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Hi Everyone! This forum has been very helpful but I have yet to solve my own problem. So here goes the long story and I hope someone has an answer! I just purchased a 2000 Four Winns 234 funship with a 2007 Volvo Penta 5.0 OSi. I've had this boat out a handfull of times. It will start and idle just fine. When accelerating to WOT the boat planes out and runs just fine. After about a mile it will bog down and idle itself back to around 2500 rpms. The first few times it would do this at WOT but would run at 3000 rpm most of the day. Now it doesnt matter what speed, it bogs down after about a mile on the water. When it bogs down I can pull back to nuetral, wait literally a few minutes and go again without shutting the boat off or anything but it will continue to happen just the same way. I had the fuel cell replaced last week. This past weekend was when it got worse. Dont know if thats coincedence or not. When it bogs down you get like an emission or fuel type smell. This is very consistent. I can time within 100 yards of when its going to bog down the first time. Here is what has been done to correct it:

1) Replaced fuel water seperator- ran with no change

2) Replaced water temp sensor. Ran with sensor plugged in and unplugged. No change

3) Replaced fuel cell. Ran and same same problem only worse (They put in new anti syphoning valve)

4) Knocked check ball out of valve and ran with no change

5) Have tried running with both oil sensors unplugged- no change

6) Unplugged sensors on top of risers- ran with no change

This weekend while water testing we hit a large wake hard and boat died. First time its died. Fired right up and ran normal. With it on muffs later running was jiggling wires and the main plug on the back of the motor killed everything when jiggled a little. Took that off and cleaned. Will still kill the boat but you have to move it quite a bit. I dont see how this would affect my initial problem but wanted to mention it. A friend thought maybe a broken wire in that plug could be acting up when the motor heats up but I dont see how that would send the boat into EPM. Nor do I see how the problem could be this consistent. The only mechanic that has looked at it is the one that insisted I needed to spend a grand to replace the fuel pump.

Any ideas? I'm at my wits end here!

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that the boat is fuel injected.

I know that VP has had fuel pump issues. Put a pressure gauge on it and see what it reads when it starts acting up.

Sounds like a fuel pump to me too. Twice when doing seasonal maintenance, I knocked the wire off the fuel pump and didn't realize it. So the pump by the fuel separator was not working. The symptoms were exactly like you describe.

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2008 Four Winns F224
5.0 Volvo Penta
Towing with Audi Q7 4.2 V8