Boat Keeps Dying
Boat Keeps Dying I got an ole pickle fork jet boat with an LS1 in it. It's carb'd and running an MSD 6LS. It ran amazing all last summer. Parked it for the winter, pulled the motor, did some upgrades to the boat, NONE to the engine. Now, and this has happened twice, it'll drive a few minutes, start to cut off a couple of times real quick, then die all together. Both times, towed it back the ramp and it started right back up on the trailer.
Fuel pump is a Holley blue and it's got great fuel pressure. Took the scoop off yesterday and looked. The bowls are filled and the squirters are squirting, so it's got fuel. I think it's got an electrical gremlin somewhere. While it was apart, the MSD harness sat in a box indoors. The grounds all look good.
My F250 acted similar when the cam position sensor went out. Any ideas where to start first? Gonna pull apart all the connections, clean em up, then put em back together with some dieletric grease today. If the weather holds we'll splash it in this afternoon with the laptop and and paddle to see what the MSD is doing.
Fuel pump is a Holley blue and it's got great fuel pressure. Took the scoop off yesterday and looked. The bowls are filled and the squirters are squirting, so it's got fuel. I think it's got an electrical gremlin somewhere. While it was apart, the MSD harness sat in a box indoors. The grounds all look good.
My F250 acted similar when the cam position sensor went out. Any ideas where to start first? Gonna pull apart all the connections, clean em up, then put em back together with some dieletric grease today. If the weather holds we'll splash it in this afternoon with the laptop and and paddle to see what the MSD is doing.
I think you are on the right track. Inspecting the electrical connections, checking all the wires and sensors. Perhaps consider pulling the carb and cleaning it and checking for any leaks on the intake side. Maybe the carb is gummed up from sitting with fuel all winter?
The MSD boxes do have some history of dieing, but I think it is normally all at once, not intermittently. Is it a heat related issue? Does the engine start to cut out when the engine starts getting up to temp and then the issue goes away once it is cool again?
Great looking boat, lets see some more pics! I grew up on my buddy'd Dad's Eliminator with a blown big block!
The MSD boxes do have some history of dieing, but I think it is normally all at once, not intermittently. Is it a heat related issue? Does the engine start to cut out when the engine starts getting up to temp and then the issue goes away once it is cool again?
Great looking boat, lets see some more pics! I grew up on my buddy'd Dad's Eliminator with a blown big block!
Last edited by cruisin'73; Apr 16, 2015 at 09:58 AM.
It's run a best ever of 97.2 in the 1/8th mile. That's with a 140 shot. It's not hot enough now to be a heat issue. Took it out today and it acted up again while connected to the laptop. Software showed ne errors, so maybe it is fueling after all. Went the through the carb and fuel pump today. If the weather doesn't turn to ****, we'll try again tomorrow.
Definitely not hot enough yet, but sounds exactly like the issue I was having with my Mercury Racing 500 Efi.... would start, idle then die after a minute or two. Supposedly it was the ethanol vaporizing and causing a vapor lock issue. Would start fine after everything cooled off. Since then I started a new routine on hot shut down and never had the issue again. Hopefully it's something silly that rears it's ugly head soon for ya.
Hopefully it something minor. A buddy of mine loaned me an alligator clip spark checker I'll put to use next time out also. Never did hit the water yesterday. Spent five hours buffin and waxin..
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Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 70
Likes: 1
From: Minneapolis
Air, fuel and spark... You can assume you're getting air because it runs normally, so you're likely building compression. You said you have solid fuel pressure, should be somewhere around <10psi for a carb. Spark, this is going to be dependent obviously on the MSD box, you can check spark by using a screwdriver as a bridge between the spark plug and the boot, if you see the spark jump, you can assume you have spark, you can also by an inline spark checker.
Have you tried using starting fluid to see if the engine will start? I would think if you are having a fuel problem, you'd be able to at least temporarily start the engine or get it to stumble. If you aren't getting spark, no amount of fuel is going to help.
Have you tried using starting fluid to see if the engine will start? I would think if you are having a fuel problem, you'd be able to at least temporarily start the engine or get it to stumble. If you aren't getting spark, no amount of fuel is going to help.
97 in the 1/8 is cranking ! Ive been well over 100 in several boats and 118 was fastest but none would come close to that type of acceleration/holeshot , is it still climbing ?
wish it only took 5 hours. Usually takes a couple days to do It right. 