Engine died, will not restart

[derekb95svt]

So I am a newbie when it comes to when it comes to anything to do with boating, but I have a problem. I was out cruising on the river at full throttle and out of nowhere the engine quit. I could not get it restarted. It is a Merc 5.7 Alpha One.

Anyways, I am going to try to troubleshoot the problem. (I started while on the boat waiting for a tow) I thought maybe either I ran it out of gas or it has a spark issue. I took the carb cover off and the thing is absoltely bone dry. It was also fairly warm. I tried priming it by pouring some gas in there but it would crank, just not turn over.

Anyways, are there any suggestions on what I should do or be looking for? Should there be some gas in the carb while trying to start? I am royally confused right now (and it sure doesnt help being dehydrated and hungover). Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. If there is any other information you need please let me know.

Derek

 

[MikDee]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

Check all your fuel filters back to the tank, sometimes the one coming off the tank stops up completely, if it hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

What year is the engine? Electric fuel pump? Do you have spark?

To most of us, cranking and turning over is the same thing (engine spinning with the starter but engine not running) ..... Then there is starting.

 

[derekb95svt]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

Year of the motor is unknown, the boat is an 89 ArrowGlass Fiesta that i bought about a month ago. I believe it has a mech. fuel pump, but please dont quote me on that

It was late last night so I havent been able to check for spark. I will do that when I get home from work in the afternoon.

I guess the only known is that the carb is and was bone dry, the engine was running a bit on the warm side, and the starter will crank the motor but it will not ignite. I hope this will be a cheap and easy fix

 

[thrasher]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

The carb being warm is not a problem, if you had been running very quickly the engine would be quite warm and that will keep the carb good and warm! This is normal.
When you say the carb is bone dry, do you mean the float chamber was bone dry? I don't understand where you are looking to announce it's bone dry.

Checking the filters is always a good starting point, there is often a wire gauze filter in the carb, then there are inline filters and sometimes filters in the fuel pump (plenty of places to get blocked). Do be carefull when you open the filters, remember Gas is highly explosive, so take reasonable precautions to prevent fire..

Gary

 

[derekb95svt]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

The caerb being warm is not a problem, if you had been running very quickly the engine would be quite warm and that will keep the carb good and warm! This is normal.
When you say the carb is bone dry, do you mean the float chamber was bone dry? I don't understand where you are looking to announce it's bone dry.

Checking the filters is always a good starting point, there is often a wire gauze filter in the carb, then there are inline filters and sometimes filters in the fuel pump (plenty of places to get blocked). Do be carefull when you open the filters, remember Gas is highly explosive, so take precautions..

Gary

I am almost positive the float chamber is what I am talking about. I will start with the filters this afternoon and possibly give her a nice tune up this week, hopefully I can get her running before the weekend

 

[donsmy]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

I had a very similar problem on a similar age boat. It turned out to be a lose screw on the ignition switch. - the one that keeps it running. It would turn over all day long. I had spark and gas. I did a lot of work before I found it. Goes to show you... Check the simple things first.

 

[CapJAck2007]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

Which screw? On the ignition on the back of the Dash? Over by the Throttle? I have 182 Bowrider that may have the same problem.

 

[derekb95svt]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

Alright I feel really dumb. Checked the fuel pressure, and the system was working as advertised. I then decided to chase sparks. LOL, checked voltage to the coil and found that there was nothing getting there.

Long story short, traced it back to a fuse in the ignition (which I had spares on in the boat) a $.25 fuse cost me 2 hours getting towed and 3 hours of troubleshooting.

I appreciate your help and suggestions. The thing that I got out of this is start with the easiest step first. It will save you a huge headache (and maybe a sunburn haha)

 

[Have Fun Today]

Re: Engine died, will not restart

Does your boat have a kill switch? These have the option to run with or without a lanyard connected to the driver. It could have been bumped by accident.