www.iFourWinns.com

The last few times I've had my 264 Funship out (8.1Gi), it will run fine and then for no particular reason will completely shut off for anywhere between a split second and a few seconds . No warning, no sputtering, just dead with the key on warning buzzer sounding. I immediately pull the throttle back to idle and the engine will begin running again and then typically will run fine again. It doesn't appear to be speed sensitive, since it will do it from about 25-45 mph. I've made sure it has a full fuel load to be sure it wasn't sloshing around and sucking air etc., but everything I've been able to check (loose wires, connectors etc) seem fine. Once the engine resumes, it runs perfectly. It started out doing it once or twice during a day, but yesterday did it repeatedly in about a 45 minute trip to the point where I gave up and went back to the dock. It seems like an electrical issue, but before I take it to the shop, I'm hoping someone else has some advice on what could be wrong. I've only had the boat about 6 weeks, it has just over 100hrs on it and appears to be in perfect condition, purchased from a very reputable local dealer.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

Is it possible that something is clogging the fuel flow? Maybe a dirty carb? If it's been sitting, you may have bad fuel, too. I'd try running a strong dose of seafoam and see if it helps.

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

+1 to the above.... and maybe go ahead and give 'er a tune-up... plugs, wires, cap and rotor. All could be culprits, but do the fuel and filter first.
If you have a batt/alt tester, this would be a good time to eliminate them as cause too.

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Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

So it starts running again on it's own when you pull back on the throttle? Then it's not going 'dead', just sputtering enough to come close to dying. Or do you mean you have to turn the key again and it'll restart just fine? Which is it?

You don't have a kill switch installed, do you? That is, a lanyard that's attached to you by a springy cord and then a switch on the helm. Designed to kill the engine should you get tossed overboard. A very handy add-on, especially for single-handed operations. If your boat has one and you don't know about it then it's possible someone put the 'key' part of the lanyard on the switch and it's cutting out intermittently.

It's also possible the ignition switch is acting up. When the engine's running, jiggle the key a bit to see if you get the same cutting out behavior.

I'm leaning toward it being an electrical issue between the key and the engine. Possibly due to a bad ground at the helm, battery or engine. Remember, an electrical circuit runs both positive and negative. A ground issue is just as much a problem as one on the positive side of the circuit.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Thanks for all the quick responses. It doesn't seem to be a fuel flow issue since it is so abrupt and runs perfectly in between, the motor is EFI and DIS so no carb or cap/rotor/wires to deal with. The voltage, temperature and oil pressure are all fine while all this is going on.

It does have the lanyard attached for the kill switch, so that's definitely worth checking. Sometimes it will die completely and I have to re-start (where it starts immediately and idles fine) and other times it will re-catch when I pull the throttle back to neutral. I'll also check the ignition switch and see if I can replicate the problem. It seems as though something must be loose or intermittently shorting somewhere, since it runs perfectly in between these episodes. I'm also going to see if I can replicate it in neutral by bringing the engine RPM up, or if it only happens under a load.

I'm most concerned with the other electronics. If its like most late model cars, it has a cam sensor, crank sensor, knock sensor, TPS, some kind of MAF or MAP sensor etc, etc. Any one of which could be the problem and none that I can test easily.

I'm going to check the easy stuff tomorrow, then probably off to the shop . Hopefully, since I've had it a short time and bought it from them, they will take sympathy on my plight and go easy on me.

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

I would not be so hasty to make that assumption. Fuel flow can be disrupted and cause problems like you describe. As the flow increases the gunk gets pulled against the filter material or pickup intake and blocks the flow of fuel. Letting off the throttle (due to starvation of fuel or manually pulling the throttle) relieves the pressure pulling the gunk and it releases. Only to eventually get pulled back up again as the flow returns. Especially with large particles or flakes of gunk. As someone that's had plenty of antique cars over the years I can attest to this and the hassles of diagnosing it.

I'm not insisting that's your issue here, just suggesting it's not always something you can rule out. But I'd be inclined to continue focusing on electrical power.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

The boats a 2003? Problem happening when you are running the boat on plane at elevated rpm's? If the battery is around 5 years old, try changing the battery. Had this problem happen before. Cell plates in battery start to get corroded and won't accept a charge as fast as you're putting a demand on it at higher rev's. More rpms = more ignition load on battery. When you cut back on the throttle and drop rpms, engine runs fine because load on battery doesn't exceed charge on battery. Hopefully this helps you out.

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Arn
2002 Vista 268
Ontario

So I've had it out on the lake a few more times trying to figure it out, and it only sounds the beeping alarm when the boat bounces off heavy'ish chop. If the lake is not chopped up from wind or traffic like most weekdays, It will not act up unless I churn things up myself and drive back over my own wake. It will do it a any speed from about 2800 to WOT, and it doesn't matter what the trim is. Oil, water, volts etc. all remain fine. It appears to go into protection mode (2500rpm limit) and then continues beeping until I bring it to idle where it will stop. It hasn't completely shut off since the first day it did this. I'm guessing now that one of the sensors that measures manifold temp, oil pressure etc. are probably going bad. I haven't found any loose connections and I've checked everything I can find.

I'm (finally) taking it to the marina tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they can plug the ECM into their computer and narrow down what the fault is.

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman

Sounds like something is moving in that chop. Loose connection maybe?!? Let us know how this turns out.

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Walter

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

Just got the boat back this afternoon and I have to give a shout out to the guys at Lake Norman Marina. Randy promsied that although they were very busy, if I dropped it off, he would dig into quickly. I dropped it off Thursday pm and they had it back in my hands today. They fixed the cutout problem and replaced a bad trim sending unit all at NO CHARGE. Also, nice job by Wkearney earlier in this thread who suggested it might be related to the kill switch.

Turns out the problem was a loose connector inside the two wire plug for the lanyard kill switch. There are two aluminum spades inside the connector and on one the wire was coming loose from the connector, but had not fallen off. It apparently was just loose enough that when when the hull started slapping the chop, it put the engine into protection and set off the alarm.

Problem solved, no out of pocket expense, and after running it for a couple hours today, everything is perfect again.

Now I can move on and finish the LED lighting and stereo upgrades. A lot more fun!!

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2003 Funship 264
Volvo 8.1Gi DP
2007 Lincoln Navigator tow vehicle
Weekends on Lake Norman