Fuel Delivery Problem

[MrShelley]

Here's the deal. 2005 SANTE with Excalibur 330. Started having the issue a few weeks ago but it finally "gave up the ghost" last week. We dropped the boat in the water, started her up, and headed out into the lake. Everything seemed fine. Made it out about a mile and the engine began to sputter and die. It had done this before and cleared itself up quickly enough to just shrug it off and keep riding. Not this time. Try to start the engine, sputter sputter sputter. Finally, the engine stopped trying to start altogether and would just crank over without even trying to fire. Just like we were out of gas. I knew we had fuel since we had just filled it up. Curious, I pulled the drain plug out of the FCC. Two or three drops. By this time we had drifted back to shore (luckily by the boat ramp), so we loaded her on the trailer and rode with friends the rest of the day. Since then, I've used the down time to complete some of the maintenance I should've done over the winter. New impeller. Oil & filter change. Fresh cap and rotor. New spark plugs. New filter in FCC. Drained the gas tank, pulled it, and installed a new steering cable. Checked everything on the tank while it was out. Nothing clogged. It seemed logical to me that if there was no gas in the FCC, then the low pressure pump must not be working or clogged. Opened it up and checked the screen. Remarkably little trash, considering the age of the boat. Went ahead and bought a new low pressure pump from NautiqueParts.com and installed it today. Added gas to the tank and tried to start her up. Turns over but won't start. Nothing comes out of the FCC drain so gas isn't even making it that far.

Anyone have any ideas? It has me stumped, and Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner.

[s_kelley2000]

Have you looked into your safety lanyard at all? Last season the plastic on my lanyard had weakened to the point that it would no longer hold the the kill switch button in far enough. I am not sure if your 05 is the same but on my 99 if the button is not held in all the way it will not give any power to the fuel pumps so the engine will crank but not get any fuel. Try pulling the lanyard off and holding the button in all the way and listen for the fuel pump to kick on when you turn the key (or start button in your case) and maybe that is your issue. Another common issue is the switch itself quitting and you can test that by bypassing the switch(there are a couple of good threads on this)

Do you hear the fuel pump kick on at all? With a keyed boat it kicks on for 2-3 second when you turn the key into the on position. If you are not hearing the pump you may tripped a breaker. I am not sure where those are located on your boat.

Another thing could be that you need to prime the FCC now that you changed the low pressure pump and had the tank out. I am not sure on the keypad equivalent but with a key you would cycle it on and let the pump run, turn it off and repeat this process about 10 times to prime the FCC and then try to start it. Good luck!

[MrShelley]

Had safety lanyard kill button issues last season. That issue has been resolved.

Both fuel pumps kick in for a few seconds when I hit the "Start" button. I plugged in one at a time and tried so I could verify that I could distinctly hear each one. I've cycled the pumps a few dozen times to attempt to prime the system. Nada.

[TxJole]

Check your tank vent line and then your line to the FCC.

[MrShelley]

Vent line is clear. Hard line from to LP pump to FCC is clear (and bone dry).

[Miljack]

Shawn had some good things to check out, make sure the fuel pumps are powering up. When you hit the "start" button on your keypad (team) or turn the key to the "on" position, the fuel pump (in the FCC) should power up and cycle for a few seconds.

If you have power to the both pumps, and it's cycling, then you'll have to work backwards to see which pump is not working. Since you're not getting any fuel out of the bottom of the FCC, makes sense to check the low pressure pump to determine if it's pulling fuel from the tank.

Low pressure pump not pulling fuel-make sure vent not obstructed

With all of the crappy fuel out there, if water gets in the fuel, the water/fuel is tough on the pumps...

[Miljack]

Sounds like you found the problem, LP pump is DOS...double check that the line(s) from the fuel tank is clear/unblocked. You can pull the LP pump and bench test it to make sure, but my guess is it's dead...

[jasper]

Miljack is on the right track. If the LP pump is working, work backwards from that. Though I'm not familiar with the Excalibur or the 2005 SANTE config, if you have an in-line check valve off the fuel tank in the line going to the LP pump, the check valve could be stuck or clogged.

[Miljack]

Any updates? Were you able to repair your boat?

[MAK]

This thread ever go anywhere? I am having some of the same issues and am about to dive into it.