seanlashbrook
New Member
Hey Guys, Kind of a Newbie poster here, normally I am able to read my way on these forums to my solution, but this one has me stumped.
My wife and myself went for a little after dinner boat ride the other night on our 2008 Challenger 180. Dropped the boat in the water, fired right up and I let it idle to warm up for about 5 minutes then gradually worked the throttle up to about 1/2 throttle. It was running fine, no stutter, lights or anything when out of no-where there was a loss of power and it started to stutter. I backed the throttle off and it stalled. I opened the engine compartment, checked the coolant and oil, both were good. I tried to start it, but it would turn over, but not fire up - seemed to turn over a bit slower. I assumed I must have sucked up a weed or something, so I put it back on the trailer and had a look only to find that the impeller was perfectly clean.
I had it in my mind that there must be some sort of restriction in either the exhaust or the intake system so I started there. I removed the muffler from the exhaust manifold and tried cranking it over - no change. I removed the air filter, tried again, nothing. I tried starting while holding throttle linkage on the throttle body wide open and it would start revving itself right up. As soon as I slowly idle it down, it stalls, impossible to keep it running unless revving it right out. Still having it in my mind that I must have some sort of restriction, I removed the hose between the supercharger and the throttle body, started again with no change - however verified that supercharger is pumping lots of air. I hooked up the hose as not to overheat, started the engine at WOT, then turned on the hose thinking it may backflush any restrictions, but my exhaust temp light come on after a few minutes and I had to shut it down.
After alot of reading, I figured I may have an intercooler issue, so I decided I might as well pull it to have a look. I couldn't get it out but 3/4 of the way as the fuel tank and hull of the boat are in the way and I didn't want to pull the complete intake, but what I can see, there are no signs of water or damage. There is a light coating of oil on the outside of the coils which I'm unsure if it is normal or not.
At this point I'm at a loss, not really sure where to look next short of changing plugs and or digging into the fuel system, but I can't wrap my mind around these as I must have enough spark / fuel as the unit does run at WOT using more fuel/ spark. I feel that whatever it turns out to be will be so trivial as it was running like a top, but just stopped.
Hoping maybe someone has experienced something similar or maybe has some insight as to what to check next! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
My wife and myself went for a little after dinner boat ride the other night on our 2008 Challenger 180. Dropped the boat in the water, fired right up and I let it idle to warm up for about 5 minutes then gradually worked the throttle up to about 1/2 throttle. It was running fine, no stutter, lights or anything when out of no-where there was a loss of power and it started to stutter. I backed the throttle off and it stalled. I opened the engine compartment, checked the coolant and oil, both were good. I tried to start it, but it would turn over, but not fire up - seemed to turn over a bit slower. I assumed I must have sucked up a weed or something, so I put it back on the trailer and had a look only to find that the impeller was perfectly clean.
I had it in my mind that there must be some sort of restriction in either the exhaust or the intake system so I started there. I removed the muffler from the exhaust manifold and tried cranking it over - no change. I removed the air filter, tried again, nothing. I tried starting while holding throttle linkage on the throttle body wide open and it would start revving itself right up. As soon as I slowly idle it down, it stalls, impossible to keep it running unless revving it right out. Still having it in my mind that I must have some sort of restriction, I removed the hose between the supercharger and the throttle body, started again with no change - however verified that supercharger is pumping lots of air. I hooked up the hose as not to overheat, started the engine at WOT, then turned on the hose thinking it may backflush any restrictions, but my exhaust temp light come on after a few minutes and I had to shut it down.
After alot of reading, I figured I may have an intercooler issue, so I decided I might as well pull it to have a look. I couldn't get it out but 3/4 of the way as the fuel tank and hull of the boat are in the way and I didn't want to pull the complete intake, but what I can see, there are no signs of water or damage. There is a light coating of oil on the outside of the coils which I'm unsure if it is normal or not.
At this point I'm at a loss, not really sure where to look next short of changing plugs and or digging into the fuel system, but I can't wrap my mind around these as I must have enough spark / fuel as the unit does run at WOT using more fuel/ spark. I feel that whatever it turns out to be will be so trivial as it was running like a top, but just stopped.
Hoping maybe someone has experienced something similar or maybe has some insight as to what to check next! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
