2014 Scarab 215 - Port engineruns rough/Chk Engine Light on

[John P Jones]

This is only the 2nd season with my Scarab 215. Bought 2014 left over at end of 2015. 2016 was the first skiing season. At 10 hrs, the port engine ran rough (picked up a heavy vibration) and the ChkEngine light came on. Brought it to the dealer. They said it was an overheat code. I monitor the engine temps - nothing ever went over 180F. A new motor shouldn't be overheating in 10 hrs. They cleared the codes, found nothing wrong, and I ran it for the rest of the season (but only put on about a dozen hrs - a few short runs). Had marina winterize it. I opened it up and idled the engines on ground (with cooling hooked up per the manual) - seemed to be fine. I put it in the water and within 10 minutes, the port engine started running rough again, choppy idle, and the chk engine light came back on. I dover under the boat - intakes looked CLEAN. I have no idea what is going on, and apparently the dealership doesn't either. I love the boat, but I didn't expect to be buying a $50K lake ornament. Any ideas on what to look for? It's hard to ski behind something that doesn't move.
Where do I get a diagnostic reader to check on the codes? Or do they come up on the console somehow? I'm not getting any alerts aside from the check engine light.

 

[Julian]

See also:

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2014...-motors-season-2-port-motor-runs-rough.13826/

 

[Ron@Scarab]

Since you opened it up,...did you summarize it? Fouled plugs in other words from winterizing. Always replace the spark plugs for the new season.

 

[John P Jones]

Always replace the plugs? I've never heard of that. Don't recall seeing that in the operators manual. I did however finally get a day without rain where I could look for the codes. Display is showing P0300 and P0303. Any ideas? Thanks for the help, I do appreciate it.

 

[John P Jones]

Is that the misfire codes? Hmmm, maybe I do need to replace the plugs?

 

[Ron@Scarab]

Always replace the plugs? I've never heard of that. Don't recall seeing that in the operators manual. I did however finally get a day without rain where I could look for the codes. Display is showing P0300 and P0303. Any ideas? Thanks for the help, I do appreciate it.

Well, when the plugs sit over time during winter with different temps going up and down causing condensation, your plugs are actually getting corrosion built up. And, if the guy who did the winterization fogged your engine,..your plugs are about ready for the dumpster since they are more than likely fouled out. And, in my experience a summerization service as they call it, along with your winterization service,..will give you weekends of smiles.

 

[John P Jones]

Motors were definitely fogged. At this point - got nothing to lose by replacing plugs. Will give it a try to see what happens. I love weekends of smiles, and I really like this boat. Just didn't expect this little surprise. Ran well last year after being winterized. Are they supposed to fog these motors for the winter? I thought that was standard practice - at least in the Northeast.

 

[Ron@Scarab]

When I had my store in Illinois, we always fogged engines for storage. Try the plugs first and let us know here.

 

[Ron@Scarab]

 

[JetTech72]

3 X DCPR8E is a great $15 investment to keep those Rotax engines running good, they tend to foul easy if you let the boat sit for a while (winter) or if you fog the engine during winterization process.