nphilbro
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2011
- Messages
- 304
This is the first season running this motor so I'm still getting to know it. For a bit of background on how I run it: it had about 50 freshwater hours max on it when I bought it. Since July I've logged about 50 additional saltwater hours in the cold Puget Sound and colder Pacific Ocean off the Washington coast. I usually just run it on the way to the salmon grounds which can be in several short trips of 5 to 15 miles at a time throughout the day and run the kicker for 1 to 2 hours in-between.
It has been an amazing motor so far but an issue has come up twice now that's very concerning- it can run like a champ with no alarms, sucking normal oil, normal power, etc. Two times now -both out of Westport in the pacific (never in the sound) I've been ready to start the third or 4th move I'll attempt to run again and - no spark. It will turn over well but not so much as a misfire. Primed the bulb, ended up just flooding it after a while. I'd rest the batteries (which are well maintained) and run the kicker for a while.
First time: we were nearing the end of the ocean fishing day so were just south of the Westport bar crossing and the winds were pushing us closer to shore (toward 4ft beach breakers) while the kicker would not quite keep up. It finally fired and we were on our way,no issues, couldn't replicate the problem. 4 men, gear, mild bar (3-5ft swells out, similar on return).
Once home I suspected the ignition switch and replaced it (with one I had on my bench). I also unhooked all the battery, ground, and solenoid cables and made sure they were solidly connected on the motor.
...ran again in the Puget Sound 4 or 5 times, no issues, considered issue resolved. .
2nd time: yesterday we were back killing fish in the pacific and It started easily and I crossed a flat bar, running 10 miles to target. Ran the kicker for 15 minutes (too many jellyfish), started up and ran offshore another 10 miles and ran the kicker for an hour. Repeated a few more times and headed 15 miles to the north. Then turned the key and problem was back. Again, no misfire or "almost fire", nothing. After a while I tilted the motor up, put the throttle to full to open the carbs. No love. Calm seas allowed me to pull the cowl off -in the running position, now- and the heads were still warm (but not hot) after an hour of fishing. No alarms, tested them after previous trip. Checked the front air filter, just in case, fuel everywhere by now. With air filter back on and cowl off I tried the key again, and heard a misfire, hit it again and it started back up. Ran 20 miles back to the marina, seemed to run ok, but 3ft wind waves wouldn't allow me to stay on plane, but it was willing so had to back off occasionally. Killed it at the marina, got the trailer and fired up to load without hesitation. This has only happened on two of ten trips this year. I often think I should probably prop down from 21" 4 blade stainless to a 19" or 20" when approaching the bar a bit in case it gets really snotty but no obvious signs that it's lugging, However, I could be over propped for the conditions. No way to take it WOT in 3 to 8ft seas. .
Sorry for being long winded, but the background info will hopefully help eliminate unnecessary speculation and point more quickly to diagnostics I can perform or a known "glitch" that I can address. There seems no question that it's a spark issue. I want to lean toward the power pack or one of the ignition components shutting off due to heat based on correlation of cowl off and rapid restart. However, I've never had an issue with it dying while underway, just on the restart, so don't know how viable that is. Battery (750CCA each) voltages are usually reading 12.4-12.7 when I first initiate the starter and recover quickly. I run the accessories on a separate battery bank. I'm not ruling the batteries out but one is brand new this year. .
It will only happen once when it does happen and I cannot replicate it. Hasn't happened on the 2nd day off the charger, only on the first (what?). Never an issue at the start or end of day, just mid to late day. Water temps always 57*, air temps 65*.
This pic showed it cruising in on the bar last Sunday after it finally restarted. Up on plane well, cruising 24-30mph SOG on a relatively flat bar back to the marina.
It has been an amazing motor so far but an issue has come up twice now that's very concerning- it can run like a champ with no alarms, sucking normal oil, normal power, etc. Two times now -both out of Westport in the pacific (never in the sound) I've been ready to start the third or 4th move I'll attempt to run again and - no spark. It will turn over well but not so much as a misfire. Primed the bulb, ended up just flooding it after a while. I'd rest the batteries (which are well maintained) and run the kicker for a while.
First time: we were nearing the end of the ocean fishing day so were just south of the Westport bar crossing and the winds were pushing us closer to shore (toward 4ft beach breakers) while the kicker would not quite keep up. It finally fired and we were on our way,no issues, couldn't replicate the problem. 4 men, gear, mild bar (3-5ft swells out, similar on return).
Once home I suspected the ignition switch and replaced it (with one I had on my bench). I also unhooked all the battery, ground, and solenoid cables and made sure they were solidly connected on the motor.
...ran again in the Puget Sound 4 or 5 times, no issues, considered issue resolved. .
2nd time: yesterday we were back killing fish in the pacific and It started easily and I crossed a flat bar, running 10 miles to target. Ran the kicker for 15 minutes (too many jellyfish), started up and ran offshore another 10 miles and ran the kicker for an hour. Repeated a few more times and headed 15 miles to the north. Then turned the key and problem was back. Again, no misfire or "almost fire", nothing. After a while I tilted the motor up, put the throttle to full to open the carbs. No love. Calm seas allowed me to pull the cowl off -in the running position, now- and the heads were still warm (but not hot) after an hour of fishing. No alarms, tested them after previous trip. Checked the front air filter, just in case, fuel everywhere by now. With air filter back on and cowl off I tried the key again, and heard a misfire, hit it again and it started back up. Ran 20 miles back to the marina, seemed to run ok, but 3ft wind waves wouldn't allow me to stay on plane, but it was willing so had to back off occasionally. Killed it at the marina, got the trailer and fired up to load without hesitation. This has only happened on two of ten trips this year. I often think I should probably prop down from 21" 4 blade stainless to a 19" or 20" when approaching the bar a bit in case it gets really snotty but no obvious signs that it's lugging, However, I could be over propped for the conditions. No way to take it WOT in 3 to 8ft seas. .
Sorry for being long winded, but the background info will hopefully help eliminate unnecessary speculation and point more quickly to diagnostics I can perform or a known "glitch" that I can address. There seems no question that it's a spark issue. I want to lean toward the power pack or one of the ignition components shutting off due to heat based on correlation of cowl off and rapid restart. However, I've never had an issue with it dying while underway, just on the restart, so don't know how viable that is. Battery (750CCA each) voltages are usually reading 12.4-12.7 when I first initiate the starter and recover quickly. I run the accessories on a separate battery bank. I'm not ruling the batteries out but one is brand new this year. .
It will only happen once when it does happen and I cannot replicate it. Hasn't happened on the 2nd day off the charger, only on the first (what?). Never an issue at the start or end of day, just mid to late day. Water temps always 57*, air temps 65*.
This pic showed it cruising in on the bar last Sunday after it finally restarted. Up on plane well, cruising 24-30mph SOG on a relatively flat bar back to the marina.
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