New Spark Plugs are Bone Dry

[islandia-duane]

I've been running my 2000 Islandia 240 EFI with oil bypass ALL Spring, Summer and into Fall. I'm in the Carolinas so the weather is mild.

Got on the boat to go out and it won't start, or just a brief 1 second fire like it would start. Engine sounds like if the Kill switch is disengaged.

I figured I might as well tune this thing up with new plugs anyway. Put the new plugs in...cranked... no start...I pulled the new plugs and are all dry(No fuel on them) and clean.

Checked the Lift pump...It's ticking as it should.

I changed inline fuel filter & fuel separator as well and the issue still persists.

The boat was just sitting on my lift awaiting the next excursion.

Any suggestions of what else to check is much appreciated

 

[Tim75]

I've been running my 2000 Islandia 240 EFI with oil bypass ALL Spring, Summer and into Fall. I'm in the Carolinas so the weather is mild.

Got on the boat to go out and it won't start, or just a brief 1 second fire like it would start. Engine sounds like if the Kill switch is disengaged.

I figured I might as well tune this thing up with new plugs anyway. Put the new plugs in...cranked... no start...I pulled the new plugs and are all dry(No fuel on them) and clean.

Checked the Lift pump...It's ticking as it should.

I changed inline fuel filter & fuel separator as well and the issue still persists.

The boat was just sitting on my lift awaiting the next excursion.

Any suggestions of what else to check is much appreciated

Check the fuel pressure at the tire valve on top of the vst. Key ON. Should be 36psi.
Sounds like your vst inlet needle is corroded in closed position inside the vst. Open the vst drain plug. With the key ON engine OFF, gas should stream out. If it just dribbles, inlet needle is suspect.

Are you using the oem-spec NGK plugs? Have you checked the compression lately? All plugs out, WOT.

Since your boat is 2000 MY, the engine may be 1999. The oem triggers for ignition timing had some crappy insulation. Visual the wires from trigger. Starboard side, coming out from under flywheel to a connector on a bracket just aft of the flywheel. 6 wires. Is insulation crumbly or good?

 

[islandia-duane]

Ok. I will check VST.
Plugs Are NGK although I have used champion some years ago.

The trigger was changed couple years ago wires were brittle and corroded.
I’ll report back.

 

[islandia-duane]

Pulled the VST today. A bit mucky inside. Broken/shredded O-ring washer on one of the removable nipples (not sure how else to describe). Replaced that as well as the O-ring around the body. Cleaned out all inlets/outlets and around needle. Will rebuild and reinstall tomorrow. Hoping for results...stay tuned

 

[islandia-duane]

Tested the pump inside the VST. It works on the bench but not when installed on engine. Fuel pressure on VST is ZERO. It was checked with switch on. Is there a fuse to check since the pump works on the bench?

 

[Tim75]

Tested the pump inside the VST. It works on the bench but not when installed on engine. Fuel pressure on VST is ZERO. It was checked with switch on. Is there a fuse to check since the pump works on the bench?

Pump motor is polarity sensitive. That is, motor runs with polarity right or wrong. BUT pump only works with polarity right.

There should be a fuse, but not sure where. It would be part of the ENGINE harness, not the BOAT harness.

As the manual says, The ECU pulls the pump to grand. Start checking ground wires. There are at least 3. A tight screw does not guarantee a good electrical connection. Also check inside the round connector (starboard side of engine, in a bracket). Open carefully. The round plastic nut frequently breaks. Many gold pins. No green ones allowed.

 

[islandia-duane]

I'll run a test with a meter on the connecting wires sometime today as well as trace the wire and report. Thanks

 

[islandia-duane]

I'll run a test with a meter on the connecting wires sometime today as well as trace the wire and report. Thanks

Verified... There's NO POWER coming into the VST pump

 

[islandia-duane]

Need suggestions please. No fuse is on the harness to the pump. I think power supply to the pump is the issue.

While in the boat I put 12v directly on the VST pump poles and it works.

I will take off the connectors, trim the wires and test some more.

