www.iFourWinns.com

As most of you know I have just bought an 03 248. I have been running the boat every day just fine on Friday - Sunday. This morning I tried to start my engine and it is not turning on. Since I am such a newbie I am hoping someone here could help me because it is something stupid I am missing.

I have confirmed that the engine is cranking and turning over just fine and the distributor has a spark. Oil is black and clean and the tank is just over 3/4. All help appreciated.

Thanks,

Walter

Walter,

This may sound completely stupid, but check the kill switch lanyard that is located right below the throttle/shift lever. It's the first thing to check any time this happens. Pull the clip off and put it back on, make sure it's firmly seated and then try and start it.

If that doesn't do it, we will have to move onto the second phase of diagnosing the issue.

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Brett DiMichele

Couple of thing to check. On the engine is a large round wiring harness. Should have a hose clamp around it. Make sure it is well seated. Also, I'd pull a couple of spark plugs and check their condition. Also, remove and empty the fuel filter into a glass container and check for water.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

brett, definately not sooo stupid. I actually had a stupid friend who has gotten bit by this on several occasions including yesterday so that check was fresh on my mind.

jvalich,

Its night time right now but I will look at the fuel filter and harness hose clamp tomorrow.


QUESTION: Can I start the engine if I connect the hose to the fresh water flush system or will I need to get an adapter for the actual stern drive for my tests since I am now out of the water.

It depend on where the freshwater flush is connected, before or after the raw water pump. If connected after the raw water pump, like my system is, the raw water pump impeller would be toast quickly. I believe you can if it's the Volvo wash down in the engine compartment. Check the manual for that. Since it's used for winterizing (which I've never had to do ) one would a have to be able to run the engine to remove all the water and replace it with anitfreeze.

Personally, a pair of muffs are kind of handy to have around, especially as cheap as they are.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Fuel Filter was removed and looked good. Where is this large round wiring harness I should check? Are you referring to the box on top of the engine where the fuses are??

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Iyt should be on the left side of the engine. It will most likely have a hose clamp around the rubber boot protecting the connection. It will be near the main breakers on the engine.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Thank you all for your help. So it ends up being I had some water in the engine. Spark plugs were removed showing the evidence of water in the engine and replaced after the water was removed and everything is now working.


Thanks again for all who helped.

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Walt,

Now the question that has to be asked is: "How did water get in my engine"

Water inside the engine is never a good thing! There are only a handfull of ways in which water will get inside the engine. Reversion (which is where water comes up the exhaust system and into the combustion chambers). Bad exhaust manifolds or exhaust risers (leaking water into the combustion chambers). Bad fuel (especially a delicate issue these days with E10 garbage that we are all forced to buy).

I would investigate this and find out the root cause. If it's reversion then you need to learn to come off plane slowly (a habbit I had to learn on my last boat because I had water in the bilge every time I came off plane too fast). If it's bad manifolds or risers they need to be replaced asap. Water in the motor in the right proportion will cause hydraulic engine lock and that causes broken pistons, broken valves, bent connecting rods etc.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom here, but it is something that needs to be root cause analized for sure.

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Brett DiMichele

?
This is not a good thing, if i were you I would find out the root cause???

Keep us posted!! If you have reversion and it is not corrected, the same result could happen to you again. Just trying to help before you have bigger problem.









ya, what he said!! Where did the water come from?? KS

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"Changes in Attitude"
2003 268 Vista 5.7 Volvo DP

Uh, that ain't good. You really should get that oil changed, like RIGHT AWAY.

Water ingestion (never heard it called "reversion") is a VERY bad thing for marine engines. For several reasons. One, of course, being hydro-locked. Fuel/air mixtures can be compressed, that's how the engine works. But water cannot be compressed (at least not like fuel/air). As a result the piston coming up pushes way too hard against the valves and usually destroys them. This is never inexpensive to repair.

But beyond that you've got serious corrosion risks. The surfaces on the bearings and other machined metals is VERY, VERY susceptible to rust. Water getting onto those surfaces will cause rust, which will in turn cause severe damage. You usually won't notice this right away. If you're really unlucky it'll be bad enough to cause a crankshaft bearing to 'spin'. This will deprive that bearing race of oil and it will rapidly overheat and seize. Again, nowhere near cheap to repair.

It's critically important to avoid ever getting water into the engine. If/when it does happen it's likewise extremely important to get that water OUT of the engine as QUICKLY as possible.

Changing the oil (more than once!) is among the best ways. But you may also want to use something like Marvel Mystery Oil poured into the spark plug holes. This will help displace the water from the machined surfaces inside the combustion chamber. It'll smoke like hell for a short while afterwards and will probably ruin the plugs. But that's a small price to pay.

As has been pointed out, water ingestion can be caused by coming off plane too quickly and having the wake stall the engine. During that short 'hiccup' the engine can pull water up through the exhaust and into the cylinders. Some boats have had more trouble with this than others (searay from a couple years ago). Basically you just have to avoid stopping too suddenly and having the wake swamp the exhaust.

So get that oil changed, PRONTO!

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Bill,

Reversion is the actual terminology for when water is forced through the prop or thru hulls and up through the risers and manifolds and then into the engine. Reversion is more common with big block chevy's due to the large valve lift and overlap as it allows reverse scavenging (reversion). It's not as common with small blocks, but can happen when comming off plane too quickly.

I agree with everything you listed.

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Brett DiMichele

My assumption was it was reversion. I remember slowing the boat very quickly cause one of my passengers lost their hat and remember the wake coming over the platform and even some through the transom door so I learned there about having to come off plane slowly.

I did change the oil and ran the boat on Saturday for a good 3 hours. No hesitations to start. Should I change the oil one more time? Is there any way for me to know if there is still any moisture in the engine?

Also going back to avoiding reversion, do any of you guys use yoru trim tabs to come off plane? If so, how?

Thanks again guys for helping the newbie out!

Walter

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Walter,

I usually put three seconds of tab down (one mississippi, two mississippi etc) of bow down on each tab and I leave them there. For most conditions I run in, that seems to be my sweet spot, keeps bow rise to a minimum, keeps my planing speeds way slow..

You will just have to experiment with them.. Remember go slowly, no huge changes.

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Brett DiMichele

I just come down slow, then once the bow drops, I give her a touch of throttle to just stay ahead of the stern wake.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"