Merc 250 Verado Fuel increase

[alldodge]

The starboard motor has the higher psi and FMS was replaced more than a year ago. Starboard is doing fine other than the low voltage alarm which is another issue

Both cowls have paint along with stern of boat. Will take more pics but on my way to sisters in KC MO, will ne back late Tuesday

 

[alldodge]

I'm at my sister's in KC until late Tuesday, appreciate communication and will respond after that

 

[muc]

Something that popped into my head, it doesn't fit with the vibration you experienced. But might be something that could effect the unequal fuel burn.
Your engines have software called ARO --- advanced range optimization.
This will adjust fuel and spark when certain parameters are meet.
When this is operational it won't be felt by the operator or show on the Smart Craft screen, It's only visible with a scan tool.
Next time your at your boat, maybe connect the Tech Mate and look for something along the lines of "lean burn control state".
Maybe one engine is going into ARO and the other isn't?

 

[alldodge]

Well I messed up a bit, searching for NGK LKAR7C-9 which is part number 93961 I would up with LKAR7C-8 and doesn't list NGK

Looking at plugs it list -9 has 9mm gap (0.035) and -8 has 8mm Gap (0.031)

Going to contact amazon and get a refund

 

[alldodge]

Yes test equipment like meters and gauges need to be double checked every once and a while.

Suggest you hook up shore power overnight and check float voltage on the batts. Note you will need to check this before you use any electricity on the boat.

Looked at Odyssey warranty and they state the float must be between 13.5V to 13.8V otherwise damage can happen and warranty is void. Well I'm wondering how accurate my meters are and if it must be that accurate maybe I need to reconsider my standard go to Battery?

 

[muc]

Looked at Odyssey warranty and they state the float must be between 13.5V to 13.8V otherwise damage can happen and warranty is void. Well I'm wondering how accurate my meters are and if it must be that accurate maybe I need to reconsider my standard go to Battery?

Might check the battery in your meter, my cheaper meters tend to start drifting off when the batt starts getting lower -- my high buck meter is rock solid until the lo batt pops up in the display.
Have you looked at your charger? Back when I worked for a Chap dealer they came with low cost chargers but they still were batt type selectable. But almost all of the boats I worked on were 3 bank chargers. You should have got a big folder with the new boat, charger manual should be in there. If not google the charger model and see if it's online.

 

[alldodge]

It's a 3 bank charger and have read the manual. I to switch to AGM setting after bring it home but with two Merc AGM and Interstate LA it would not switch. Also finding out the Merc AGM isn't a true AGM.

After installing the 3 Odyssey Bats, it switched right over. Will try to find the manual or get it from the unit

 

[alldodge]

Charger is a ProSport HD20 Plus

All the voltage readings kept changing slightly. The Craftsman 82344 meter always read 0.1 to 0.2V lower than the Klein CL390.

Klien
Float 13.6 Bat1, 13.4 Bat2 and 3
Unplug 13.1 Bat1, 13.0 Bat2 and 3
Start motors and there was no 2 beep warning
Motors off Bats are 12.9 all around, but figure give it more time and 2 of them will go down a bit lower

Motor running Simrad shows 14.0 to 14.1 on first start. Second start it shows 13.9 for a while. Reved motor up and it did come up but never saw 14.5V

Didn't take my Techmate down, will go back later

 

[alldodge]

A dock friend said they saw someone today taking pics of my boat on the lift, of the bow area. Didn't stay on dock long so don't know if they took other pics of the motors and the paint.

 

[alldodge]

Didn't see ARO or similar, did find closed loop and both were using that at idle. Started motors twice and never got the low Bat beeps

Pulled plugs and reinstalled waiting for new to come in

 

[alldodge]

Replaced the plugs and didn't notice any vibrations but also didn't take it out

Called dealer and they agreed to take care of the overspray but I have to take it to them. I said thanks for admitting they caused it, but no thanks. Dealers is 1.5 hours away and who knows how long they will have it, then there is 2 round trips. Figuring it shouldn't cost more than $200 to get a local guy to do it, I'll just pay for it

 

[MarineSp]

Following along on this one. Interesting that both motors are reading similar fuel pressure now (SB 42/49, Port similar). The spec range for the 250 Verado is 42-44 psi at idle and 49-54 key ON — so your actually right at the bottom end on both which makes me wonder if the issue is upstream of the engines. Maybe fuel supply from the tank cant keep up when both are running hard, especially if theres any restriction in the pickup tube or antisiphon valve.

