Crownline wont go over 2000 rpm under load

[watson05]

We just purchased a 2009 crownline 4.3 engine. It only has 50 hours on it. Last week we took it out and coved out for a while. When heading back to the marina, the boat would not go over 2000 rpm. A warning beep came on and and did a double beep continually until we stopped. We could get it over 2000 rpm while in neutral. Came home and looked it up and we did the following: Added drive lube, changed fuel filter and cleaned the carburetor. Put it on muffles in our driveway and it ran just fine under load and we thought we fixed the issue. Took it out on the water this weekend and it did the same thing. All gauges and fluids are running just fine with no issues of any kind. Any ideas as to what might be the issue. Again this boat is crownline, 18.5 extreme razor and it is in immaculate shape, never stored outside.

 

[nola mike]

Running on muffs isn't running under load. If you revved it on muffs in the driveway, it's just wearing your engine without a load on it. How did you clean the carb? How did the fuel filter look? Which filter? Do you have a water separator type filter, and did you look at the contents? I don't know what the beeping signifies on your year, what did your gauges show?

 

[watson05]

gauges were reading fine. fuel filter was fine but we changed it anyway. yes it does have a separator. used carb cleaner.

 

[Scott Danforth]

gauges were reading fine. fuel filter was fine but we changed it anyway. yes it does have a separator. used carb cleaner.

as in you pulled the carb apart and soaked the carb pieces for a few hours, then chased every passage carefully to ensure all crud was removed prior to assembling the carb and setting it up properly

or did you just spray carb cleaner on it which does nothing except remove exterior dirt?

BTW, your motor would spin to 5000 RPM in neutral with 4 of the spark plug wires removed. reving in neutral does nothing.

Also, a 12 year old boat with only 50 hours on it sat for a really long period of time. most of those 50 hours were put on in the first two years, then it probably sat for 10 years.

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

Was it running OK out to the cove and went over 2000 RPM? I don't know what the beeps sequence is for your Mercruiser.

How much old gas was in the tank? With only 50 hours of use in 11 years, the gas in the tank may not be gas anymore.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Like to hear how you went through the maintenance on a 11 year old boat that got less than 5 hours a year usage on it. A boat used that little is likely to have all sorts problems just from lack of maintenance and use. Spraying carburetor cleaner down the intake doesn't clean anything except maybe remove a little varnish on the throttle plate.

List the things you have done preparatory to taking it out on the water. And then you might look at the manual for that engine and drive, you can look online at boatinfo.no. See what the annual maintenance requirements are and then consider where you might have issues that might cause problems out on the water and possible safety issues. We are glad to help.

You should post engine and drive serial numbers, so we know what you have and can suggest to you what might help. Right off, I would wonder if the fuel is any good in the tank. Depending on how old it is, and whether it has ethanol, can be important. When you changed the water separator did you dump the contents into a clear container to see if it was clean? Might do that next, even though you have a new filter.

The answers are there. Note that a boat with 5 hours a year on it is definitely going to need lots of maintenance TLC. Hardest thing you can do to a motor is leave it sitting and then use it hard.

 

[QBhoy]

You’ll never really know unless your lucky...until it’s plugged in or similar.
but I can tell you the last time I had a 2 beep every wee while...it was the IAC.

 

[nola mike]

You’ll never really know unless your lucky...until it’s plugged in or similar.
but I can tell you the last time I had a 2 beep every wee while...it was the IAC.

He's on a carb'd engine...

 

[QBhoy]

Ok. Ignore me. Didn’t think it was a carb. Sorry.