Intermittent starter problem, 03 5.7L

[rustans]

Hi all, I have an 03 sante which is having a starter problem, which when taken to the dealer this week they could not reproduce. So I thought I'd see if anyone here had some ideas. I did do a forum search and also looked at the recall article involving the mefi relays, however the symtoms for my boat are a little bit different.

First and foremost, the fuel pump is coming on when you try starting the boat. From the above mentioned reading, it seems that if the relay was bad, this wouldn't be happening.

What is happening, seemingly randomly, is that after the boat is in use for a while, if you cut the engine, it may not start again. After some time, or repeated attempts to start the engine, it seems to start back up again. However, once we got it restarted the last time out, we took it in because we didn't want to be stranded.

It has never had a problem on a cold start. And the first time it would not start on me was a few weeks ago and it happened just once that day, and we got it started again in a few minutes. In between that time out and the last time out I had an 8 hour day on the water with no problems. But this past time out, the first rider in the water it didn't want to start, and then after starting again we killed it just to test it out, and again no go. After that we just rode the day out not ever killing the engine, and then took it in for service.

The dealer looked at it yesterday and it did not fail on them. I asked about the relays, they say that they checked them and they aren't the problem. They don't really have any suggestions other than lake testing, which they can't guarantee it will fail when they do that either.

Any ideas? I was afraid they might not be able to reproduce it, what should I do? I was still suspecting a realy issue, perhaps I should carry some extras in the boat? Thanks for any help/advice,

-Rustan

[rustans]

One thing I forgot to mention, is that at times (not all the time) when you try to start the boat, it seems like it wants to fire before it is even turning over, or, in another case, as soon as you let off of the start button it trys to spark then.. if that makes sense. Again, some weird behavior...

-Rustan

[NautiqueJeff]

Are you just getting a click from the starter, or is the starter turning the engine?

My '03 had a similar problem, and I ended up replacing the starter under warranty.

[rustans]

Hi Jeff, thank you for the reply. No the engine is in fact turning over just fine, it just never really tries to kick in and start like it does normally. One thing they had me check was the safety lanyard, but that was also fine. When you hit start everything seems ok, ie the engine turns, you can hear the fuel pump engage, the gauges come up...

[NautiqueJeff]

Hmm... That's a different problem then. I guess my problem wasn't as similar as I thought.

[SNMike]

Hey rustans, about a year ago my 02 196 would die in the middle of a pull, not want to start back up, yet turn over. It was the laynard. Replaced and never happened again. Good luck my friend! Mike

[j2nh]

Sensor failure on my 02 196. Sometimes the engine would not fire when it was warm. If I let it sit for a while the boat would start right up. Same as you describe, it wants to start but wont. If this sounds familiar I will dig up the work order and get the part number that was changed. Because it was during the middle of my vacation, I had my dealer send it to me directly and I changed it with the service tech giving me step by step over the phone. Very easy to do.

[skinautique]

Check the relay connections. There was a problem with them not having enough contact.

[rustans]

Thanks for the responses.

j2nh, if you could please look up the sensor you replaced I'd appreciate it, that does sound like what my boat is doing.

I'll double check the relays as well, however that is something the service guys have told me they already checked this week.

A friend of mine also suggested the fuel filter might be something to look at, so I'll have to ask about that today when I go and pick it up. I plan on running it the next couple of days and then this weekend, so I guess we will see if/when it happens to me again.

[gunnin4six]

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a battery connection. Boat had actually started, but once I turned it off could not get it to start again. My symptoms were slightly different in that the fuel pump was definately not spooling up. After talking to the dealer, he imediately pointed me to the battery connection. Apperently, there was enough juice to turn the engine, but not enough to turn the fuel pumps.
You may have a similar problem where you are getting enough juice to do one or the other, but not both at the same time.
Take a wire brush to your battery terminals and inspect your cable clamps to make sure they are not coming loose at the cables. Its an easy thing to check off the list.

Good luck!

[j2nh]

I'll look tonight. If it stops raining I'll uncover and take a picture. Sensor was located at the back of the engine and sits on top. Two electric plugs and it solved the problem.

With mine the fuel pumps ran and the boat had no problem turning over. It just wouldn't fire.

[rustans]

Thanks j2nh, that is exactly what the boat was doing to me when it did fail.

Ok so I went to get the boat on Wednesday and they actually did find something strange, that could potentially have been the problem. There was a spring installed on the throttle cable that could possible have been keeping it open. This was a shock to me, as I have no idea how or why that would be there considering the dealer explained that it is not supposed to be there. I bought the boat in December, and I called the original owner and he said that he didn't put it on, that it must have come that way new. I'll take a picture of this spring and post it. If the throttle was getting kept open enough to cause the engine to not start, I'm still unclear as to how/why it would then work after sitting some time...

At any rate, I went out yesterday for about a 4 hour day and had absolutely no problems at all. It started right up every single time no problem at all, just perfect. Will be out over the weekend too, so we shall see what happens. I'm still interested in what sensor failed for you j2nh, as I'm a bit skeptical of the throttle spring doing the trick, although I'd like to believe that was the problem and I should be good to go at this point.

[rustans]

Update... well everything has run perfect for 3 straight days now! I'm happy about that. Thanks to everyone for the replies on the thread.

I've attached that picture of the mysterious throttle spring.

[rustans]

Ok well I spoke too soon... Day #4 and I had a couple times where the boat wouldn't start.

Had run the boat for about an hour and a half, stopping and starting several times no problem. Went to the dock to pick up some ladies who were meeting us, and boom when we went to start back up it wouldn't go. Tried it a few times, then let it sit for 5 minutes or less and then bam started right back up. We then headed out for our place to ride (about 15 minutes of run time) and then killed it to test it back out. Once again, wouldn't start. Let it sit, boom started again no problem. After that first rider, it stopped and started just fine the rest of the day (almost 4 hours worth).

So now I am back to scratching my head on what could be happening so randomly. I've logged close to 20 hours on the engine the last 4 days, and had it do this just twice back to back and then no other time. When it didn't start yesterday it really seemed like it wasn't getting enough fuel, as it tried to start and then sort of sputtered for a few secs and then died. I looked on the maintenance schedule and realized that I'm due to replace the fuel filter. Could that be it? I'd think no because the boat runs great, but I'm no mechanic or expert by any means.

Any ideas?