2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

[dsilvers]

The boat is a 2002 Stingray 220SX. When cruising above 2500 RPM the engine shuts off after a few minutes of runtime. The shut off is without sputter as if the ignition key was turned off. The higher I get above 2500 RPM the shorter period of time it takes for the engine to shut off. I can immediately restart, jump up on a plane at a high RPM and once on plane if I don't back it down to 2500 RPM, a few minutes later it will shut off. At this point I am leaning towards an electronic failure. I read through some posts in this forum and found some similar issues pertaining to an ECM/ECU. Does anyone have any suggestions or if nothing else, anywhere I can look for Service Bulletins? I am contemplating a purchase of a code reader and taking the boat back out and checking codes after a shut off.

 

[dsilvers]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Update by poster: This afternoon a local tech told me it could be the fuel filter even though it shuts off like an electrical component failure. He said fuel because of the RPM situation and that at lower RPM's there is enough fuel flowing to keep it running. In a way it sounds nice but the shut off is so immediate and the restart so clean it's questionable. The fuel filter has 48 hours on it and it's cheap so I'll start there. ... I also received a reply from an email I sent out to a guy who had a similar situation with his boat and he told me they finally found out it was a malfunctioning engine heat sensor. That's cheap to so I'll probably order that and put it on.

 

[jmc830]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

hey i.m going to tell you what it is i have a brand new 214 funship with the 5.0 mpi it has 20 hours on it 2 months ago at about 15 hrs my boat did the same exact thing it would run great for about an hour then shut off start right up but like you sed at 2500 it would shut off again brought it to the dealer they could not get it to do it they didn't have time to drive it for that long replaced the neutral shut off switch took 2 weeks got it back same thing brought it back again would not take it back unless they did somthing to fix it asked on this sight everyone sed fuel fuel fuel fuel i knew better becouse it did not sputter it just shut off it turns out mercruiser has a bulletin out the ecm and wire harness is needed to be replaced got the boat back and has ran great i sure hope it is under warrant $1000.00 for ecm but that is your problem check out my original posts back in late june good luck

 

[dsilvers]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Thanks for the reply Jeff. I read almost all posts about cut offs and stalls before talking to the tech yesterday. He said the bulletin was on the "triple nickle ECM" that was introduced in 2003. My boat is a 2002 and when I described my ECM as being black with two harness plug ins he told me it wasn't a triple nickle ECM and again declared a fuel problem. I would be very suprised if it's fuel. I was an auto mechanic for 5 years about 15 years ago and all symptoms point to electrical.

 

[jmc830]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

i'm also a mechanic and it does sound to me like an ignition problem hope it is not the ecm becouse that is expensive when my booat was shutting off they checked codes there were no codes you may be on the right track with a sensor thes ecm have a return home mode they go into when there is a temp/oil problem hopefully that is the problem you have described exactly the same problem i had does your boat shut off all the time or after it warms up a while? i see you are in charlotte wher are you boating lake norman?

 

[dsilvers]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

I haven't had the boat back out on the lake since the day the problem occurred. I guess the next time I take it out I will know whether it happens only after it warms up. <br /><br />Were you able to keep the boat shut down after it quit and take it right to the shop before restarting? Was the mechanic on your boat able to reproduce the problem either in the shop or in the water before checking the codes? Perhaps the codes clear after a restart although, the ECM's I use to check on cars stored these codes indefinitely. <br /><br />I can only hope it's a sensor who's internals became weak after slamming wakes for 50 hours. Sounds logical although, I have this bad feeling it is the ECM. <br /><br />I'm near Lake Norman. I use to live in Greenville North Carolina and boat on the Tar River between New Bern through little Washington into Greenville. The only reason I prefer Lake Norman is the big tie ups we have and all the clubs and resteraunts on the lake.