The yellowish fuel in that container is worth paying attention to. Even "no-ethanol" fuel from marinas can go stale if it sat over winter — the lighter fractions evaporate first and whats left burns less effeciently. Might explain the higher fuel consumption without any codes showing up. Fresh fuel and new filters could make a bigger diffrence than expected.

Also curious — when the SB was using 2.0 gph more and vibrating, was it always at the same RPM range or did it get worse as RPMs went up? If it was worst at lower RPMs and smoothed out up top, thats often a partially fouled plug or injector rather then a fuel pressure issue.

 

[muc]

Next time you have techmate out on the water, look for Demand Linear - Demand - Demand with Guardian. All 3 of these should be at or very near to 100% at WOT.
So if you can you want to look these plus RPMs and note what they are for each engine.

 

[alldodge]

Next time you have techmate out on the water, look for Demand Linear - Demand - Demand with Guardian. All 3 of these should be at or very near to 100% at WOT.
So if you can you want to look these plus RPMs and note what they are for each engine.

I know what your talking about.
Looked at these when running with the Rev 4 props with my buddy watching as RPMs increased to WOT. Will compare with the new props

Wanted to take the boat out today and fill the tank with readings, but winds were up around 20 mph so if things work out I'll try tomorrow

 

[alldodge]

Finally got the boat out just for a run to another marina to get gas (5.46 Reg) and have a couple beers with the wife floating around. Didn't take any tools and boat is running without any vibration but still shows it's burning more fuel than SB.

The noise coming from motors is a bit louder than before but didn't give it much thought at first with the other issues going on. So instead of starting the motors with the one button I used the keys. The port motor is really quite, but starting the starboard you can hear the exhaust. Turning Sport exhaust on/off they both sound the same when ON.

I have the dealer replaced the starboard motor impeller because they were replacing the port lower leg to keep them on the same time cycle. The SB side was also the side where the prop washers were installed in the wrong order and prop nut was over torque.

Question
Is there anyway something was damaged with the sport exhaust when replacing impeller??

 

[muc]

Question
Is there anyway something was damaged with the sport exhaust when replacing impeller??

Probably not. The Advanced Sound Control actuator is under the port muffler --- pretty high up in the Midsection --- and the control module is at the helm.
Trouble shooting, check 5 amp fuse in engine fuse block.
The actuator will stay in whatever sport/stealth position it was last in until it receives a command from the PCM.
Further troubleshooting into the G3.

Questions for you.
The Advanced Sound Control is called "AEV" in CDS G3; AEV_DutyCycle, AEV_OutputFault, AEV valve etc. You could check your TechMate and see if it reads that parameter.
Do you have Vessel View or SmartCraft gauges on this boat?
Do you have one or two switch's to control this?
Does the switch/switch's have an indicator light on it/them? What is that light flashing?

 

[alldodge]

Don't think there is a fuse blown because when I switch to sport exhaust it does get louder, it just get completely quite when turned off

Have Vessel View with no switches. It turns on when key(s) are turned on
I took this pic yesterday because I have a Battery issue which will need to assist in replacement.

 

[alldodge]

The yellowish fuel in that container is worth paying attention to. Even "no-ethanol" fuel from marinas can go stale if it sat over winter — the lighter fractions evaporate first and whats left burns less effeciently. Might explain the higher fuel consumption without any codes showing up. Fresh fuel and new filters could make a bigger diffrence than expected.

This was just because I was using the ladies pee jar. Verified it's clear and clean

 

[muc]

Don't think there is a fuse blown because when I switch to sport exhaust it does get louder, it just get completely quite when turned off

Have Vessel View with no switches. It turns on when key(s) are turned on
I took this pic yesterday because I have a Battery issue which will need to assist in replacement.

So they both get louder when you turn it on to sport and they both get quieter when you select stealth?

How are you turning it on/off?

 

[alldodge]

So they both get louder when you turn it on to sport and they both get quieter when you select stealth?

How are you turning it on/off?

Discussing this with my Bud about 2 hours ago and what you said previous caused this old guy to think some more.

I have 2 displays and with both motors running I press the left screen and its the same when I press the right screen. Of course I'm turning off the port then the Starboard motor, dull light bulb goes off and says, dummy no that is not what's happening. So MUC I'm sure your right and they both are told to go on/off with either. What I should have done is only run one motor at a time. It started raining or I would have gone down to verify

So for last hour I have been doing searches on all the manuals I have looking for stuff to tell me where the fuse is and the sport exhaust is located. So far I'm coming up empty because "sport" is not in the manual and exhaust is everywhere.