New Boat Issues

[jc60752]

Might be nothing...want to be on the safe side.

Brand new 2010 Suntracker Party Barge 20 w/Merc 50HP 2stroke with about 10 ~ 15 hours on it.

Issue 1:
In drive at the lowest speed, basically fast idle, the RPMs drop every 3 or 4 minutes. Sounds as if the motor is dying but it recovers and keeps going strong for a few minutes. Seems as if it is just a hiccup. When going from neutral to WOT (slowly..not jamming it all the way to WOT) around 2K RPM it hesitates and then catches and speeds up. Minor hesitation but noticeable.

Issue 2:
I took 8 others out yesterday and had to idle longer than normal waiting on the truck to park and everyone to load. All said it was probably about 10 minutes of idle out of gear. At about 8 minutes in I looked back as I was going to trim the motor up and the amount of smoke was abnormal. I trimmed up a bit and smoke poured out of the exhaust. This was burning oil smoke. I took off and did a lap around the cove while waiting and never saw the smoke issue again. I'm thinking that the long idle somehow built up oil and it burned off at once.

The issues aren't so bad I'm wanting to take it to the shop immediately but every time I'm out I wonder what the hell is wrong...especially with the hesitation/missing.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[monksblood]

my guess is that you are sucking some air into the fuel system for the hesitation. The dealer may have had a bad fuel line or clamp installed

[GXPWeasel]

Check your fuel tank vent. If it isnt' open enough, or open too much, I think it could cause your hesitation. As for the smoke, it is a 2 stroke, so it's going to smoke a bit, especially at idle. If you trimmed up your motor enough while running in the water to see the prop/exhaust, then I'm surprised the engine didn't shut off. I know if my motor comes even close to being trimmed up that much while running, it will kill itself to save it from being run without water or something. I thought all newer motors had this feature.

[crspang]

Two stroke engines do not like to idle. That is when they are the least efficient.

[jc60752]

One other issue I forgot to mention.

At idle or low speed I can trim the motor up without issue. At speed when I trim up I can watch the motor come up a small amount and then fall back down. Normal? I'm not talking about trying to take the prop out of the water but trim to get the front end up a bit.

[bruuuuce]

2010 Tracker, take it back to the dealer and get the motor issues fixed.

That Merc should be smooth as silk and trouble free for several years, you shouldn't have any issues like this. And about the trim issue, no the motor should stay right where you left it, the hydraulic lifts shouldn't bleed off and allow the motor to lower down.

It isn't that old, your dealer shouldn't make you wait very long, IF he wants to keep you happy. These issues don't sound severe so they should have you out and back in, in no time.

[jc60752]

I called the dealer on the tilt/trim issue. Wrench said that the trim should work but once it hits the tilt positions it will fall down at speed. Designed to keep prop in water. BS?

[bruuuuce]

so your trimmed down and you just slightly trim up, just a couple of bumps of the button to gain that extra 1 MPH right.... Then it isn't in "Tilt" position. If it is falling at that point something is up, plus it should run smooth as silk for you.

[jc60752]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll have to doublecheck how high I'm trying to tilt next time out.

As far as the motor not running smooth I pulled the cover off yesterday and noticed fuel/oil mixture all over the bottom of the case. It seemed a light coating at best but a few spots had a bit more accumulation that was visible. I'm assuming this might just be oil/gas blown out from the airbox, similar to oil accumulating in the air filter on my harley...not sure if it should be like this on a boat motor.

Also, I've run close to 30 or 40 gallons through the motor since adding the break-in oil to the gas when I first bought it. I pulled the plugs yesterday and they look a little on the fouled side to me. They are very black and there is oil dripping from the threads. Is there a way to "un-foul" the plugs or should I get new? I'm hoping they are just fouled from the break-in oil.

Jason

[GXPWeasel]

You could let the plugs dry out a bit, but really they are pretty cheap to replace. I think I paid something like $12 to replace my 3. Again though, no new engine should be fouling plugs, I'd get it checked out.

