Major engine problem

[tahmad575]

I was out on the lake yesterday using both engines, they were running fine.
Stopped at the marina to drop off friends but on the way back out my starboard engine would not start. Port engine was fine, I had to give a little gas to the engine and finally the starboard engine started up but sounded like crap. Definitely is misfiring or knocking at idle, increase the rpm's and it smooths out.
I had also filled up the boat the same morning at the BP gas station with regular 87 octane, I always use marine 360 at every fill up.
I think it's my injectors but idk, I came back today and put in Lucas and techron fuel injector cleaner for 100 gallons so it would really clean my injectors.
Still the same problem.
When I get the starboard engine going the exhaust smells like straight up gasoline.
I also lifted my gas tank hatch and found this gel substance on the top of my girl tank, doesn't smell like anything but it's like clear slime

Idk whats the problem here so please any help would be greatly appreciated

Update: after 1 hour of running the port engine in neutral it has started to give me the same symptoms. Also I've noticed there's gas in the water from my exhausts

 

[Beachbummer]

Check oil level on the engine that's failing...If it's very very full, you may have the dreaded "Wet ECM makes the injector go open" problem. It's easy to make sure that's not it. Checking the oil level will let you know. Best of Luck, I hope that's not it. (Because it's expensive to fix, but at least to terribly hard)

 

[tahmad575]

Thanks for the reply, Both engine oil levels are good, both at the full line and I've checked when the engines were hot
Now both engines are giving me this problem, how can I check if the ECU is wet with out opening the case?

 

[Seadeals]

I doubt the slime is related, just discovered since you are finally poking around for issues. Are you getting an engine code light on the dash? Your mention of gas does lean towards checking out the injectors... oil level is best midway between L and F when idling on the water.

 

[Beachbummer]

Ok, Just to clarify...Did you check the oil just now, after the issue happened, or at some earlier time.?

 

[tahmad575]

Firstly I checked the fuel tank hatch last weekend and there was no gel like substance there, I also checked the engine oil last weekend and it's a habit I check it every time I take the boat out, both engine oil levels are on the full line.
I just now sucked out some oil and it has surprised me. On the dipstick and when I wipe with a paper towel it looks a slight dark yellow but I was NOT expecting this. This pic is of the starboard engine, I'll pull out the same amount from the port to see if it's just as bad. Oil was changed beginning of season 3 months ago, I've taken it out about 24 times since

No codes on dash for either engine

 

[Seadeals]

On the slime...you mean fuel tank hatch, right? Slime on top of the fuel tank? Oil will be much darker in a bottle than on a dipstick or towel. If you have been out 24 times, it will definitely be darker than when fresh; plus you can only change half at a time. Set the bottles overnight and see if anything separates out by morning.

Get some gloves and clean the slime where you can. See if it comes back. Did you get the boat really wet recently. Water under the floor in that compartment could get icky quick. Also, you can always pull the plug from that compartment to make sure it doesn’t have water under the tank.

 

[tahmad575]

Here is the color of the port engine oil, I didn't think it would be this dark but It looks like I'm pulling the boat out of the water tomorrow and taking it back to my garage,

There's definitely a burnt exhaust slightly gas like smell coming from the oil in both engines

 

[tahmad575]

Thanks for the tips seadeals, yeah so it rained all week and rain water accumulates in my bilge from yes the fuel tank hatch, so that area does get wet. I think the plug for the bottom of the fuel tank compartment has always been open since I bought the boat 4 months ago. When I was rinsing down the fuel tank with a gentle stream of water there was water exiting from the fuel tank compartment to the bilge which is fine I'm assuming
Yes the slime was on top of the fuel tank

 

[Scuba_ref]

The likelihood of both ECUs going bad at the same time is pretty slim. I would suggest disconnecting your fuel lines where the connect to the throttle body and then pumping some fuel out into a clear container. Let that sit for a while I bet you get some separation. Could be that you just have too much water in your fuel for the Marine 360 to handle - look up phase separation as it relates to ethanol gas blends.

I went through this issue a few years ago. Now I have water/fuel separator filters installed and have never had the problem again.

 

[tahmad575]

Thanks scuba_ref
I was thinking the same thing because this gas station is a new one I went to, it was closer to the lake by 10 minutes and I figured since it's a BP gas station it should be good. Usually I've been going to the same delta, any suggestions on a GOOD gas station?

Or did the water come in from somewhere else? Like I said earlier it rained all week and about 5 gallons got through my boat cover and into the bilge from the gas tank hatch. I know it goes in from there because when it rains my cover sags right over that gas tank hatch

 

[bronze_10]

What year is your boat? Both of my ECU went bad with in hours of each other from water in the ecu box.... sounds like your ecu has gone bad. You can send it off and have it repaired...

 

[Gym]

@tahmad575 According to your profile you have a 2005 SX230. Where you doing any water sports over the last few trips? If so you may have made quick stops causing your boat wake to wash over your sundeck causing water to enter the rear of your engine hatch and drip over both ECUs. I have a 2006 SX230 and have learned, from this forum, that this is a potential result. I would remove one of your ECUs, open the case and check for water intrusion. Whereas this happened so fast I believe a wet ECU is causing some injectors to run wide open.