 

[jmc830]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

norman is a great place i live at carolina beach which is close to wrightsville beach where rhey also have tie ups i usually run to myrtle beach on the weekeds thats when my boat starting acting up had 4 other people on and had to idle back took it to the dealer they could not peproduce problem ran great only shut off when entire engine reached a certain temp i could run at night no problem or on a day with little boat traffic but if i ran during the day when it was 85 or so it would take about an hour depending on how many times i stoped for a boats wake and started again put a lot of load on it the engine not operating temp would get to a certain point and shut off usually i would slow for a wake give it gas get up on plane and bip it would shut off like someone pulled the lanyard start right up would idle i could put it in neutral and rev it it would be fine put it in gear and get a load on it 3000rpm it'll shut off took dealer 3 times finaly had to call merc they cant replace an item without authorization without a damaged part merc sed they have problems with the ecm and the harness that goes to it my ecm is mounted on top of the motor by the valve cover

 

[dsilvers]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

I went to the Stingray dealer and after we discussed the issue they wanted to sell me a distributor pickup. When I told them the plug wires come out of what appears to be a plastic manifold and not a distributor, we discovered it was a triple nickle ECM. I changed the fuel filter and remounted the ECM away from all heat. The problem persists even when the ECM is cool. When I run it for a few minutes above 2800 RPM it will cut off with no bog, backfire or hesitation. The part costs $1300 and that is just way too much money. Any thoughts?

 

[tylerin]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Sounds more fuel related possibly restricted tank ventilation

 

[jmc830]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

ask the dealer if you could swap a ecm for a test run just to make sure that is not the problem lots of problems with that ecm wold be a shame to nickel and dime yourself with filters/sensors when it was the ecm

 

[Don S]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Soooooo, what engine and drive do you have. That would be more useful for troubleshooting than it being a 2002 Stingray 220SX, since they probably had some different engine options for that boat.<br /><br />If it's a Mercruiser, an engine serial number would be very helpful.

 

[tylerin]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Soooooo, what engine and drive do you have

Well Don I can answer half that question by the Topic 2002 5.7 MPI. What drive I haven't a clue

 

[Don S]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Ahhhhh, that helps. Thanks.

 

[dsilvers]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Don, here are the serial numbers:<br />Engine Serial #0M329663<br />Drive Serial #0L948332<br /><br />Jeff, it sounds like our boats are doing the same thing. When the problem first occurred the boat had to run for almost an hour before cutting off. Now, it will cut off after 15 minutes and I go above 3000 RPM's for a few minutes.<br /><br />The ECM has a 5"x5"x1/2" aluminum housing with two black harness plugs. It is mounted above the right valve cover (when facing the engine) on a steel plate with three rubber grommets on the back side of the exhaust/water manifold. If I had to guess I'd say as the RPM builds the internal electronic components open and close faster leading to the malfunction and shut off. <br /><br />If I could get a loaner from the dealer that would be great. When I asked about the return policy on electrical components they said I couldn't return the ECM. Does anyone know where I could get this part cheap?

 

[skicat]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Do you know any fellow boaters that would let you try theirs? I would wager there are a lot of damaged boats with the same ECM in Florida.

 

[Don S]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

While it's possible, I doubt your problem is the ECM, besides that, only Merc sells ECM's for their engines.<br />Have you had a dealer put the diagnostic computer on it yet and read for trouble codes? All it would take is something like the oil pressure sender to the computer to show 0 oil pressure and the engine will shut off. <br />Another problem could be the sensers in the distributor, a cam or crank sensor even would tell the computer is not turning and the computer would shut off the fuel and ignition. I would sure do some testing before I put a grand into an ECM that may not be the problem.

 

[Dave S3948]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

I would get someone to check for fault codes in the ECM. If that doesn't show anything, ask your dealer if they also have a recording "box" similar to what they use for cars. If something like this is available it will constantly monitor the ECM for a "rolling" period of time.....say the last 15 seconds. Then, when the failure occurs, a tech should be able to tell what was going on during that period of time.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

wow<br /> all this trouble and no one has tested the fuel rail pressure.<br /> EFI at high speeds wont bog at all when its out of fuel it will just quit sometimes the "555" processor had some issue but there is no auto shut down mode. there are some power reduction modes but no shut downs. if it shuts down something is wrong. I will bet something is either loose or you have a fuel restriction.<br /> usually the laptop will only tell you what is not broke but it saves a lot of time chasing ghosts.<br /> good luck and keep us posted

 

[Don S]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

Have your dealer show you Service Bulletin 2003-06. <br />It is not on the web yet.

 

[jmc830]

Re: 2002 5.7 350 MPI shuts off

my dealer replaced interupt switch=not the problem checked engine codes none to be found the ignition module and other ignition components are serviced only by buying a complete distributor assembly wich is $600 so there are really only 2 components to replace if it is igniyion problem if no computer codes most definate the ecm ask dealer to swap one off of a used or new boat just for a test run you are right in that they will not take a brand new $1000 out of the box and let you return it