Official 320 Dancer Thread

Asked this in a different group but I still have questions.
I filled up my water tank flushed out the anti freezer from winterization and then refilled and left it full.
The hot water heater breaker was never turned on this season yet.
I hadn't run the engines that day.
I returned about 3 days later and the gauge read empty.
The motors had not been run in between filling the tank and returning 3 days later to find the gauge reading empty.
Thanks for any advice!
 
Bk124tt said:
Asked this in a different group but I still have questions.
I filled up my water tank flushed out the anti freezer from winterization and then refilled and left it full.
The hot water heater breaker was never turned on this season yet.
I hadn't run the engines that day.
I returned about 3 days later and the gauge read empty.
The motors had not been run in between filling the tank and returning 3 days later to find the gauge reading empty.
Thanks for any advice!
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Is the water tank actually empty, or is the gauge just reading empty?
 
Check your dock side pressure regulator for leaks. When mine went bad the tank would empty through that connection.
 
Irie308 said:
Check your dock side pressure regulator for leaks. When mine went bad the tank would empty through that connection.
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I see a little water and the bottom of the cabinet and at the walk through door near the wash down shower, but the washdown shower is not leaking visibly. There is more water in the transom Locker then there is at the base of the wash down shower. How would I check The Dockside pressure regulator?
 
Bk124tt said:
I see a little water and the bottom of the cabinet and at the walk through door near the wash down shower, but the washdown shower is not leaking visibly. There is more water in the transom Locker then there is at the base of the wash down shower. How would I check The Dockside pressure regulator?
Click to expand...
Put some some water in the tank, and turn on the system. If the regulator is bad you will see water spraying from the water inlet in the transom locker.
 
Having a problem on my 2003 320 port Engine. 5.7L 350 MAG MPI Horizons. Started with the engine fine, running at no wake. Then the engine alarm went off and the engine stalled. No idea why the alarm went off. Oil level is fine. Tell compares to other engine. Water coolant is fine. Engine temp was under 160. Now, when I turn on the ignition (but don’t try to turn it over yet) the fuel pump primes - sometimes the normal couple of seconds and other times much longer, five seconds or even more. I also hear a popping or clicking sound that I can’t exactly isolate but same to be coming from the IAC valve, near the IAC valve or the somewhere near the throttle body. The engine will not start with out giving throttle. Once running, it runs fine (no spittering) as long as I have throttle. But when I bring it back to idle, she stalls. So I don’t think it’s a fuel issue because it seems to run fine (not starving) once I get started.

I read a bit and thought it may be the IAC valve causing the engine to not start, but I swapped the IACs from port to starboard engine and the problem did NOT follow the IAC valve to the other engine. After debugging for a while, listening to the engine alarm beeping in no discernible pattern, I couldn’t get the engine to start at all. Even with throttle. After trying a bit, I smelled gas. That’s the only time I smell any gas. But I may have flooded it.

Here’s a video. What you hear is the fuel pump priming, it never turns off, with the extraneous clicking sound that I can’t identify.


Would that be some sort of relay that controls the fuel pump? I feel like the clicking and the fact that the fuel pump doesn’t turn off must be related. Any ideas?
 
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Maybe check the main plug? Take it out plug it back in see what that does?
 
Just checked the engine strainer. Pretty clean but I cleaned it completely. Definitely not blocked. Seacock open. Enough coolant in the reservoir. So definitely not an overheat condition that sounded the initial alarm.

Checked the main and fuel pump relays. Solidly connected, look brand new, so no excess load going through. That’s especially key for the fuel pump because it means the cool fuel module probably ISNT peeling paint and clogging the pump making it work harder and draw excess current.

Now to revisit the possibility of an oil pressure sensor or switch problem.
 
scooper321 said:
Just checked the engine strainer. Pretty clean but I cleaned it completely. Definitely not blocked. Seacock open. Enough coolant in the reservoir. So definitely not an overheat condition that sounded the initial alarm.

Checked the main and fuel pump relays. Solidly connected, look brand new, so no excess load going through. That’s especially key for the fuel pump because it means the cool fuel module probably ISNT peeling paint and clogging the pump making it work harder and draw excess current.

Now to revisit the possibility of an oil pressure sensor or switch problem.
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Slow typing
 
Thanks. I will check those harness connections as soon as I locate them! I am now wondering if it is something electrical. I added the boost pressure for both engines to the data I am monitoring. Check it out.


