Engine stops intermittent

[CMW]

2008 210 sante.

after running great all day engine started to 'skip' / 'misfire' on the way back to the marina. Eventually just stopped. Checked the kill switch, batery, toggle switch. Started again ran for a few minutes then stopes again. Same thing over and over.... Nice guy pulls me back. I get some fuel treatment and non ethanol gas. Battery tester checks out too. Put the boat back in the water ... Just sitting on trailer ...it is dark by now.. And engine runs fine.

have a big weekend and just wonder what could be the problem. Little worried about going very far out.

Anyone ever have similar symptoms/issue?

[sodbuster88]

Seems like a lot of this going on recently. Sounds like fuel / fuel system or ignition system. Some things to think about in this order of troubleshooting are check engine light behavior, clean fuel (no moisture), clean filters, corroded distributor rotor, loose or bad connections various places.

[CMW]

Welp, not sure what the root cause was.... but the next day the engine would not start at all (crank but not fire, check engine light on).... so sort of killed the wakeboarding weekend.... but get a load of this.... have to wait 3 weeks for a boat shop to take a look at the issue.... so i make a appointment and order my own code reader(still waiting for it to be delivered).... tonight i'm just hanging out, neighbor stops buy and teases me about my boat... we laugh and i say... "u want to double check my work?" so he proceeds to check everything i did.... everything is the same except for the last thing.... disconnect the ecm from the wiring harness and reconnect.... engine fires up.???!!! not sure if the error codes will still be in the ecm but don't want to use the boat till i take a look with the code reader...

What do you guys think about that?

[AirTool]

..........What do you guys think about that?

I think its like the wife suggesting to check the spark plug wires....and she was right.

I hate when that happens.

[scottb7]

I know it is old school but if it was me when it cranks but won't start I would pull a plug ground it to the block and see if it has spark. That way you at least can determine if it is ignition or fuel system. If fuel system then you can check fuel pressure. If ignition then...uh I dunno.

[AirTool]

I know it is old school but if it was me when it cranks but won't start I would pull a plug ground it to the block and see if it has spark. That way you at least can determine if it is ignition or fuel system. If fuel system then you can check fuel pressure. If ignition then...uh I dunno.

Old school is good on old equipment but modern equipment doesn't like that. A better way to check it is with a timing light or the inductive pencil that glows when place next to a "live" ignition wire.

[AirTool]

Old school is good on old equipment but modern equipment doesn't like that. A better way to check it is with a timing light or the inductive pencil that glows when place next to a "live" ignition wire.

Too late to edit...so adding:
Edit: I should say they don't mind if every spark is grounded....but I've read an ungrounded firing can damage the electronics like ecm. I've never tried it because the inductive tool method is too easy.