My 01 Utopia 185 with 200hp engine just died :(

[JeromeM]

My 01 Utopia 185 with 200hp engine just died **Update**

This is the third time I go out on the boat, last time was a week and a half ago I was out all day just chilling/cruising/wakeboarding and had no issues. I had filled it with 140L of fuel before I went out last time and it's still above 3/4 full.

The boat stayed anchored in the water since then, I went out today, inspected everything no water in the engine bay or anything so started up the boat and went off. I cruised around for 5-10 minutes slow at first to warm her up then 20-25mph, it was pretty choppy so I didn't want to go too fast and then all of a sudden the boat died. No sputter nothing just died.

So I try to start it again and it turns over no problem but won't fire up. I let everything air out, I looked into the engine bay I couldn't see anything that looked out of place, half hour goes by still turns over but won't fire.

Is there a fuel shut off or fuel reserve or something that I'm missing?

Any thoughts?

If it doesn't fire up in the morning I'll bring it in for service

Thanks,

Jerome

 

[JeromeM]

went out this morning to see if it would now work and no, it still just turns over without every firing

I will figure out a way to tow it to a boat launch and then bring it in tomorrow

 

[JeromeM]

Ok, I got word back from the shop. The cause of the this issue was a blown fuse for the fuel pump that supports the Vacume Seperator? It boat had sat for 2 years so they assume some debris is in there so they will take the pump apart and clean it.

HOWEVER, with their diagnosis, they noticed that Cyl 5 had low compression, it wouldn't even register 100PSI. Their solution for this....is to replace the block with a factory Mercury block.....now this seems a bit odd to me because normally you hone or bore the cylinder get a new piston and rings and you're good to go....no?

Now, the boat sat for a few years, could it be a valve or something that just needs to work it's way back to normal
?

I told them to just fix the fuel pump and make sure the spark plugs and stuff were good and I was going to take my chances.

Thoughts?

 

[JeromeM]

Thoughts? Can this engine not just get bored/honed and put in a oversize piston if this is the problem?

 

[rookie101]

Thoughts? Can this engine not just get bored/honed and put in a oversize piston if this is the problem?

Although you may get away with doing this, most shops are not going to be interested in doing what they will consider a band-aid repair. Try letting some good penetrating oil sit in the offending cylinder for a few days, and then see how it runs. Hopefully it is just a sticking ring.

I know I would give it a try "as is" before I pulled the engine and did a major overhaul. If it comes down to it I would order either a rebuilt power-head for around 3200.00 and install it myself, or if you're confident enough to attempt to over haul it yourself, order up all six pistons and rings rather than just do one cylinder.

Aaron:cheers:

 

[JeromeM]

Although you may get away with doing this, most shops are not going to be interested in doing what they will consider a band-aid repair. Try letting some good penetrating oil sit in the offending cylinder for a few days, and then see how it runs. Hopefully it is just a sticking ring.

I know I would give it a try "as is" before I pulled the engine and did a major overhaul. If it comes down to it I would order either a rebuilt power-head for around 3200.00 and install it myself, or if you're confident enough to attempt to over haul it yourself, order up all six pistons and rings rather than just do one cylinder.

Aaron:cheers:

Thanks for the advice. It runs ok or so I thought, before the fuel pump fuse blew it was pulling me up on a wakeboard (I weigh 210lbs) no problem, it would cruise the lake at 50mph it really didn't seem like a cylinder wasn't working properly.

So a shop would not just do 1 piston? I doubt that's a band aid, I mean yes, doing all 6 cyl would be best.

So which one is #5 Cyl, is it on Starboard side at the bottom? I'll have to see how to get the plug out, I'm very used to working on cars anything from regular maintenance to replacing/rebuilding engines but I am new to boats.

Also, I read about the Mercury gauges that display engine information which is always a handy thing to have in a car so in a boat would be the same, which one should I be looking at? Is there a digital one that would show multiple parameters?

Thanks,
Jay

 

[rookie101]

Yes, it is the bottom cylinder on the starboard side. The gauge you are referring to is called the Smart-craft gauge. You can buy them in a kit with all the necessary cables, but I think they are pretty pricey.

And if you can do fifty, I have a hard time believing you have a bad cylinder. Maybe try doing a compression test yourself.

Aaron:cheers: