Lost Power - not firing on 2 cylinders

[henryb]

Finally got the boat back today... immediately I had it out in the lake... Drove it for 3 hours (off and on)... No problems!

My guess is that they may have solved the problem without knowing it.., by reseating all of the connectors for the Switch-box that they replaced last year? Well let's hope so anyways!!!

I bought a spark tester, and will keep it in the boat... Just in case!!!


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[henryb]

Well, I have a couple of threads on the go regarding this intermittent electrical problem... "Bad coil", "theory on..." And this one. But just now, the power dropped off and this time it didn't kick back in (like it normally does)... So it gave me an opportunity to test for spark on all 6 cylinders... Sure enough, one whole bank is not firing! The port side cylinders... Same ones that failed last year, and switch box was replaced to fix that issue! So I double checked all of the connectors for that switch box... All seem to be making good contact? What do I do now? Very frustrating!


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[henryb]

From another thread I heard that when 1 switch box fails, that Mercury recommends that you replace both? Apparently it's something to do with the biasing? Is this really the case? Shouldn't the Seadoo/Mercury shop that replaced the 1st switch box have known this... I called and they are not taking any responsibility! Ugh.


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[Dr Honda]

Never heard of that one... but I didn't argue the point on the other thread.

 

[henryb]

Well just heard back from the mechanic (different one from last year, as they are not taking any responsibility) ... He said that you have to change both switch boxes??? He said mine is the 3rd case this summer that he has seen where people replaced a single switch box last year... and the same problem returned this year!


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[henryb]

Now 2 days later the mechanic said he did some follow up diagnosis, and has found that in fact the switch boxes are not the source of the problem, but it is from a bad stator! So they ordered a new stator from Mercury. He also recommended that we replace the voltage regulator (which I am still waiting to arrive... Stuck at US-Canada customs for 2 weeks now).


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[Dr Honda]

Replacing a regulator shouldn't affect the ignition on that boat. The charging, low RPM, and High RPM ignition are all different circuits in the stator.

But regardless... if it's bad, it should be replaced. (Were you having charging issues?)

 

[henryb]

Not that I could tell... Other then those couple of occasions when the volt gauge was reading high 16v for a short period?


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[henryb]

The word from the marina mechanic is that the new stator didn't completely solve the problem. However he did confirm that the old stator was not working... So we are getting closer. Hopefully more updates tomorrow.


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[henryb]

Today's update indicated that the problem was also in the switch boxes! Can you believe 2 failures at once? But the silver lining was that Mercury Marine was willing to warranty the one switch box that I bought last year, as long as we installed 2. So I had to purchase one switch box... 2nd bonus was that Mercury also covered the installation fee. But it's another week, before I get it back.


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[Dr Honda]

Rough.

It's going to be cold by the time you get it back.

 

[henryb]

You got that right... Already near the end of August and a warm day today... only 22c today! Next week will be Labour Day, all I can hope is that those parts arrive in time! Crossing the U.S./Canada boarder is always an unknown! Sometimes it takes 3 days, other times 3 weeks! Yikes!!!, keeping my fingers crossed.


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[Dr Honda]

Yep... I understand.... but it's nutz !!!


When I had my shop, and I was shipping parts out... I could send small parts to Europe, and it would only take 3~5 days. But I would ship something up to Canada... and it was a total unknown. For some reason... boxes would get hung up in Canadian post... and they would just sit. I actually had one person start to get pissed at me, and threatened to dispute the charge on her credit card, because it was 4 weeks. But I sent all the tracking info, and told her is was her country's post system. (It didn't help that it happened during that strike a few years back)


But even at it's best... it was still a couple weeks.


FYI... for some reason DHL can get stuff in faster, but you pay for the service.

 

[henryb]

Agreed, it is a total hit and miss. And it is typically held in customs, not sure if it gets misplaced or how they sort through the enormous amount of parcel traffic... But stuff does get held up every so often.

Yes, DHL and UPS seem to get stuff through customs very quick, but like you said... You have to pay a premium for that service.


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[henryb]

Well here is a good story... I called Canada Customs and asked them to track down my package... They will only do this if it has been out for a month!!! So they said it was still in the Canada Post Office warehouse, not even delivered to the Customs office yet??? But strangely enough, the very next day it was tagged as "out for delivery" and arrived at my door the following day! Very suspicious!!! Lol.


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[henryb]

Well, the voltage regulator arrived about an hour before I headed up to the cottage for the last holiday weekend of the summer. I had the whole gang coming up hoping to get some skiing and tubing and of course riding through the locks of the Rideau Canal. But only if my 2 switch boxes arrive at the marina by Friday! So when I dropped in at the marina the switch boxes just arrived!!! Whew! They set the mechanic on it right away, and I picked up the boat a few hours later!
It was very exciting to get it back right in the nick of time! And a great weekend it is supposed to be... Sunny, 80F and calm, just about perfect!
I must say, that the engine has never run so well! It starts so easy now, I barely get the key to the start position and it fires up! I'm thinking that maybe the stator has been flakey ever since I've had the boat (2 summers)? Anyways, it is finally good to get it back and hopefully it keeps running smooth for a good long while!


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[Dr Honda]

it was a long rough path... but I'm glad it worked out.

I'm planning on getting out myself this weekend. And, with the way Pitt weather goes... it could be snowing next week. LOL