Need Input - Flooded?

[meech]

Hey all,
So we were out on the water on Saturday and the boat was running great … we were cruising around 30mph and then decided to float for awhile. We shut her down and floated for about 30mins … When I tried to fire it back up it wouldn’t start -- sounded like it wasn’t getting any gas. It would fire then quickly shut down again. I figured it was flooded so I cleaned out the gas lines (per the manual) and tried again, 15mins later, and it fired up and was running fine.

Why would this of happened? How could it become flooded from cruising to floating while the engine was off? Do I need to let the engine idle a bit before shutting down? That seems odd ...

What should I look for as an issue? Etc.?

I’m just not wanting to break down next time we’re out on the water …

I have a 2007 LSV … engine only has 7hrs on it …

Thanks for any info …

[wolfeman131]

Oh no, sounds like the dreaded "vapor lock" is back this summer! There are a lot of threads from last summer about this, here is mine:

https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?t=6161&highlight=vapor

I'm guessing it was a warm day, and from what I understand, what actually happens with the ethanol blended fuel, the gas vaporizes in the system. It appears that this is normally in the fuel filter area. If you don't want to read my post from last summer, the simple fix is to pour some cool water on it. Others suggest running the blower, opening engine hatch, etc. I haven't had any issues when I have taken the time to add the blue Stabil Marine formula to the gas.

Hope this is all it is!

[meech]

thanks wolfeman ...

is this the sta-bill stuff you're talking about?

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3611428&CAWELAID=345904162

ok, really dumb question ... where is the fuel pump located to pour water on it to cool it down, if needed?

thanks

[wolfeman131]

yep, that's the stuff I use. I find it at WalMart in the auto section.

We have different boats, so somebody may have to correct me, but if you pull the back seat out and lift the plastic cover, you should see a round, silver thing about 1/2 the size of your fist mounted to the starboard side with 2 black tubes running out of either end.

[zabooda]

It seems like one could tap off the raw water intake, run the water through a hose wrapped around the line and feed the water back into the engine.

[RenoXLV]

Same thing was happening to our '07 XLV 2 years ago and our dealer insisted we were either flooding it or it was bad gas. The problem was only occasional, so we made it through the rest of the season with our fingers crossed. In '08 same problem again, but happening almost every trip starting in late May. Dealer again insisted it was "winter" gas and said we should bring it in for a tune up. However, the boat had less than 100 hrs and we'd already cycled through 4 tanks of gas, so that seemed ridiculous. Ended up calling Skiers Choice and found out about the vapor lock problem and that there is a warranty-able fix that involves installing a second "bleeder" fuel pump to ensure fuel remains in the line and does not evaporate on hot days with a hot engine. Dealer put in the new pump and we have had no issues since! A lot less hassle than pouring water on the engine or wrapping the fuel lines with wet towels. Good luck!

[tazz3069]

Mine did the exact same thing last year. I took it in to the dealer and explained the problem. SC sent over another fuel pump. Not I have two. No more problems with the boat.

[ajsboat]

Same thing was happening to our '07 XLV 2 years ago and our dealer insisted we were either flooding it or it was bad gas. The problem was only occasional, so we made it through the rest of the season with our fingers crossed. In '08 same problem again, but happening almost every trip starting in late May. Dealer again insisted it was "winter" gas and said we should bring it in for a tune up. However, the boat had less than 100 hrs and we'd already cycled through 4 tanks of gas, so that seemed ridiculous. Ended up calling Skiers Choice and found out about the vapor lock problem and that there is a warranty-able fix that involves installing a second "bleeder" fuel pump to ensure fuel remains in the line and does not evaporate on hot days with a hot engine. Dealer put in the new pump and we have had no issues since! A lot less hassle than pouring water on the engine or wrapping the fuel lines with wet towels. Good luck!

What engine does your 2 XLVs have have a carb or EFI?


Adam

[sandm]

we have the 340hp extcat and it did it a few times last summer. mostly from cruising on a hot day then stopping and sitting for a while. fix seems to be running the blower more often. once we started doing that, it hasn't happened again(knock on wood).

