Engines Dies at low RPM

[twentiesforever]

[USERGROUP=9]@HELP[/USERGROUP]

Hello Members,

I searched on this forum for this issue when it popped up last weekend to no avail. While motoring along at no wake speeds, my starboard engines dies. No warnings, no stutters, just dies. At first I thought it was the battery since the ground connection was not the tightest. I tightened it down and after I went for test drive I thought it was fixed. Nope. The starboard engine seems to die at random at these low speeds. After it dies it starts right back up easily. It dies going forward or reverse all at low speeds. My bilge has no water and the engines have about 23 hours. I did change the oil succesfully two weeks ago. Theres no water in there. At high speeds both engines run like champions. What could be the issue? The only thought I have is that sometimes that same starboard engine is rough to start from cold. Take 2-3 attempts. Thoughts?

I'd hate to take it to the local dealer which I did not buy from (No leftover 2014 deals and brand new Yamaha dealer) and miss out on valuable days in the usually frozen tundra that Vermont is.

 

[Addicted]

Sounds like it may be a safety switch. Possibly the cleanout tray hatch? I had a similar problem early on. I followed advice from others here, and taped 2 coins to the underside of my cleanout tray where the safety switches contact, depressing the switches a bit further when you close the lid. This solved my issue, so I adjusted the switches, removed the coins, and have had no issue since. That would be a place to start.

 

[rkluck]

I agree with the above. I had the same symptoms around 100 hours. I would run fine then when I started to idle the starboard engine would die. This was a pain when docking. Anyway, after I changed the plugs I never had the problem again. I know you only have a few hours on it but you may try this. It is a fast thing to do and worst case you can keep the spark plugs for the next change if the problem is still there.

 

[Jebinok]

just as @Addicted says thats where I would start. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[twentiesforever]

Thank you @Addicted. I will go try this and report back today.

 

[Gym]

As an addendum to @Addicted. I had the same issue but mine was caused by occasionally letting the clean out cover slam shut causing the cut out switch plastic retaining nut to crack which allowed the switch to move out of adjustment. Look closely at your nuts to see if they are cracked.

 

[scot71]

I had the same sort of problem last year when I first took mine out. I changed the plugs and had no more problems all summer.

 

[Englewoodcowboy]

I know one time I opened and closed my wet storage tray then one motor started right up and the other just cranked. I then cycled the ignition switch off and back on (when I opened the cover it killed the motors and I did not cycle the ignition at that time) and it has been fine ever since. I will be removing the clean out tray in the weeks to come for some mods I am doing and I will fine tune the kill switches if there is adjustment for them at that time. Another issue is my gas strut pulled out of the lid the other day. To repair we mixed up some fiberglass resin and saw dust to make a putty and packed the holes tight with it, let it curer overnight and will re-drill and see if that holds. I could have taken it to the dealer to fix but I can fix it a lot faster myself...

 

[twentiesforever]

I think I may have solved it. So I went to mess with the switches and lifted the hatch. I taped a quarter over the switch. When I went to close it, i noticed that the starboard lock lever was not catching properly since the white holder was twisted. I'll come back here if that was not it but Im very confident it was. And thats another reason why I bought a Yamaha. This forum.

 

[rkluck]

Good to hear! I hope that has it for you.