www.iFourWinns.com

I have a 2003 Vista 378. It has 130 hours on the Volvo Penta 8.1 Litre engines. When I get the boat up on plane, It will run for about 20 seconds and the starboard engine begins to lose power (almost shutting down). I have changed fuel filters, plugs, cleaned the air filters, etc.

Also, my starboard transmission makes a rattling noise when idling. I do not hear the noise when I accelerate. I have been told that if the engine is not running smoothly the transmission will rattle, but I have also been told that my transmission is shutting down my engine. Any ideas? (transmission or engine).

Thanks

Try changing your battery. I had the same problem earlier this year. Tried switching batteries and issue went away. The battery would work fine at lower rpms but when the extra load demanded by the ignition system at higher rpms kicked in, the battery weakened enough to cause the engine to die off.

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Arn
2002 Vista 268
Ontario

I had the exact same problem a couple of months ago on a boat with 22 hours. I changed the fuel/water separator and dumped out almost an inch of water. Installed a new filter and after an hour of running great she stumbled and stalled. Changed the filter again and this time no water was found. I replaced the fuel/water separator anyway. I have put 5 hours on her since without any hesitation what-so-ever. I have no idea how this fixed the problem, but it did. Might me worth another $10 filter.
Good Luck!

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2007 Four Winns 318 Vista "Sas Sea Lady"
Previous
2002 Four Winns 268 Vista "Girls Knot Buoys"
1999 Sea Pro 235 WA "Bait Me"

Had a similar problem... bonehead on my part. Bumped the fuel crossover valve and it was partially closed. I was working around the engine space and didn't realized I hit it.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Gotta second the fuel restriction question. If fuel flow is impeded it will usually only show up when lots of fuel is needed. At idle it'll run just fine. But as you rev higher the flow rate can't keep up and the engine will stumble and/or lose power. You go for WOT and it just wheezes and dies. I'd look at not only the valves but also the fuel lines and the inline filter(s). It's possible a line got kinked or a filter is dirty. Or the pickup inside the tank is blocked.

I don't think you can feed both engines at higher revs from one tank. But try and use your fuel valves to do just that. Get them both pulling from one side and then the other. See if your running problems are affected. If they are then the problem might be in the tank or lines leading to the valves. If not then it's something after where the lines leave the valves and go to the engine.

It is possible to put a pressure gauge on fuel lines. But given the risks of fuel spillage and combustible vapors I would not recommend it unless you REALLY know what you're doing.

Oh, one other thing, make sure your vent line into the tank isn't blocked. If the vent is blocked then the pull of the fuel pumps will run up against the pressure of the tank trying to withstand being collapsed. Think of what happens if you suck the air out of a water bottle, it collapses. A quick check here would be to run the boat while the fuel tank cap was left open (to allow air into the tank). If that affects how the engine runs then you've got a blocked vent on that tank. Bear in mind you want to be careful doing this. You don't want to have seawater splashing up into the fuel filler, or have fuel spill out. So be careful.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Thanks for all of your comments, I changed my battery and it fixed my problem. I appreciate the advice Arn.