to sign the paperwork and took ownership of the boat as the repairs were done (my mistake).
My first solo outing with the boat two days later was a disaster. First off, the boat wouldn't start again. It took several minutes of off and on cranking to get it to finally start. Once started, it ran roughly as before and had the same backfiring issue under any load from idle and continued to have a crazy surge. Also, I still wasn't convinced the WOT rpm was right, but at least once the boat warms up it was usable. The next day I contacted the dealer and he and I both agreed I should have a third party look the motor over, so I towed it to another local dealer who I have had experience with in the past and agreed to pay for a diagnostic.
After a few days they called me and I went down to check out the situation. Not realizing the fuel filter had been changed, they did it (no big deal). Then running it on the hose they determined that the IAC was bad and they replaced it. So $439.00 later and with a guarantee that all was well, I went to the lake again today for another run.
Well guess what, the boat runs exactly the same as it did before I spent the $439.00 and even has a new problem. Part of the issue with diagnosing the backfiring I think is that the boat seems to rev fine in neutral (ie no real backfiring), but the minute it's in gear and under load in the water it runs very poorly. Also it still doesn't start fast when cold, and even when warm, I think the 5-7 seconds it takes is too much crank time (but I could be wrong). And on top of the old issues, the boat now idles at 1500 rpms sometimes, and then slowly returns to normal after fifteen seconds or so.
So now my only option is too take it down to the same dealer and let them take another swing at it. Long story short, this thing is quickly turning into a money pit, and as I signed the papers it's mine. I expect little to no support from the consignment dealer, and I have no idea what the repair dealer is going to say. Is there anything I can check myself before handing over my life savings to make this thing run right? I had this exact motor in a new 2000 Crownline 230 and it was a peach for the 200 hours or so that I ran it, so I know what the motor can and should run like.
Any help I can get would be fantastic and thanks in advance!
