05 Sportster bogging/cutting out

[stheodore10]

I bought this boat about a month ago. Upon doing some research I keep seeing similar issues with carbureted engines, but mine is a 4-tec efi. Start/ stop is flawless, it runs fine for a while, even at speed and planing, but usually about 40 minutes in it starts to sputter and die. This happens at speed and at idle. If I let the boat sit for a while after stalling out, it usually starts up and I can get moving up to about 10mph. Then shortly after the sputtering comes back and dies. Seemed to be a fuel/ delivery issue so Ive siphoned out all the old gas which had some water and debris in it, replaced the small cardboard filter with a fuel/water separator/filter, replaced fuel lines from the pump to the filter and the lines from filter to rail. Seems like it runs smoother now but still having the same issues. Starting to wonder if it’s temperature or injector related. Any suggestions/ ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[POPPS]

Start basic/simple,,,replace the plugs,,,check connections,,,grounds especially...check fuel pressure,,,check compression,,,easy non electrical stuff.

 

[stheodore10]

Which connections specifically? I had a tune done on the boat about 2 weeks before. He did a once-over with nothing that raised alarm, plugs changed, oil changed, oil filter, etc. have not checked fuel pressure yet as it runs well for a while. In order to check fuel pressure when the problem is happening it looks like I’d have to check it about 30 minutes in on the water. Thoughts?

 

[stheodore10]

Bump

 

[MacSeaDoo]

I bought an inline fuel pressure gauge that I can route out of the engine bay.

I just added a t adapter to the gauge.

I had a bad sputter with my speedster and it turned out to be a bad coil.

I pulled the plugs and noticed 1 plug had a tine bit of carbon on it. Put the new on there first and bingo.

 

[stheodore10]

When i winterized it I asked the mech to change the spark plugs, but the injectors could be dirty you’re saying?

 

[MacSeaDoo]

It could be injectors, but my experience is that if it is a hard stutter, it might be a bad coil.

 

[Mister Magoo]

When you say you replaced the "small cardboard filter" do you mean at the bottom of the fuel pump? It does not look like cardboard, its called the strainer. Its the only fuel filter on my 07 155 N/A. Could be the pump itself. Gets hot after a bit. Like MacSeaDoo said it could be a coil. This is why a Candoo is needed for these older boats.

 

[stheodore10]

It could be injectors, but my experience is that if it is a hard stutter, it might be a bad coil.

I’ll check the coil then. The problem isn’t so much a hard stutter though, more of an immediate cut out of power

 

[stheodore10]

When you say you replaced the "small cardboard filter" do you mean at the bottom of the fuel pump? It does not look like cardboard, its called the strainer. Its the only fuel filter on my 07 155 N/A. Could be the pump itself. Gets hot after a bit. Like MacSeaDoo said it could be a coil. This is why a Candoo is needed for these older boats.

I’ll look into the fuel pump too. The “cardboard filter” was just the in line filter or strainer. It does seem more like a fuel cut issue the more I think about it. It’s a dead stop. It seems like it might be temp related, due to how long the initial cut out takes and the need to wait before turning over again. Can do is an obd tester?

 

[Mister Magoo]

Candoo is the OBD scanner for these boats. I'm pretty sure any inline filter would have been aftermarket. If you had water and debris in the tank from when you cleaned it out there is a chance the strainer is clogged, which, could result in the condition you describe. When I troubleshoot my boat I look at the simple stuff first. Make sure the grounds are clean, make sure all of the plug/jacks are corrosion free. Clean the plug/jacks on the fuel pump, injectors and coils first.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

If it is a full cutout of power, as mentioned I would check grounds and the fuel pump.

Injectors are easy to test as well with some jars.

The Candoo software can both run or halt injectors and coils on demand so it can be a good troubleshooting tool.