Need Some Help

[ajskier]

Hello All,
I have searched most of the post regarding issues with the GT 40 motor, but couldn't find anything that really goes along with the issue that I am having. I was hoping that you all might be able to provide some guidance on an issue that I am having. Last night, I went to drop my boat in the water, 2001 Ski Nautique 196 GT-40 motor EFI. It fired up just fine and I backed it off the trailer and idled over to the dock. When I pulled up to the dock, the idle started jumping around and the engine started to run pretty rough. Then it shut down and would not start back up again. It would turn over and act like it was going to start but just wouldn't catch. I checked the kill switch to make sure it wasn't that and it was fine. I am getting ready to run out and get a fuel pressure tester, so I can check that out. Is it possible to check the fuel pressure when the boat won't even run? Also, what should my pressures be at? Finally is there anything else that I should check right away to eliminate as a possible issue. Thank you so much for you help. I just purchased the boat going on two weeks ago and it has ran great every time that I have had it out and now I am bummed to have to be dealing with this issue.

Thank you for your help,

AJ

[ajskier]

Another piece of information that I was just thinking about with this is the boat was not even warmed up yet. We literally put the boat in the water idled about 50 feet and then it started to act funky and then died. I mention this because I have seen a lot of post where people will have a similar issue after the boat has been running and warmed up. With this issue the boat hadn't even had a chance to get warm yet.

[Chexi]

It's either lack of fuel or lack of spark. Don't forget the second possibility.

There are good posts on here about how to test fuel pressure. You will need a fuel pressure gauge.

There are also good posts on here about how to test spark. Note, I had a sort of similar problem when I bought my 2000 SAN. After a few minutes, my idle would start going crazy bouncing around and I heard a little spark that I could never quite find. It turned out to be a bad distributor (or bad PIP pickup inside the distributor). Replaced the distributor, problem solved. That's not a super cheap fix, so don't start there!