loss of power and shut down of engine

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Dear all,

I just bought my first boat which has an Indmar 351 engine. Unfortunately, i have some problems which i haven't been able to solve yet. I have replaced the carburator (second hand though), the starting enginge and the coil. When the boat has to pull a heavier skier, it gets the skier out of the water but, the engine suddenly shuts down after a few minutes of skiing. While pulling the skier, i notice that the engine doesn't have as much power as it should have. The strange thing is that we can ski a whole morning with slightly lighter skiers.
Does anyone have some suggestions as to what could be wrong?
Could it be that something is wrong with the carburator?
Or could it be the cylinder head gasket (loss of compression)? Although i doubt it could be the cylinder head gasket because there is no water in the oil.

Thanks a lot,
Tom

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: September-29-2013 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tom Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: loss of power and shut down of engine Posted: September-29-2013 at 11:31am
	Dear all, I just bought my first boat which has an Indmar 351 engine. Unfortunately, i have some problems which i haven't been able to solve yet. I have replaced the carburator (second hand though), the starting enginge and the coil. When the boat has to pull a heavier skier, it gets the skier out of the water but, the engine suddenly shuts down after a few minutes of skiing. While pulling the skier, i notice that the engine doesn't have as much power as it should have. The strange thing is that we can ski a whole morning with slightly lighter skiers. Does anyone have some suggestions as to what could be wrong? Could it be that something is wrong with the carburator? Or could it be the cylinder head gasket (loss of compression)? Although i doubt it could be the cylinder head gasket because there is no water in the oil. Thanks a lot, Tom

SNobsessed Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102	Post Options Post Reply Quote SNobsessed Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-29-2013 at 1:38pm
	You may want to check the fuel line / filter for blockage. It is common for the anti siphon valve (elbow on top of fuel tank) to clog.
	“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Ben Franklin

Hollywood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: February-04-2004 Location: Twin Lakes, WI Status: Offline Points: 13514	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hollywood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-29-2013 at 9:32pm
	If you suspect low compression (which I don't) simply do a compression test. Did the boat perform the same with the previous carburetor?

Tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: September-29-2013 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tom Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-29-2013 at 9:41pm
	With the previous carborator, the boat would shut down much faster. The carb. was very dirty and the valves did not open and close smoothly anymore. It also kept dripping fuel. So if the same problem was present then, we didn't notice because of all the other problems we were having.

Bri892001 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: September-27-2008 Location: Boston MA Status: Offline Points: 4947	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bri892001 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September-30-2013 at 7:12pm
	How does it do wide open throttle with no skiers?

Tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: September-29-2013 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tom Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-01-2013 at 5:42pm
	wide open throttle without skiers, the engine also shuts down the same way as it does with a heavier skier at lower speed. I also checked the anti siphon valve and this was in good condition. Just to be sure, i cleaned it in an ultrasonic bath in a fuel cleaner solution. This weekend, i will connect an external fuel tank to the boat to check if the filter inside the tank might be the problem. Does anyone how the filter inside the fuel tank looks like? thanks!

Hollywood Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: February-04-2004 Location: Twin Lakes, WI Status: Offline Points: 13514	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hollywood Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-01-2013 at 5:46pm
	We don't know what kind of boat/tank you have, probably not any kind of filter in there anyway. Get a fuel pressure reading.

Tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: September-29-2013 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tom Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-01-2013 at 6:08pm
	I have a Ski centurion Tru Trac 2.

oldcuda Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: June-22-2010 Status: Offline Points: 474	Post Options Post Reply Quote oldcuda Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-01-2013 at 10:44pm
	Plugged tank vent?

Tom Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: September-29-2013 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 6	Post Options Post Reply Quote Tom Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-06-2013 at 7:51am
	Hey all, we finally found the problem: it is the fuel pump! We tested our boat with an external fuel tank and a manual pump. When the boat started to drop in rpm's, (which is the sign the boat is about to shut down) we could avoid the engine shutting down by pumping manually fuel into the carb. Thank you all for your help! it is very much appreciated! Cheers, Tom

OrlandoGuy82 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: October-09-2013 Location: Orlando Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote OrlandoGuy82 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: October-21-2013 at 5:28pm
	I had this same issue with my GT-40 Sport. There is a tube going down into the tank and at the top of it was a little mesh filter. The crud got up the tube and clogged it. I blew out the wad of crud and runs perfect now. Of course this means I need to take the tank out and clean it.

loss of power and shut down of engine

About CCF

Donate

Partners

Contact