 

[poppie]

The power to the vst pump is kind of weird. With the key off both terminals have 12v power going to them. When the key is turned on the ecu removes the 12v from the negative terminal creating a path for the voltage to flow. Check each terminal for voltage to a known good ground, not to each other. With the key off both should test at 12v. With the key on the positive terminal will be at 12v, the negative should be less than 1v. If the negative terminal is not removing the voltage it could be an ecu problem. If there is no voltage on the negative terminal with the key off it could be a continuity problem with wire itself.

 

[islandia-duane]

The power to the vst pump is kind of weird. With the key off both terminals have 12v power going to them. When the key is turned on the ecu removes the 12v from the negative terminal creating a path for the voltage to flow. Check each terminal for voltage to a known good ground, not to each other. With the key off both should test at 12v. With the key on the positive terminal will be at 12v, the negative should be less than 1v. If the negative terminal is not removing the voltage it could be an ecu problem. If there is no voltage on the negative terminal with the key off it could be a continuity problem with wire itself.

Noted... will do the suggested checks

 

[islandia-duane]

The power to the vst pump is kind of weird. With the key off both terminals have 12v power going to them. When the key is turned on the ecu removes the 12v from the negative terminal creating a path for the voltage to flow. Check each terminal for voltage to a known good ground, not to each other. With the key off both should test at 12v. With the key on the positive terminal will be at 12v, the negative should be less than 1v. If the negative terminal is not removing the voltage it could be an ecu problem. If there is no voltage on the negative terminal with the key off it could be a continuity problem with wire itself.

With the key OFF both terminals tested 12+ volts.

With the key ON both tested the same 12+ Volts.

 

[poppie]

This typically points to an ecu problem which is not good news. It's not really user serviceable, but there are companies out there that work on them. There are also some after market replacements that are cheaper. Even used OEM units are expensive!! It could be other things as well. I'm just speaking from my own research. I had fuel pump problems with mine as well when I first bought the boat. I was lucky and just had a bad pump.

 

[islandia-duane]

This typically points to an ecu problem which is not good news. It's not really user serviceable, but there are companies out there that work on them. There are also some after market replacements that are cheaper. Even used OEM units are expensive!! It could be other things as well. I'm just speaking from my own research. I had fuel pump problems with mine as well when I first bought the boat. I was lucky and just had a bad pump.

Well that will suck. The boat was home and was just sitting until the next outing. I'm hoping it's something else I could identify

 

[islandia-duane]

I’m driving up to Brucato for ECU testing will report back with results. Brucato Power | Mercury ECU Testing and Replacement

 

[islandia-duane]

Reporting back...had the ECU tested.. functioned without faults or errors. They ran that baby couple times. They said they would have loved to sell me a new box but the results show otherwise...

Any other suggestions?

 

[Tim75]

Reporting back...had the ECU tested.. functioned without faults or errors. They ran that baby couple times. They said they would have loved to sell me a new box but the results show otherwise...

Any other suggestions?

I would have guessed that your ECU would pass. They are pretty robust and seldom a failure point. Have you examined all the wires coming out of the ECU harness to the engine harness?

Have you checked all the grounds? Has the battery been out lately? Maybe installed backward?

 

[islandia-duane]

I would have guessed that your ECU would pass. They are pretty robust and seldom a failure point. Have you examined all the wires coming out of the ECU harness to the engine harness?

Have you checked all the grounds? Has the battery been out lately? Maybe installed backward?

I’ll check harness. The boat had been on the lift from the last outing a week before. Then this happened. Will restart the checks from the top again once I put the ECU back in.

 

[islandia-duane]

I started looking at other issues... since it sounds like the kill switch is disengaged, cranks and cranks and cranks. I'm now inspecting these 2 units. One (REV Limiter) houses a black + yellow wire which I read is part of the kill switch circuit. Is there a way to test?

Reading other posts...I have to mention my RPM guage has been erratic for a while now and maybe its unrelated but I don't know.

I know I'm digging all over the engine I apologize for the random inquiries