Educate me on the PCM Fuel System

[Shooter]

PHB, no problems since this post...I installed am onboard battery charger that off season and suspect the fuse blew at that time. I now carry a spare fuse, but luckily I have not needed it.

[mrbobolina]

Blown fuses are always a concern. Fuses blow because to much power is being drawn and the fuse protects the circuit from burning up. So if you are poping breakers or blowing fuses 9/10 you will find a loose ground to be your culpret.

I was tripping my breaker all the time for no reason and the culpret for me was a faulty starter. It starter the motor all right, and when it was supposed to dissengage it stayed open. This drove the alternator to work way to hard, thus tripping my breaker switch. That is a fun trouble shoot in the middle of the lake with a boat full of kids - ugh.

Once fixed the problem sadly did not stop. Turned out to actually be a dual issue. The master silnoid was cracked. I could not see it without taking it apart. The way I found the problem was after testing all my grounds a dozen time, and trying to understand why the alternator burned out after replacing the starter, the only logical thing not looked at was the silinoid. It afterall, distributes all the electrical power.

Anyway the part was $12 at NAPA. I talked to a mechanic, and he laughed. He said he has seen many times were the solinod can ground out, and other things fry, like the alternator and starter. They are hard to detect as the root of the problem alot of the times. He said typically though if the problem is intermitten and inconsistant that is where he starts ever time. Good to know......

[KPNautique]

I blew the low pressure fuse the week before I lost the low pressure fuel pump. May be an indicator that the pump is about to fail as I found.

[gmdattilo]

Blown Fuses

PHB

Which motor is in your boat? Is it the fuel pump fuses that keeps blowing? If it is the fuel pump fuse you could start troubleshooting by installing a new fuse and unplugging one fuel pump or the other. Crank the engine, it most likely won't start with the low pressure pump unplugged and definitely won't start with the high pressure unplugged but you can figure out which pump is causing the fuse to blow. You should also check for damage to the wiring harness between the fuel pump relay and the fuel pumps. If the harness has gone to ground or the two conductors are touching each other the fuse will blow as soon as the fuel pump relay closes.

Hope this helps...

[Shooter]

I blew the low pressure fuse the week before I lost the low pressure fuel pump. May be an indicator that the pump is about to fail as I found.

I know this is a old thread, but it looks like people are still using it to help troubleshoot....

FYI, The OG post was over a year ago and a replacement fuse did the trick. My low pressure fuel pump gave out at the end of this last summer so I believe KP is right. This is just a heads up for anyone who may have the same problem.

[86bahner5.7bravo1]

what up guys im having problems with my 2004 pcm fuel system it runs for ten minutes then it shuts of also the high pressure pump is getting hot and im thinking thats why its turning of.it ran fine till i ran out of gas got it stated so it started to do this thank you guys for your time will have picures soon

[OGR]

It has been 5 years since the last post but I am having a similar problem. I didn't run out of fuel but there was a piece of plastic in my tank that was sucked into the intake screen shutting the engine down. I removed that but now it is acting similar to the boat in the post above. The boat is a 2003 196 Ski Nautique with a PCM 330 engine. Any help would be appreciated.

[RosscoB]

This post saves the day again!!!