unsalted
Active Member
- Jan 21, 2022
- 264
- Boat Info
- 2001 Sundancer 310
- Engines
- Twin MX 6.2L MPI w/Bravo III Drives
So this is mostly a tale of woe. I imagine many can give me sage advice from XXX years of boating but I preface my story with this is my 1st year of boating, ever. Our new to us boat is a really nice 2001 Sundancer 310 and for the most part it has been very kind to us. We had our first failure when the shift arm in one of the Stern drives failed, and left one drive in gear. Lots of fun bringing it under control, and lots of learning doing this repair myself, but this one is behind me and I consider it a success.
My second event happened on my wife and I’s inaugural vacation weekend. We departed Grand Haven, MI on Friday morning and were destined for Pentwater. The lake was beautiful with <1’ gentle swells. 8 miles short of Pentwater we fall off plane with a dead engine. I tried restarting and it would catch but stall out. Of course it was the power steering engine, so I got up on the wheel and limped it into Pentwater.
1st big mistake, I had been so happy with how the boat was performing that I left my pile of tools at home. I know, I know. Well I had my son drive my tools up to me and we began investigating. I was pretty sure I had a burned out fuel pump in my Gen II Cool Fuel system but was reluctant to proceed with destructive activity given my complete lack of expertise.
The symptom we landed on was after turning on the ignition I would get 2 beeps but wouldn’t hear the growl of the fuel pump like we heard on the good engine. I did some YouTubing and found a test procedure for checking the voltage out of the fuel pump relay and this made me believe that the fuel pump was getting power, but not spooling up.
The marina manager said he had a number for a local guy who knows his stuff and does mobile repair. I called him up and he said he was working a job but could drop by in the afternoon. He stopped by and said he was going to pull the whole cool fuel module and would install a new pump he happened to have and return. I noticed he only pulled the actual fuel pump and not the whole module and took off. After a big wait, but I was patient as it was a Saturday and I was appreciative of the help, he returned with a “new” pump. I had taken the time to look over my old pump and the new pump had all the exact same markings and started my suspicion that his “found” pump was my own pump come back to me.
Well he replaced the pump and we powered up the ignition and still no joy. No satisfying growl of high octane rec fuel flowing to my little beast. We then spent an hour looking for a fuse that he suspected had burned out with the pump. It got really dark and I could tell he was tired and told him we could knock off and pick up in the morning if that was good for him. He said he would give me a call by 8AM and we could then hopefully finish the fix.
After he left I did some digging and found the location of the fuse. It’s under a cap right next to the relay switches on a piece of harness that looks like some kind of test plug. Well one of the fuses was blown, switched it with a fuse from the good engine, and the beast roared to life. Nothing really compares to that moment when a problem engine fires back up.
Given my suspicions over the pump I sent him a text saying I found the fuse, fixed the problem and the engine was back to life. I asked if he had fuses (he said yes) and said I wanted the old pump back.
After a pregnant pause he said he would have to dig through his pile of scrap and see if he could find it. Now I was really sure that he was selling me my own pump back for a mere $550. Now mercury doesn’t sell this pump anymore. They only sell a whole cool fuel kit and that kit runs $850. I can find the pumps on Amazon (Hello China!) for $40 - $80 each.
I said i would pay him for his time and his service fee but not for the pump unless he could produce my original pump 1st. I expected that he would take the cash for time and tuck tail but it couldn’t be that easy.
He said he’s called the Coast Guard and will sue me. I said fine. Give me my original pump and we can discuss. He said he has my pump but its missing its fittings and power plug as the one on his “new” pump was different. Yet another red flag for me as other than getting a Volvo penta model of this pump I don’t think they come in but configuration.
Not really sure where I wanted to go with this other than getting it off my chest. In the end, always bring your tools, spares and be prepared to deal with shisters when you are out of your home neighborhood.
My second event happened on my wife and I’s inaugural vacation weekend. We departed Grand Haven, MI on Friday morning and were destined for Pentwater. The lake was beautiful with <1’ gentle swells. 8 miles short of Pentwater we fall off plane with a dead engine. I tried restarting and it would catch but stall out. Of course it was the power steering engine, so I got up on the wheel and limped it into Pentwater.
1st big mistake, I had been so happy with how the boat was performing that I left my pile of tools at home. I know, I know. Well I had my son drive my tools up to me and we began investigating. I was pretty sure I had a burned out fuel pump in my Gen II Cool Fuel system but was reluctant to proceed with destructive activity given my complete lack of expertise.
The symptom we landed on was after turning on the ignition I would get 2 beeps but wouldn’t hear the growl of the fuel pump like we heard on the good engine. I did some YouTubing and found a test procedure for checking the voltage out of the fuel pump relay and this made me believe that the fuel pump was getting power, but not spooling up.
The marina manager said he had a number for a local guy who knows his stuff and does mobile repair. I called him up and he said he was working a job but could drop by in the afternoon. He stopped by and said he was going to pull the whole cool fuel module and would install a new pump he happened to have and return. I noticed he only pulled the actual fuel pump and not the whole module and took off. After a big wait, but I was patient as it was a Saturday and I was appreciative of the help, he returned with a “new” pump. I had taken the time to look over my old pump and the new pump had all the exact same markings and started my suspicion that his “found” pump was my own pump come back to me.
Well he replaced the pump and we powered up the ignition and still no joy. No satisfying growl of high octane rec fuel flowing to my little beast. We then spent an hour looking for a fuse that he suspected had burned out with the pump. It got really dark and I could tell he was tired and told him we could knock off and pick up in the morning if that was good for him. He said he would give me a call by 8AM and we could then hopefully finish the fix.
After he left I did some digging and found the location of the fuse. It’s under a cap right next to the relay switches on a piece of harness that looks like some kind of test plug. Well one of the fuses was blown, switched it with a fuse from the good engine, and the beast roared to life. Nothing really compares to that moment when a problem engine fires back up.
Given my suspicions over the pump I sent him a text saying I found the fuse, fixed the problem and the engine was back to life. I asked if he had fuses (he said yes) and said I wanted the old pump back.
After a pregnant pause he said he would have to dig through his pile of scrap and see if he could find it. Now I was really sure that he was selling me my own pump back for a mere $550. Now mercury doesn’t sell this pump anymore. They only sell a whole cool fuel kit and that kit runs $850. I can find the pumps on Amazon (Hello China!) for $40 - $80 each.
I said i would pay him for his time and his service fee but not for the pump unless he could produce my original pump 1st. I expected that he would take the cash for time and tuck tail but it couldn’t be that easy.
He said he’s called the Coast Guard and will sue me. I said fine. Give me my original pump and we can discuss. He said he has my pump but its missing its fittings and power plug as the one on his “new” pump was different. Yet another red flag for me as other than getting a Volvo penta model of this pump I don’t think they come in but configuration.
Not really sure where I wanted to go with this other than getting it off my chest. In the end, always bring your tools, spares and be prepared to deal with shisters when you are out of your home neighborhood.
