Looking for help…still

Question for the more knowledgeable boat mechanics here. If he is getting an alarm what alarms can cut power to the distributor or ignition? Maybe there is a bad sensor that fails when hot.
I had an electronic ignition on a car years ago that when I shut it off when hot the distributor (Hall Effect) would get what’s called Hall Syndrome and not let it start
 
By way of trivia, it was the Ford effect for me so I carried an extra and a special tool. Only the Russians carried on with this tricky effect in the electric thruster context. Secret lab in Star City or something. Someone, probably Musk, is tapping into that tech to elevate orbits with minimal use of reaction gas. I read the MPI codes long ago and recall faults likely to damage engine would slow it down but not prevent limp home. Alarm alerts to a shut down but does not cause it.
 
We’ll…I have changed the fuel pump and regulator, and now I have also changed the ignition coil, pickup coil, distributor cap, and rotor and I still have the problem. It doesn’t want to crank after warming up and sitting for a short while. I guess for whatever reason, it must be vapor lock giving me this problem this year and not in the previous years. I assume it needs the second fuel pump kit that mercruiser made to correct the problem. I also cleaned the main ground cables to the engine.
 
Do you have a Shrader valve on the fuel line? If so, bleed it and see if air is in the line when it won't start.
 
Ok, so don't feel bad about the parts you have replaced, on a 22yr old boat, those were all due. Back to the symptoms, vapor lock can be a tricky thing, will happen chronically on some boats and not at all on others with the same engine. It all has to do with the routing of fuel lines and location of fuel pump. Mercruiser introduced the Coolfuel system around 2000 to try and combat vapor lock.

Two things at this point:
1. Have you tried the trick I pointed out earlier?
To prove out or eliminate vapor lock, an old trick is to pour cool water over the fuel lines and cool fuel module when it seems to vapor lock - this will cool the vaporized fuel in the lines. If this allows the engine to start, then the problem is definitely vapor lock.

2. Have you checked and rechecked the fuel pickup, fuel line and the anti siphon valve? If that line is not tight and you are sucking air OR if it is old and you have run ethanol fuel, that line will start detierating from the inside and collapse start cause fuel problems. The anti siphon valve is another thing that can look fine, but not be. When I pulled my fuel line that looked perfect on the outside, it was just crumpling apart inside - this was a 15yr fuel line. When I replaced the fuel line and antisiphon valve problems went away.
 
"Crank"? This means turning over in an effort to start.
 
why do you think all this work was done? did you do it? If not, why do you trust the mechanic and have you tried another?
 
BillK2632 said:
Ok, so don't feel bad about the parts you have replaced, on a 22yr old boat, those were all due. Back to the symptoms, vapor lock can be a tricky thing, will happen chronically on some boats and not at all on others with the same engine. It all has to do with the routing of fuel lines and location of fuel pump. Mercruiser introduced the Coolfuel system around 2000 to try and combat vapor lock.

Two things at this point:
1. Have you tried the trick I pointed out earlier?
To prove out or eliminate vapor lock, an old trick is to pour cool water over the fuel lines and cool fuel module when it seems to vapor lock - this will cool the vaporized fuel in the lines. If this allows the engine to start, then the problem is definitely vapor lock.

2. Have you checked and rechecked the fuel pickup, fuel line and the anti siphon valve? If that line is not tight and you are sucking air OR if it is old and you have run ethanol fuel, that line will start detierating from the inside and collapse start cause fuel problems. The anti siphon valve is another thing that can look fine, but not be. When I pulled my fuel line that looked perfect on the outside, it was just crumpling apart inside - this was a 15yr fuel line. When I replaced the fuel line and antisiphon valve problems went away.
Click to expand...
1. No, I have not. I thought if I had replaced the pump, regulator, and ignition related parts, it would about have to be vapor lock
2. If the fuel line had collapsed, would it not be consistently acting up and not only acting up when hot? I did remove the anti siphon valve, and from what I could see, it appeared to be in good shape, but I’m not familiar with exactly how they function. It had a ball inside of it that felt spring loaded? If I remember right. The internals appeared to be clean. Again, if that were messed up, wouldn’t it be all the time and not only when hot? I’m not saying I know that it should, I’m just asking…it just seems like it would be bad all the time
 
Arminius said:
why do you think all this work was done? did you do it? If not, why do you trust the mechanic and have you tried another?
Click to expand...
I did it. It’s turning over, but not starting and only when it’s hot. It’s functioning properly when cold. With the age of the boat, I figure the ignition parts are due anyway and they appeared that they were when I changed them. No regrets there.
 
BillK2632 said:
Ok, so don't feel bad about the parts you have replaced, on a 22yr old boat, those were all due. Back to the symptoms, vapor lock can be a tricky thing, will happen chronically on some boats and not at all on others with the same engine. It all has to do with the routing of fuel lines and location of fuel pump. Mercruiser introduced the Coolfuel system around 2000 to try and combat vapor lock.

