67SeaSkiff
Cadet
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2010
- Messages
- 8
Hi, I'm posting this in the Volvo forum as well as the OMC forum since my engine is the 94' 5.8L EFI with the OMC/Volvo SX outdrive. Mods please remove if inappropriate.
I hope you can help. I have a 1994 Four Winns Vista with 5.8L EFI OMC/Volvo SX outdrive. The engine has 700hrs on it and I keep it well maintained. I normally do all of my own maintenance but this one has me stumped. I have an intermittent problem that I can't seem to pattern with a series of events.
Last year we ran the boat about 30miles up river, stopped for gas, sat at the dock for 1/2hr and then proceeded up river cruising at about 3200rpm. Being paranoid as I am I always keep a close eye on my guages. After cruising for about 15 minutes, I noticed the tach needle fluttered up and down between 1000-5000 rpm completely erratically without the engine speed actually changing. Second later, the boat bogged down and wouldn't run any higher than 2000rpm. Stalling became more frequent until it wouldn't even idle more than 10 seconds or so. After a tow to the nearest marina I left the boat at their dock and called the "local boat guy" in this particularly small town. A couple days later he looked at, couldn't get the boat to act up and concluded that everything was ok and there was no charge since he didn't find anything.
I drove up in the truck and trailered it home. Once home i relaunched and used the boat for the rest of the season without the problem ever reoccurring. Fast forward = Winterized the boat. Dewinterized the boat this Spring and relaunched without any problems. We've the used boat about 6 times this summer with no problems. On the last time i used the boat I noticed the tach flutter about 500rpm (no engine speed change) just prior to reaching the marina on the run home. My next time out to the boat I started it up in its slip to give the batteries a little charge.
This is when the problem came back EXACTLY ONE YEAR from the first occurrence (I know this because it's ruined two Canada day long-weekends!). The boat idled for about 5 minutes with no problems and then died. I restarted the engine and it would die within about 10 seconds. I noticed when the engine would die that low pressure fuel pump would run for about 2 seconds after stalling. Thinking there was a faulty relay I threw a new one on hoping for a cheap fix. No change. After more starting and stalling I could hear the faintest arcing sound after the engine would stall with the key in the on position. Tick tick tick tick. Further inspection told me the tick appears to be coming from the coil. I took the coil lead wire off the dist. and I could hear the ticking through the end of the wire like a stethescope. Completely removing the wire didn't stop the arcing either. Even further inspection showed that my rmp guage bounces from 0 to about 500rpm completely in sync with the arcing sound. This is the point I stopped investigating and tried to salvage my long weekend by camping instead of boating!
After returning home from camping I went back to the boat I turned the key and it started right and idled in the slip for 20 minutes until I turned it off. No arcing sound, no fluttering rpm guage. Based on the periodic randomness of the problem, I feel like it's a failing ground or failing ignition component??? I don't want to leave the slip until I figure this problem out for fear of being left stranded out on the river. Please advise on any testing procedures or diagnosing tips. Also, fyi, I have downloaded ALL of the factory manuals that DonS has posted.
Please help!
Frustrated Four Winns
I hope you can help. I have a 1994 Four Winns Vista with 5.8L EFI OMC/Volvo SX outdrive. The engine has 700hrs on it and I keep it well maintained. I normally do all of my own maintenance but this one has me stumped. I have an intermittent problem that I can't seem to pattern with a series of events.
Last year we ran the boat about 30miles up river, stopped for gas, sat at the dock for 1/2hr and then proceeded up river cruising at about 3200rpm. Being paranoid as I am I always keep a close eye on my guages. After cruising for about 15 minutes, I noticed the tach needle fluttered up and down between 1000-5000 rpm completely erratically without the engine speed actually changing. Second later, the boat bogged down and wouldn't run any higher than 2000rpm. Stalling became more frequent until it wouldn't even idle more than 10 seconds or so. After a tow to the nearest marina I left the boat at their dock and called the "local boat guy" in this particularly small town. A couple days later he looked at, couldn't get the boat to act up and concluded that everything was ok and there was no charge since he didn't find anything.
I drove up in the truck and trailered it home. Once home i relaunched and used the boat for the rest of the season without the problem ever reoccurring. Fast forward = Winterized the boat. Dewinterized the boat this Spring and relaunched without any problems. We've the used boat about 6 times this summer with no problems. On the last time i used the boat I noticed the tach flutter about 500rpm (no engine speed change) just prior to reaching the marina on the run home. My next time out to the boat I started it up in its slip to give the batteries a little charge.
This is when the problem came back EXACTLY ONE YEAR from the first occurrence (I know this because it's ruined two Canada day long-weekends!). The boat idled for about 5 minutes with no problems and then died. I restarted the engine and it would die within about 10 seconds. I noticed when the engine would die that low pressure fuel pump would run for about 2 seconds after stalling. Thinking there was a faulty relay I threw a new one on hoping for a cheap fix. No change. After more starting and stalling I could hear the faintest arcing sound after the engine would stall with the key in the on position. Tick tick tick tick. Further inspection told me the tick appears to be coming from the coil. I took the coil lead wire off the dist. and I could hear the ticking through the end of the wire like a stethescope. Completely removing the wire didn't stop the arcing either. Even further inspection showed that my rmp guage bounces from 0 to about 500rpm completely in sync with the arcing sound. This is the point I stopped investigating and tried to salvage my long weekend by camping instead of boating!
After returning home from camping I went back to the boat I turned the key and it started right and idled in the slip for 20 minutes until I turned it off. No arcing sound, no fluttering rpm guage. Based on the periodic randomness of the problem, I feel like it's a failing ground or failing ignition component??? I don't want to leave the slip until I figure this problem out for fear of being left stranded out on the river. Please advise on any testing procedures or diagnosing tips. Also, fyi, I have downloaded ALL of the factory manuals that DonS has posted.
Please help!
Frustrated Four Winns