With our vintage boats you should only see a F on your oil dipstick when the engine is fully warmed up. You should see the oil level below the E mark on a cold engine with the boat sitting level. I would also check your air boxes for puddeled oil and oil spotted ot soaked air filters.

 

[Scuba_ref]

And please everyone, slap some gorilla tape over the top seam on your ECUs!

 

[tahmad575]

Thanks for the replies, I'm really hoping it's not an ecu issue but yes it's a 2005 sx230 and yes I have been creating wakes for wake boarding and there's been countless times wash has come up onto the rear sundeck/swim platform. Although I have not seen any water drip onto the ECU box I usually open my engine bay and do checks when I'm out on the water and when I'm at my dock.
I will be using an extra long lunch break at work today and going to drive up to my marina and bring my boat back to my garage and will get back to you if there's any water in my fuel or water in the ECU boxes. Hopefully it's just fuel related

I'm learning quick boats are so much more expensive than what I had anticipated and esp used ones.

 

[Stevepro172]

Thanks scuba_ref
I was thinking the same thing because this gas station is a new one I went to, it was closer to the lake by 10 minutes and I figured since it's a BP gas station it should be good. Usually I've been going to the same delta, any suggestions on a GOOD gas station?

Or did the water come in from somewhere else? Like I said earlier it rained all week and about 5 gallons got through my boat cover and into the bilge from the gas tank hatch. I know it goes in from there because when it rains my cover sags right over that gas tank hatch

That BP is where I fill my tank for the last two years without issue in both my boat and waverunner. Highly unlikely that is the cause as I filled up there yesterday as well and used about 30 gallons.

 

[Seadeals]

I agree bad fuel as the prime issue is unlikely since you are getting fuel on the back side of the engine too. As for gas, I make a habit of seeking out ethanol free and add a can of sea foam each 25 gallons.

You can easily add to or repair the seal on the fuel tank access door to reduce water ingress. When they introduced the 210 series in 2006, they made the whole floor over the fuel tank removable and I get zero water in that entire bay.

Don’t get too frustrated yet. In most cases you will come out way ahead on $ with a used boat. Keep updating us and you will get to the bottom of it.

It would be a little weird to have both fail together; but one good swamping could easily affect both and the folks here know from first-hand experience. Learning from the past troubles of others on this forum has made a lot of used boats prized possessions and made a lot of people way smarter about their boats than the dealer techs (no disrespect).

 

[tahmad575]

Ok so I pulled the boat out today and got to work at 10pm, decided to call it a night after 4 hours

First thing I did was pull the fuel line that goes directly into the fuel rail on top of the engine, cranked the engines and collected samples from both the port and starboard fuel lines.

Bottles are a bit dirty from the outside but after 4 hours the fuel looks pretty clear and I can't seem to detect any fuel separation. @Stevepro172 are you talking about the BP right down the street from fox island creamery? If so what a small world.

Next I got to work on the starboard engine as this is the one that showed symptoms first. Took off the intake ribbon then disconnected the mounting screws for the fuel rail and a sensor which allowed me barely enough wiggle room to take out the fuel injectors.
I checked the ohm resistance and all 4 were at 12.3 ohms which falls under the service manual threshold of 11.5-12.5 ohms

Tomorrow I will take out the port engine fuel injectors and run an ohm test as well.
Then I will connect alligator clips to the fuel injector terminals and make some sort of rubber hose attachment where the fuel goes in then I'll connect a can of carburator/air intake cleaner to that hose, pressurize the cleaner and at the same time connect the alligator clips to a 12v battery in order to clean the injectors and look at the spray pattern. Let me know if this is a good idea I saw a YouTube video on how to clean injectors

Once all 8 injectors are clean I'll disconnect the fuel pump wire from the fuel tank hatch (so fuel doesn't go everywhere) and I'll get a friend to crank the engine while I check the individual fuel injector wires for a pulse. If any one of the wires reads a constant voltage I'll know that the ECU is making the injector stay open, right?

Should I also take out and check each spark plug? And check if they're all getting voltage when I get my friend to crank the engine, I changed all of them before the season started with iridium plugs

As for the ECU boxes I'll take them apart tomorrow and look for water inside. Btw the ECU boxes are really dry from the outside there was a thin layer of dust on the top side but I'll never know until I open them up.

Side note: when I bought the boat the owner gave me paperwork showing that in 2017 the port engine was swapped out and a sbt replacement was put in. As for the starboard I guess that engine has been in the boat since 2005. Hour meter reads 2,750 hours

@Seadeals you're right and thanks for the wisdom

*Check updated fuel sample on the next page, it's contaminated*

 

[bronze_10]

Do u have yds... u can do a buzz test on the injectors with it.

 

[tahmad575]

@bronze_10 I don't have a pc laptop but in the future I'll purchase one so I can run the yds software on it