The starboard engine starts higher, and after starting the engine successfully, drops. The port engine pressure is always low, it never changes, and the engine doesn't start. That could be a bad boost pump, I suppose. But given the way the oil pressure is also jumping around, I'm wondering if it just an electrical problem
 
I think the advice engine savvy users (I am not, so might be wrong!) would give is to find out what code is being thrown by the engine. The IAC, fuel pump circuit, water pressure sensor, etc, all have specific codes, so I think the best advice is to determine what that code is.
 
True. But what I think I’m dealing with is an electrical issue. Possibly a grounding issue. If you’re am, then all sensor data is suspect and who knows what the ECM is actually seeing OEM reporting? If there’s a poor ground connection, the ECM is confused and the codes thrown by the ECM are meaningless.

The reason I think it’s electrical is that the port engine is sending random non zero RPM values out the Smartcraft port when the engine is not running. The port engine shows 0, then a couple thou, then a few hundred, then 10k, then back to 0. Clearly, there are no RPM when the engine isn’t turning. So that implies a bad crank position sensor or an electrical problem. Based on the other symptoms, it’s seems to imply an electrical issue.
 
Have you tried replacing the fuel pump relay? Little black plastic box hanging on a bracket near the riser/elbow? I’ve had one fry out and the pump wouldn’t come on, maybe your relay has a different malfunction.
 
kvduff said:
Have you tried replacing the fuel pump relay? Little black plastic box hanging on a bracket near the riser/elbow? I’ve had one fry out and the pump wouldn’t come on, maybe your relay has a different malfunction.
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Well, I swapped it with the same relay on the starboard engine. The problem did not follow over to the starboard engine. End it continued the same way on the port engine. So I can include it wasn't the fuel pump relay.
 
Since our friends at Marine Max are booked until three weeks away, I continue to do some more troubleshooting. I pulled out each of the four batteries and checked their individual voltages. Three of the four were at 12 V, The fourth was at 6 V. Yes, you read that correctly. 6 V.
img_8841_6d092b5938d16b3689dfab8d06ac8aa105420017.jpg


And yes, the 6 V battery was one of the two on the port engine that was having problems. So I swapped the two banks of batteries to see if the problem follows. It did not. Even with the 6v battery tied to a 12 V battery, the starboard engine fired up. With the two 12 V batteries on the port engine, it still would not start. And there continues to be a random alarm patterns beeping, random firing of the fuel pump, and weird values for oil pressure, fuel pressure and random RPMs showing on the chart plotter.

One other thing, I also did a resistance check on the ground line from the battery to these ground bus bar on the bulkhead. 2 ohms. So not terrible. If I am having a grounding problem, I think it's safe to say it's either on the engine itself or between the engine and that grounding bus bar.
 
scooper321 said:
Since our friends at Marine Max are booked until three weeks away, I continue to do some more troubleshooting. I pulled out each of the four batteries and checked their individual voltages. Three of the four were at 12 V, The fourth was at 6 V. Yes, you read that correctly. 6 V.
img_8841_6d092b5938d16b3689dfab8d06ac8aa105420017.jpg


And yes, the 6 V battery was one of the two on the port engine that was having problems. So I swapped the two banks of batteries to see if the problem follows. It did not. Even with the 6v battery tied to a 12 V battery, the starboard engine fired up. With the two 12 V batteries on the port engine, it still would not start. And there continues to be a random alarm patterns beeping, random firing of the fuel pump, and weird values for oil pressure, fuel pressure and random RPMs showing on the chart plotter.

One other thing, I also did a resistance check on the ground line from the battery to these ground bus bar on the bulkhead. 2 ohms. So not terrible. If I am having a grounding problem, I think it's safe to say it's either on the engine itself or between the engine and that grounding bus bar.
Click to expand...


Did you try to change the computer? ECM? Has to be computer from what it sounds like...
 
Siboatguy said:
Did you try to change the computer? ECM? Has to be computer from what it sounds like...
Click to expand...

Yep. Swapped the ECM's earlier this week. Problems did NOT follow the ECM, they stayed with the port engine. Sure sounds electrical, though, doesn't it? Perhaps a crappy ground. That's what I've been looking for now, but damn if I can find one. Would a blown fuel pump or fuel pressure sensor short out and cause a ground problem?
 
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