'03 SANTE with Excalibur intermittently running like crap

[bmh2208]

Well it all started on Saturday afternoon at Lake Conroe. We had the boat in the water for about an hour just tooling around waiting on a few other folks. We were basically just idling around. A few times we got it up to about 20mph. Everything seemed fine. We picked up the last people (8 total) and headed across the lake to an island to hang out. I went to hit it and get up to speed and it wouldn't go above 18mph. what the heck?

I pulled it back, started again...same thing. I turned the PP on, started again, and then slowly got up to speed and then eventually planed out and seemed to run fine. We made it there, party'd for a while, then headed back. Everything seemed fine, even with PP off.

The next day, we took it to our local lake. With PP off (2 people total), I headed out across the lake and it seemed to run right. I picked everyone up and idled to the other side of the lake to where we normally ride. When we got to the other side, I hit it and it took off fine across to where we start. I was up first to ride. The first time he hit it, it was bogging down and wouldn't get up to speed (15-15mph max). We tried a few times and still nothing. I was starting to feel like I ate too many donuts that morning.

I had them check the PP servo to make sure it was tight, etc. Tried again, and it pulled me up to speed fine. The other people on the boat said they heard what sounded like popcorn popping under the engine cover.

I got back in and let the next rider go. I had the hatch open so I could listen to it as we started. The very first time, I heard the popping noise....Backfire! It only did it that one time, and then for the rest of the day it ran fine. I checked all the plug wires on top, removed one by one to make sure that I could hear a difference when one cylinder was not connected and it sounded correct.


My thoughts:

1) Originally, I thought it had to do with the PP. Thats the only thing I have screwed with since it began to run rough. I thought that maybe the servo wasn't holding the throttle back enough to let the engine run up to full rpms. It's hard to explain, but if the cable isn't tight then the throttle will not open up all the way.

2) Bad spark plug or wire. Gonna replace wires and plugs. Easy thing to do.

3) Bad gas. This one just occurred to me. We stayed at a friends house this weekend and they filled up the boat with gas for me. We had stopped at Walmart to pick up some stuff. I went in to grab a few things and when I came out they had already pulled into the fuel stalls and filling it up. They probably put about 1/4 of a tank of the cheap gas in it.

Any ideas? Could bad gas be the culprit?

Thanks for the help!

[1998greensport]

RE:

yeah if the gas had water in it it could make it backfire ive had it happen to me so i poured a couple of bottles of rubbing alcohol in it and filled it up with some good 93 octane and as i ran that through the tank it got better because the alcohol dries out the water so when i filled it up the next time i put 2 more bottles of alcohol in it and filled up with 93 and it ran perfect so you might want to try that it worked for me and also a good idea after you run that first tank through change your fuel filter hope this helps solved my problem

[bmh2208]

RE:

Alcohol...what flavor? Everclear?

No really. Just plain old rubbing alcohol in the clear plastic bottle?

Has anyone else tried this. I guess it can't hurt...alcohol will burn.

[NautiqueJeff]

I wouldn't do that. This label clearly states that what you're suggesting isn't a good idea.

[bmh2208]

Thats what I was looking for. Thanks. I guess I will just try to burn out what we have in there and fill it with good stuff.

Anyone else thinks it might be something other than bad gas?

[1998greensport]

03 sante with excalibur intermittently running like crap

i know what jeff saying is true with the label explaining it can damage components but 3 or 4 certified mechanics and a couple of boat mechanics told me to try this they sey its something they have done forever before they have to pull out the tank and drain it because i was worried to but they all said it would not hurt anything and they were right it t dryed out the water and cleared it right up but you can always check with some boat mechanics to because some people might tell you something different. hope you get it fixed

[Gizmo]

RE: 03 sante with excalibur intermittently running like crap

I have had mechanics tell me the same thing. The alcohol shouldnt hurt if you add it just this once to dry up the water. The warning applies to filling up with alcohol fuel on a regular basis.

[MNSuperAir]

RE: 03 sante with excalibur intermittently running like crap

If it is backfiring then it isn't the PP, but if it's not backfiring I would suspect the PP first. I had mine intermitantly lock up for a few weeks before it frose solid. After it frose solid my rpm's dropped in half and I couldn't get a loaded boat on plane without a mile run. My situation only, but the $99 PP servo fixed everything.

[1998greensport]

03 sante with excalibur

yeah thats what i was trying to say about the alchohal to dry out the water thanks mn superair

[bmh2208]

RE: 03 sante with excalibur

Thanks for all the help. We are taking it out again today and topping it off with good gas. If we still have a problem, I might consider the alcohol trick.

BTW, I just got a new PP stepper motor and installed it the other day. It's probably just a coincidence, but all this started after that was put on.

[SquamInboards]

RE: 03 sante with excalibur

Try it without the PP hooked up, then go from there, since as you say, you just installed a new piece the other day?

If there's water in the gas, you can tell by checking the fuel filter. There may be a separate "water separating fuel filter" and would actually say those words right on it... or else you can just check the engine itself for a fuel filter of some kind. (On the PCM GT-40's there's a Fuel Control Cell, a big cylinder with hoses coming out of the top.) There is usually a drain in the bottom, and if you get a clear container, you can drain some gas out and see if there's water in it (the water of course sinks, so you can see it in the clear container). If this is the case, you can just drain the water out of the filter, run it a little bit, then drain some more out... you get the idea, repeat until no more water. IF you can't find that, running some additive through should burn off any small amount of water in the gas... all of the other responses are good ideas too, since i'm not that familliar with that particular engine.

Anyway, good luck! Let us know how it goes.

[bmh2208]

RE: 03 sante with excalibur

For the moment, I'm gonna chalk this one up to bad gas. We took it out yesterday after putting about a quarter tank full of exxon gas and it ran just fine. I'll let yall know if that changes.

The only problem we had was the effin safety lanyard switch. The plastic piece cracked and doesn't hold the button in all the way. We had to rig it so that it would stay. I think I'm gonna finally jump the wires on this think and leave the switch in there just for show.

Thanks for all the help guys! Even this ended up being as trivial as it was, it's nice to know that there still are people willing to help troubleshoot and diagnose.