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I just came back from a week long houseboating trip that started with my worst nightmare. Three minutes after launching the boat (2005 206 limited with 50 hours)
the engine sputtered and died. I managed to get it started and it sputtered for another 20 seconds before dying again. Two more starts and 10 second run times got me back to the dock where the engine refused to start again, this time for good.
I called the dealer, tried a number of different things, mostly involving the kill switch and relays to no avail. I checked the fuel rail pressure valve and found air, no fuel. Being at Lake Shasta, I contacted the local nautique dealer in Redding but being the July 4 weekend, they couldn't look at the boat until Wednesday at the earliest. I was looking at losing my the majority of my houseboating vacation due to mechanical failure.
Long story short, it turned out to ba a dead low pressure fuel pump. Fortunately, the nautique dealer referred me to a fantastic mechanic that diagnosed and fixed the problem for me on a saturday evening, while I waited. Of course, I had to pay for the repair as I didn't want to lose two thirds of my houseboating vacation waiting for the local dealer.
I am absolutely shocked that a fuel pump could go out on an engine with a whopping 50 hours. I had my previous boat (a 1984 Searay with mercruiser power) for 20 years and over 1000 hours and never lost a single hour due to mechanical failure! This kind of pathetic reliability is unacceptable! Having done lots of boating in the ocean and more inclimate environments, the thought of this kind of failure is frightening to say the least! There is no excuse for a fuel pump failure. Apparently, this is a relatively common problem with our engines according to the mechanic, who has replaced several low pressure pumps on our boats. He also told me to get some spare relays as those have been known to fail.
Fortunately for my family, the failure happened in a nice warm, calm lake, close to the dock. I am also fortunate to have found a great mechanic that worked into the night to get my family back on the water and save our vacation. If anyone in the shasta lake region ever needs a great responsive mecahnic, let me know.
Steve
the engine sputtered and died. I managed to get it started and it sputtered for another 20 seconds before dying again. Two more starts and 10 second run times got me back to the dock where the engine refused to start again, this time for good.
I called the dealer, tried a number of different things, mostly involving the kill switch and relays to no avail. I checked the fuel rail pressure valve and found air, no fuel. Being at Lake Shasta, I contacted the local nautique dealer in Redding but being the July 4 weekend, they couldn't look at the boat until Wednesday at the earliest. I was looking at losing my the majority of my houseboating vacation due to mechanical failure.
Long story short, it turned out to ba a dead low pressure fuel pump. Fortunately, the nautique dealer referred me to a fantastic mechanic that diagnosed and fixed the problem for me on a saturday evening, while I waited. Of course, I had to pay for the repair as I didn't want to lose two thirds of my houseboating vacation waiting for the local dealer.
I am absolutely shocked that a fuel pump could go out on an engine with a whopping 50 hours. I had my previous boat (a 1984 Searay with mercruiser power) for 20 years and over 1000 hours and never lost a single hour due to mechanical failure! This kind of pathetic reliability is unacceptable! Having done lots of boating in the ocean and more inclimate environments, the thought of this kind of failure is frightening to say the least! There is no excuse for a fuel pump failure. Apparently, this is a relatively common problem with our engines according to the mechanic, who has replaced several low pressure pumps on our boats. He also told me to get some spare relays as those have been known to fail.
Fortunately for my family, the failure happened in a nice warm, calm lake, close to the dock. I am also fortunate to have found a great mechanic that worked into the night to get my family back on the water and save our vacation. If anyone in the shasta lake region ever needs a great responsive mecahnic, let me know.
Steve
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