Hit a wake, boat stalled, would not start

[bkearney]

I need to some help about how to diagnose this. We spent the day on the water, and we were tubing.... and hit a wake which caused a band. It was a hard bang, but not terrible. The boat stalled out. I tried to start it back up, the boat would crank but never turn over. We tried waiting to see if it was vapor lock, but no avail. We had put 10 gallons of gas in, so we figure it was not running out of gas. I looked for obvious wires, but I could not really find anythign. We ended up getting towed in.

Any ideas what I can look? I assume because it was at the time we hit the wake we knocked a wire off. Some forums point at a fuel pump, but I dont know if i have one on a 2003 LSV. My wife thinks we had alot of water in the bilge, and that did something.

Thanks in advance!

-- bk

[sivs1]

check the master breaker(fuse) in the engine area. check battery connections. check both positive and negatives where they connect to the motor. Check fuses under the dash. my two cents, good luck.

[slipperyrockTKE300]

did you smell more gas fumes than usual before this happened?

Reason I ask is one day, I could smell a heavy amount of exhaust fumes - very odd.

Next thing the boat back-fired and died.

Had to get towed in. An air boat tried to tow us, but that didn't work out real well :)

Diagnosis: cracked exhaust manifold.

[bkearney]

check the master breaker(fuse) in the engine area. check battery connections. check both positive and negatives where they connect to the motor. Check fuses under the dash. my two cents, good luck.

Thanks for the reply. For the master breaker.. is that the red button on the back of the engine (facing the front of the boat, since in V drive I think the engine is backwards)? If so, that seems to have no play in at all. Where does the battery connect to the engine? I saw the wires for the distributor, and they seemed to be on tight.

[bkearney]

Nothing worse then normal. I am gonna hope it is not that :)

[sivs1]

Thanks for the reply. For the master breaker.. is that the red button on the back of the engine (facing the front of the boat, since in V drive I think the engine is backwards)? If so, that seems to have no play in at all. Where does the battery connect to the engine? I saw the wires for the distributor, and they seemed to be on tight.

Yes, V-drive the motor is backwards, the front is in the stern. The Master is the red button on the side closet to the cabin. On mine both positive and negative connect on the bottom right, if you are in the boat looking at the engine. You will be able to tell right away what wires are the battery leads. Another thought, put it into gear and back into neutral, speaking from experience on that one.

[996scott]

check that the kill switch ok.

[bkearney]

check that the kill switch ok.
Thanks.. someone else mentioned this. I am not sure that the 2003 LSV has a kill switch, Also... I am not sure I have a fuel pump either. Can anyone confirm or not?

[tarheelskier]

Kill switch was the first thing I thought too.

[Stazi]

Thanks.. someone else mentioned this. I am not sure that the 2003 LSV has a kill switch, Also... I am not sure I have a fuel pump either. Can anyone confirm or not?

You definitely have a fuel pump

[zabooda]

Going on 12 seasons, I would expect the fuel pump. You should have a spare as it is time for it to go.

[Rgar]

I have an 03 LSV also. There is a large cable that plugs into the side of the electrical box where that red breaker is located. Make sure that its plugged in tight or your motor won't start. It might look tight but give it a wiggle to make sure. My boat wouldn't start after trailering to the lake and I luckily found this to be the problem.

[Welly72]

I would test the fuel pump to make sure that it is getting power. there should be two wires that plug into the bottom. throw a test light on there and make sure you got juice, this will only happen when you crank the motor on some models so have someone crank the motor when you hold the test light in place. if you dont have power I would suspect the pressure saftey switch. if you do have power you need to test the pump. At the fuel rail disconnect the gas line and put the line into a 2L bottle and crank the motor to see if fuel comes out. Make sure the line is in the bottle cus it should shoot out, there is no question that it is working when it does so if theres is not a shot of fuel, its the pump.

[bkearney]

I took it to our dude, and he said that the clicked the circuit breaker and it was no issue. He references the little eraserhead nubby near the ignition key. I assumed it was a breaker for the ignition, but I was able to crank the engine. Is that breaker more than to the starter?

-- bk