My Boat wont run!!!

Jody_Seal

Good time of year to go through your ski boat engines and components that make it run properly. Recently I pulled down a GT-40 that had been thoroughly abused. one of the complaints was it wont make power........Fuel Contamination is the biggest culprit in the ski world. Many a skier boat fails miserably because they refuse to practice good clean fueling. Commonly I see fuel cans on skiers docks with a rag or paper towel hanging out of the spout, or worse yet no cover at all sitting out in the rain and or dirt.
The fuel systems on these motors can only digest so much crap before the either clog up with debris or just rust up.

This Fuel system had no chance to be cleaned up and reused, Replacement can be costly. Keep you fuel practices sound and change your filters regularly!
And many skier's wonder why the tournament boat skis harder then their practice boat!

Lieutenant Dan

@jody_seal How often do you suggest the fuel filters to be changed? My Malibu has 2 filters, one in the fuel line and another by the fuel pump. Should I always change both at the same time?

Jody_Seal

Take a look at your owners manual, it should give a recommendation as to when to change the filter. I like to see the pre (if so equipped) filter changed every time the oil gets changed, 50-75 hours. The primary filter such as FCC or secondary filter at least once a year or every 200 hours. The new (2012-on) Nautiques now have a old style canister water separator as a primary, these type's of filters are about $7.00 so changing these every oil change is cheap insurance.
The best insurance is to not utilize dirty or contaminated fuel containers and get your fuel from a good clean source, stay away from the mom and pop gas stations even though these stations commonly have non ethanol fuel they tend to also be older storage tanks and do not cycle enough to be clean and free of contaminates. Utilize the bigger company's and utilize a quality brand such as Chevron/Texaco, Shell, Mobil ect. And check your fuel delivery system regularly!

Waternut

I'm with @Jody_Seal. I have the canister style in my boat and like to change it every year. Fuel filter, spark plugs, and fresh oil w/filter. Give the engine a fighting chance. Garbage in, garbage out.

I will also say that I've never seen so many people turn the nozzle up on their 5 gallon gas cans and punch a hole in the back without plugging it. Then they store all the gas cans on the garage floor. Cap it and seal it! If you lost the cap, a 1/2" pvc cap costs about 40 cents from the hardware store and fit perfectly.

Skoot1123

@Jody_Seal - the importance of fuel and the fuel delivery system can't be OVERSTATED right now. With the increased emissions regulations for ON-HIGHWAY (yes, Marine is in the works) some things had to change, notably fuel rail pressure and engine temperature. I know that CAT diesel engine's have very high fuel pressure (>8,000 psi) and as a result the fuel MUST be clean from debris or you will have significant engine performance issues. More heat means you must reject it either quicker or just circulate that much more water - not a major problem for an open cooling system, but for the closed systems (ie saltwater etc) the engine box will only get bigger.

Thanks for pointing these things out @jody_seal!!

countymountie

@Jody_Seal
Can I change out the FCC on my 2010 353 to a spin on canister. I have the inline filter as well. The filter on the FCC is $40 and a pain to change.

Jody_Seal

Mountie, Sorry no you still have to run the FCC filter as their is a pump inside of that canister. If you have an older GT-40 engine however you can retrofit a inline 10 micron or better pre filter that will help with the longevity of the FCC filter. PCM part number RO80024A. This filter can be found at Auto parts store such as NAPA, O'Riley's and many others however at this time I do not have cross number from the PCM labeled Unit. A water separator filter from Sierra can also be retrofit for increased protection from Debris and Grawdew on engines that pull fuel from the tank, Just beware that these types of filters have been known to induce or propagate heat soak issues such as vapor lock in some Older EFI engines.

MattP

@OB WHAT!! A local stole the engine?? Oh wait never mind I remember..

Stickman

Jody, I recently rounded-off the bolt head on the brass plug at the bottom of the fuel/water seperator on my GT-40. Do you know of any tricks to getting the plug out without removing the canister? I hear that they don't come off easy, and since they are no longer available, I don't want to damage it. Thanks!

Marco

@Jody_Seal - On another winterizing question, are there any benifits or disadvantages to draining the oil and changing the oil filter in the fall, but not adding new oil until the spring? Its easier to drain the oil after warming up the boat just before winterizing it, but I don't know if adding fresh oil in the fall will cause it to degrade by sitting for 6 months?

eleeski

@OB No engine? I'm not following your maintenance schedule. Think of the time, money and resources you wasted on an engine that went awol. No preventive maintenance for me - I want to keep an engine in my boat.
Eric

Jody_Seal

Stickman, provided the integrity of the brass material is still intact in the housing, Drill it out and utilize a extraction (easy out) tool to remove the plug then run a approiate NPT tap up in the housing to chase the threads then replace the plug.

Marco, I think Preference is to change the oil before layup as then in the spring you know it has been done and ready for the season. oil will not degrade in the four to 6 month time frame of layup.

A_B

The new FCC's and replacments for older PCM engines have all gone to the new stainless FCC that is NOT a spin on. I have a spin on FCC, that was replaced due to fuel leaking up through the wiring plug. If you fill it with JB Weld, it would probably work as good as new. A new FCC is like $450 if you get a good deal on it. I would let my old spin on go for $200. That includes a high pressure pump that is/was in good working order when I took it off. With a new fuel filter!

I also have a ECM for a GT40 with some electrical short on it somewhere.. if any "Radio Shack" guys want to pick this up cheap and test out the circuit board, that is up for sale as well. A new one is somewhere around $400 to $500 if I remember, $50 will get you a nice looking ECM with a short in it..

Jody_Seal

My story of the week! Yesterday a new customer came in with a very nice 98 SN with a road cover improperly installed. in conversation I asked the customer about the boat he told me he just bought it 2 months ago and needed it laid up for the winter ( we really don't winterize boats here in Florida ). Walking around the boat one could tell that at one time it was someones baby, garaged kept and all, But when the customer said he thought he had a problem that when he braked for the turn in to my shop a whole lot of water flowed up and around the bow under the tarp and out the front!!!!!! We uncovered the boat and lo and behold "Sunk on the trailer. Water up above the transmission vent and all. I asked him if he pulled the "T" handle drain plug??? Whats that ?This is the customers first inboard and he bought it to pull tubes on one of the local small lakes in the area. The customer told me he new nothing about them.................... A full day in the shop with a bill of over $2000.00 he is learning fast!!

gregy

Must of been pretty heavy with all that water. Suprised he didn't feel it.

oldjeep

At 8lbs per gallon you would think that he would have been crushing the trailer.