Puzzled? Engine will not start

[WylieNautique]

Went to Possum Kingdom for the Labor Day Weekend. Boat has been running great all summer. Came in off the lake Sunday afternoon parked it in a slip. Got up this morning (Monday) to catch some glass before loading up to come home. Engine turns over but will not start. More detail. Turn the key, it sounds like it is going to start (kinda fires) then just cranks. Repeated attempts and the same thing. Left it for about an hour and tried it again, same thing. Towed it over to the trailer, loaded it and came home. Stopped at a lake by my house (Lake Lavon) and backed into the water to try it one more time. Same thing. Tried a trick I had heard of. Open trottle all the way, crank the engine to clear the cylinders of fuel then try to restart. No help.

Ayone got any ideas before I take it to Buxton Marine?

Thanks,
Ray

[Rick]

RE: Puzzled? Engine will not start

What year if carborated I would suspect the fuel pump. To check it get a can of starter Spray some i the inyake and try to start If it fires spray a little more in. If that works you are not getting fuel either the filter is clogged or the pump is bad.

[WylieNautique]

RE: Puzzled? Engine will not start

I'm sorry. Did not give any info on the engine. It is a 1996 EFI GT-40.

[rotorcom]

Hey Ray,
Do you hear the fuel pump when you turn on the key? If not I would say that it is your key assembly. The older ones are made of plastic and they wear out. I have seen the same thing happen. Your boat runs good all summer then it wont start. Check all the connections to the starter switch also. See if it will start. If not then I guess its time to hit the dealer if the switch checks out.

sj

[DanielC]

Check the Safety lanyard switch. The cord by the driver that is suppose to be hooked up to the driver, so it the driver falls out, the Motor dies.

[WylieNautique]

Yes, I hear the fuel pump pressurizing the fuel rail and I checked out the safety lanyard switch. All is good. Thanks for the suggestions.

[WylieNautique]

The boat is at a Correct Craft dealer. Mechanic thought it may be a clogged fuel filter. He said he has had a lot of no start engine conditions due to clogged filters. He said it is the ethanol in the fuel. (In the Dallas/Fort Worth area the fuel has up to 10% ethanol added to help with emissions. Sucks!) I told him I could hear the fuel pump come on and pressurize the fuel rail. He said if the filter is clogged the pump may still pressurize but the fuel cannot move to the rail. We will see I guess. Hope this will help anyone else with a similar condition.

[east tx skier]

Saw this happen once and it ended up being a loose wire to the ignition.

[WylieNautique]

Boat is fixed but I have not picked it up yet. Service manager said a fuel line in the fuel pump had ruptured. Repalaced hose, put in new fuel filter. Motor fired right up. Water tested and said all is fine. I will question the mechanic and service manager to see if this could be ethanol related or just a failire of the fuel line. Probably will just be their best guess anyway.

Later,
Ray

[WylieNautique]

I picked up the boat this morning and spoke with the mechanic. He said it did not appear to be an ethanol problem as much as a part failure. Here is the good part. Seems a while back there was a recall to replace the fuel line in the Fuel Control Center (FCC). The fuel line on my motor was not the correct one. It actually said "Mercury Oil" on the line and was not a high pressure line hose. This hose had actually swollen about 3 to 4 times its original size (probably due to the pressure) and had finally blew open. He said it was only a matter of time till it failed. Lucky for me it failed while still at the dock. It would have really sucked to quit way out on the lake somewhere. Anyway, the correct fuel line has been installed and a new fuel filter as well.

Now here is the question I have. Did this engine get the recall and it was not done properly (wrong hose installed) or had it failed prior to the recall and this repair was made and it was just not a good repair job. I am the second owner and will try and get in touch with the original owner to see what I can find out. I am curious who did this lousy repair job. Even I know you can't just put a piece of rubber hose on to replace a high pressure line. If this was done at a dealer, should I put it on this forum or just provide the info to people that PM me. If you are curious, the boat was originally purchased in Austin, Texas. :shock:

[GMayes33]

Wylie,

I had the same problem about 2 months ago, i had no trouble all summer, i let my father borrow the boat for the weekend, came to pick it up and it would not fire! None the less i came to the conclusion to not let him use the boat again thats for sure. But also had read on here in a few different places that there could be something in the FCC that was wrong. I have a pretty good mechanic here in town, and took it on over to him, he pulled the FCC apart and found the hose. He had explained that they had a recall on this part several years back, but because it was so long ago, i was not in on the recall. He said that the 1996 GT-40 was the only boat that they ever put this little hose on that connected the two fuel pumps. He had an extra part laying around from when they were servicing these quite often. My boat only has 240 hours on it, so it was just a matter of time for this problem to occur. He showed me the hose and it was about 5 times its regular size, i guess it was just a fault when they made the boat, and fixed them as they occurred. None the less $200 for the fix and i was back on the water.

Grant Mayes

[jos]

My FCC was leaking in spring. So i took it apart. The large O-ring was split. I saw the pressure line hose from the pump to the upper lid. My conclusion, its a flexible rubber standard gas hose, less flexible over time due to the solvent is pump gas, actualy not much flex at all in the rubber as i felt due reassembling. Mine is a SAN 2003.
I dont know wether the ethanol eats or ages the rubber faster or not.
Can imagine it requires a special hose, normally only the inner linning of the hose is in contact with the gas. In the FCC the outer lining of the hose is continuesly in contact with the gas.

[jjackkrash]

What does the ethanol gas do to the engine and fuel system? My 03 has a big sticker on it saying don't use ethanol gas. The guys at Buxton's said they raised the issue with CC because you can't get non-ethinol gas around here, but that CC "didn't have a real good answer" about what to do about it. So I just run it. What kind of problems am I in for in the future? I hasn't missed a beat so far, however.

[TRBenj]

E10 (10% ethanol) is fine to use in all PCM motors. You cant find anything else in the northeast. E85 (85% ethanol) is a different story. I believe that it will destroy the rubber components (seals, fuel lines, etc) if used continuously.

[WylieNautique]

I just looked at my owners manual for the GT40 EFI engine. The specifications page under recommended fuel states "Unleaded 89 Octane Minimum" then shows see Note 3 A&B. Note 3B states do not use fuel that contains methanol alcohol or use fuel with more than 10% Ethanol Alcohol. In Dallas and Terrant counties the fuel may contain up to 10% Ethanol Alcohol as stated on the pumps at the stations. According to the owners manual that is OK. Still, I run Berrymans Fuel Injector Cleaner and also use a fairly new product called Sea Foam. Keeps the fuel system clean and engine seems to run very smooth. Of course when stored it has Stab-Oil gas stabilizer in the tank.