04 Islandia 240EFI Issue- New Member Looking for Some Help

[04IslandiaOwner]

This seems like a great forum. I am new to boating and we just purchased our first boat, a 04 Islandia 240EFI from the origional owner. Have a weird issue. Initially, the boat starts great. We will take it out and after running for 30-45min (it runs perfectly during this time), we idle back in to drop off passengers, idle back out and when i try to come out of idle and give throttle, engine will stutter and then kick off completely. It will then not start. No warning beeps/indicators. Sometimes after sitting off 30min or so, it will then start again.

Looking for any ideas on what might be going on. FYI, previous owner had not used the boat much at all the past season and a half but never had any issue like this before. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Hi & welcome to the forum.

Tony will answer this for you, give him some time for a reply.
[MENTION=16022]Dr Honda[/MENTION]

 

[Seadoobuddy]

sorry double post for some reason....see above.

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

Ok thanks!

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

FYI, took it back out today. Started fine after we put it in the water. Had a fuel pressure guage and it measured at 80psi. We went ahead and put a new fuel filter on it because we had an extra. Idled out and it did the same thing, as soon as i went and gave it throttle it sputtered out and motor stopped. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[Dr Honda]

Welcome.


80 PSI !! The second gen 240 engine should only be running at around 41-44 PSI.

So... either your regulator is bad, or the gauge is.

Also... I know on my boat... if I shut it off, and sit... the bilge fumes will smother the engine. So... did you run the bilge fan before trying to run it again?

 

[Coastiejoe]

To expand on what Doc said...

If it really is at 80 PSI that will make it very hard for the engine to restart. It simply can't ignite the amount of fuel in the cylinders before the fuel douses the spark plug.

And, he mentioned the blower. For some reason this is pretty important to Seadoo boats. If your engine hatch open it would basically be the same as if you were to have the blower running for 4 minutes or more. When moving forward at speed there are vents and discharge ports that force in fresh air. When moving slow and or at idle the vents do not do a good enough job to purge the CO and or less oxygenated air.

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

pretty confident in the guage being good. could have a restriction in the return line maybe, didn't look where it discharged back to the tank though. could the high psi cause the issue of the engine stopping when going from idle to throttle?

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

also, we would even open the hatch up and it still wouldn't start. only after sitting another 30min or so.

 

[Dr Honda]

The high pressure fuel is recirculating back into the vapor tank. So... the regulator is going to be the culprit.

As Joe said... the high pressure will basically be feeding the engine 2x the fuel needed, and it's flooding. On top of that... it's very hard on the injectors, and in turn... hard on the ECU. (high current)

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

Thanks for the responses. I have the local sea doo shop looking at it and will report back. Any idea how much a new regulator should run me?

 

[Dr Honda]

Post the serial number of your engine... but it's around $150. If it is a second gen engine (should be) the P/N is 883257T 1

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

Well, after the local sea doo shop had it for over a week, they finally determined that the air compressor was the issue and needed to be replaced. They said they spoke extensively with Mercury Marine directly and it took them quite a while to find the issue as it was one of the last things Mercury had them check. They charged me $600 for the compressor and another $600 for various labor hours of diagnostics and lake testing. Definitly more than I was hoping to spend. As long as it is running great and no more getting towed off of the lake, i guess i won't complain too much.

 

[Dr Honda]

Well....


Let that be your lesson. We are here to help you, and could have saved you A LOT of $$$$ !!!!!



But... I can tell you right now... you DO NOT have a 240 EFI engine as you posted. If you have an air system... you have one of the Optimax engines. And, since you have an islandia... I'm sure it's the 250 Opti. (That's why I asked you to post the engine S/N)

 

[04IslandiaOwner]

You are correct. It is a 250 Optimax. New guy learning. Next thing i need to figure out is what all needs done for winterization.

 

[Dr Honda]

You are correct. It is a 250 Optimax. New guy learning. Next thing i need to figure out is what all needs done for winterization.

No issues there.... we all had to learn at one time, and we are happy to help :cheers:


Winterizing a merc is easy.


1) Put a heavy dose of Marine stabilizer in the fuel. Run it long enough to get it into the engine. (Normally my last ride of the year, I do that)

2) Pull the spark plugs ad give each cyl a good shot of fogging oil. (not easy on the Opti engine) Roll it over by hand, to distribute the oil... and then give it another good shot. (put the plugs back in after)

3) Drain/re-fill the stator and gear box oil. (need 2 qt's of Quicksilver performance gear lube)


Since you have an islandia....


4) clean and drain the porti-potty. (I just put it in the garage over the winter)

5) Drain the fresh water system... and then pour in a gallon of RV anti-freeze. Then, pump it into the sink, front hose tap, and the rear shower.

6) Tip the nose of the boat up to drain out any water... and let it sit for a day or two with everything open to let it dry out.


Realistically.... it will take an hour or two, just depending how you work. Personally... I do it in stages. I will winterize the freshwater at and the portipotty the first sign of frost. But I won't do the rest until the weather really starts going cold. Since it's a big boat... I like to get out on a couple sunny days, that may need a jacket to stay warm.