[bruuuuce]

You just keep adding issues, really think it is time to take it and have the dealer make it right. Merc has a good warranty shouldn't cost you but time and fuel to get the boat there.

We started out the thread with two issues, rough idle and smoke. Now we are adding more for a total of 4....

Sounds like it is over oiling, my Merc 90 HP on it's third year has no oily residue inside the motor cover. As I sit here and think you may find you have a coil pack bad. I recently replaced mine, well I didn't Mercury did, and it had a rough idle and the plugs in those cylinders that the coil packs were bad on, where oily... you should consider taking it to the dealer and let them check your motor over it sounds like it needs some TLC.

[texaspontoon]

Sounds like it is time to take your newborn into the clinic for a "wellness check"! It should be under warranty and the days of tinkering with motors under your shade tree are gone (for me anyway). When the guy hooks up your motor to a laptop and hands you a computer print out of everything your motor has done since it was born, that ought to be a clue that I am out of my league). Seriously, it cost $$$$ (That I hate to spend) but this is where having a good dealer or mechanic is worth it's weight in gold. We want to use our boats, not work on them all the time. There are plenty of other things that need to be fixed after our last trips. (burned out NAV lights, broken cleat, something that would not turn on or off etc).

Hopefully you get it fixed soon, let us know what was wrong with it. Hopefully you can get out for "$99.00"

Good luck.

[jc60752]

Brining her in on Monday. I'll update with the diagnosis.

[smltooner]

You just keep adding issues, really think it is time to take it and have the dealer make it right. Merc has a good warranty shouldn't cost you but time and fuel to get the boat there.

We started out the thread with two issues, rough idle and smoke. Now we are adding more for a total of 4....

Sounds like it is over oiling, my Merc 90 HP on it's third year has no oily residue inside the motor cover. As I sit here and think you may find you have a coil pack bad. I recently replaced mine, well I didn't Mercury did, and it had a rough idle and the plugs in those cylinders that the coil packs were bad on, where oily... you should consider taking it to the dealer and let them check your motor over it sounds like it needs some TLC.

I have an '07 Merc 60hp 4 stroke.
2 weeks ago we were cruising down the lake at about 4600rpm when suddenly the rpms dropped to 4000 and stayed there and is sounded like the engine had a miss in it. My WOT is usually 5200. Called the dealer and they came and got the boat for service. Turns out it was a bad ignition coil, the second one I have had. They replaced it under warrenty and it runs great now. Like I said, this was my second coil to go bad. Have it checked out.
Good luck

[jc60752]

The shop finally got around to looking at the boat after 2 missed deadlines that they gave me. The guy told me they could find nothing wrong and that I am doing a few things wrong to cause my issues.

1. Missing out: Idling too long causing oil to build up on plugs and then trying to accelerate causing the missing. -- I need to verify if this only happens after an idle or not. I don't remember off the top of my head.

2. Oil on the bottom of the engine compartment: Guy said I pull the boat too far up on the trailer causing the motor to have to be trimmed very high to put the transom saver on. This is causing oil/gas to leak from the carbs. --My concern is that I put the boat on the trailer up to the rubber bumper...it can't go any farther up and it doesn't seem safe to have the boat not all the way up to it. I could see a hard break and the weight of the boat shifting and sliding forward.

3. Motor dying from reverse to neutral: Guy said they ran the boat for a while in a tank and it never died. Of course they didn't go from reverse to neutral...they just waited for it to die while in forward. -- He said they would look at it again.


Are the first two responses I received BS? I'm already pissed at the dealer so my judgment is clouded. I brought the boat in on a Tuesday and he told me since it was a new boat it would be out by Friday. I had to call late Friday and they said it wouldn't be until Tuesday or Wednesday until they look at it. Sure enough I had to call Tuesday to check the status and it hasn't been looked at. They looked at it that day and called me back with "We didn't find anything."