Two things at this point:
1. Have you tried the trick I pointed out earlier?
To prove out or eliminate vapor lock, an old trick is to pour cool water over the fuel lines and cool fuel module when it seems to vapor lock - this will cool the vaporized fuel in the lines. If this allows the engine to start, then the problem is definitely vapor lock.

2. Have you checked and rechecked the fuel pickup, fuel line and the anti siphon valve? If that line is not tight and you are sucking air OR if it is old and you have run ethanol fuel, that line will start detierating from the inside and collapse start cause fuel problems. The anti siphon valve is another thing that can look fine, but not be. When I pulled my fuel line that looked perfect on the outside, it was just crumpling apart inside - this was a 15yr fuel line. When I replaced the fuel line and antisiphon valve problems went away.
Click to expand...
Also, regarding the fuel lines. The only rubber line is from the tank to the fuel water separator. The other lines are the braided type. Would the rubber one be the one more than likely to collapse? As previously mentioned, I have only ran 2 tanks of ethanol gas through it. Otherwise, it’s been non ethanol, but I can’t speak for previous owner. This is the 5th year for me to own the boat
 
Also, I thought about one more thing I don’t think I mentioned previously. After I replaced the fuel pump, I cranked it and let it run on the muffs for about 15 minutes, maybe 20. It heated up to temp well before that time was up and I tried to let it run at least 10 minutes or so after it got up to temp. I then let it sit for about an hour and it started right up. I thought this meant the fuel pump may have fixed it, but obviously it didn’t. But when I put it in lake and run it a few minutes and let it sit, it doesn’t want to start. I’m not sure if that means anything or not regarding fuel lines. I would assume the pressure is about the same whether it’s running in the lake or on the trailer, but maybe it heated up more after running in the engine bay. As I’m typing this I also can’t remember if the side bench seats were on or off. They could have been off meaning it could have let heat out through the battery hole as well.
 
I am talking about the rubber section of host that runs from the fuel tank to the fuel filter. As it deteriorates it can collapse and shutoff the fuel flow - in my case this was causing a surging and eventually stalling at higher speeds.
Regarding the antisiphon, if it is original I would just change it out - $20. Mine looked and seemed to work fine, but it was contributing to my problems. FYI, the purpose of the antisiphon is to prevent fuel from siphoning from the tank into the bilge if there is a fuel line rupture - as long is the fuel line does not have any dips between the tank and the fuel filter this is not likely to happen - some people remove them completely, but I don't think that is a good idea.
Another thing to check while you are doing this, is the fuel tank pickup - mine has a tube that lays in the bottom of the tank with a screen on it - make sure that screen is not getting clogged with debris from the bottom of the tank.

Do the cold water trick first, that will hands down tell you if you have a vapor lock problem. But these other things are not a bad idea maintenance wise on a 22yr old boat. I have done all the same to my 1999 185.
 
I mentioned in an earlier post about Hall Syndrome in Hall effect ignitions, I did some more research since I was not sure that this type ignition was used in boats and sure enough SeaRay did use it.
Check to see if your distributor uses Hall Effect and if so I recommend replacing the complete distributor .
 
NorCalRobert said:
I mentioned in an earlier post about Hall Syndrome in Hall effect ignitions, I did some more research since I was not sure that this type ignition was used in boats and sure enough SeaRay did use it.
Check to see if your distributor uses Hall Effect and if so I recommend replacing the complete distributor .
Click to expand...
How do you know if the distributor uses Hall Effect or not?
 
NorCalRobert said:
I mentioned in an earlier post about Hall Syndrome in Hall effect ignitions, I did some more research since I was not sure that this type ignition was used in boats and sure enough SeaRay did use it.
Check to see if your distributor uses Hall Effect and if so I recommend replacing the complete distributor .
Click to expand...
Mercruiser part
805185A36
 
NorCalRobert said:
Instead of replacing the distributor I would try this first https://www.amazon.com/B-Ignition-M...ocphy=9032443&hvtargid=pla-585313367914&psc=1
Hall syndrome is usually cause by a component in the distributor is somehow grounding to the distributor housing, in my case the above component was not replaceable and it had heat cracks in the plastic enclosure that when it got warmed up it would ground to the housing.
Click to expand...
I replaced this yesterday. Idk what the 2 short wires are for in the picture though. I removed the original sensor, and replaced with a Sierra one that is a replacement for the OEM. The OEM one had 2 wires. The Sierra part had 3, one red/white, one green/white, and one black ground wire. I hooked the ground wire to the main engine ground. A friend helped me and he called the part the pickup coil, but it’s called the ignition sensor in the parts diagram. I’m no mechanic by all means, but I was thinking this was the main electric part of the distributor and would probably be the part affected by Hall Syndrome?
 
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