[Wake Master]

This is the answer from an older post by Engine Nut

A little clarification. The issue we have been seeing that is presumed to vapor lock is a condition that appears to be most prevalent on the 2007 model 340 engines with ETX CAT manifolds. The theory is that the extra heat generated by the catalysts allows the heat to build up in the bilge after the engine has been run for a period of time and then shut off. After it sits for a while a condition called "heat soak" raises the temperature in the bilge and allows the fuel in the line between the pump and tank to vaporize. The high pressure fuel pump will not pump vapor.

That being said, you can reduce the possibility of happening on any boat by doing a few simple things.

First, make sure your fuel filter is clean. As the fuel pump draws fuel from the tank through the filter, it creates a low pressure (vacuum) in the line. The harder the pump has to work the more vacuum is applied to the fuel. Fuel vaporzes at a lower temperature when it is exposed to a vacuum.

Make sure there are no restrictions in the fuel line between the tank and pump. The best condition is to have as straight and short of a line as possible. Each bend in the line can cause the pump to have to work harder and increase the vacuum.

After a hard run, try to let the engine run for a minute or two before shutting it off. This will help "normalize" the engine temperature and remove as much heat as possible from the engine. It might even help to disengage the shift control and raise the engine RPM in neutral to pump more water through the engine before shutting down.

Leave the bilge blower on after the engine is shut down to bring as much fresh air into the bilge as possible. Also, make sure the bilge vent hose isn't blocked, restricted or even disconnected from the vent and that the vent isn't blocked externally. It is not a bad idea on a hot day to lt the blower run all the time the engine is running .You'll also want to make sure to turn the blower on well before starting (if you shut it off) to make sure things are cooled off. This is not an unrealistic thing to do ... how many cars do you walk by on a hot day and hear the fan running after tha car has been shut off.

Your boat is significantly different than a car. The bilge of a boat typically does not have a lot of air circulating around it unless the blower is on. Also, cars have their fuel pumpslocated in the fuel tank.This keeps the pump cooler and allows the fuel between thepump and tank to be pressurized whichraises the vaporization temperature.

Try buying fuel from another source. We recommend using gasoline from a "Top Tier" supplier. Yuo can find which suppliers sell Top Tier fuel by checking out the following site. http://www.toptiergas.com/

I hope this gives you a little insight into vapor lock. It is a condition that has been around for a long time.It can be very frustrating but can be prevented in many cases by following a few simple procedures.
__________________
Larry Engelbert
Indmar Marine Engines
"Send Ed Down Under"

[brownski]

Does anybody know if altitude can have an effect on this. I started having problems last summer moving from Sacramento under 1000' elev. to Nv at about 5,000 elev. change fuel pumps then it did it again. Never had the problem before.

[meech]

thanks everyone ... appreciate it.



This is the answer from an older post by Engine Nut

A little clarification. The issue we have been seeing that is presumed to vapor lock is a condition that appears to be most prevalent on the 2007 model 340 engines with ETX CAT manifolds. The theory is that the extra heat generated by the catalysts allows the heat to build up in the bilge after the engine has been run for a period of time and then shut off. After it sits for a while a condition called "heat soak" raises the temperature in the bilge and allows the fuel in the line between the pump and tank to vaporize. The high pressure fuel pump will not pump vapor.

That being said, you can reduce the possibility of happening on any boat by doing a few simple things.

First, make sure your fuel filter is clean. As the fuel pump draws fuel from the tank through the filter, it creates a low pressure (vacuum) in the line. The harder the pump has to work the more vacuum is applied to the fuel. Fuel vaporzes at a lower temperature when it is exposed to a vacuum.

Make sure there are no restrictions in the fuel line between the tank and pump. The best condition is to have as straight and short of a line as possible. Each bend in the line can cause the pump to have to work harder and increase the vacuum.

After a hard run, try to let the engine run for a minute or two before shutting it off. This will help "normalize" the engine temperature and remove as much heat as possible from the engine. It might even help to disengage the shift control and raise the engine RPM in neutral to pump more water through the engine before shutting down.

Leave the bilge blower on after the engine is shut down to bring as much fresh air into the bilge as possible. Also, make sure the bilge vent hose isn't blocked, restricted or even disconnected from the vent and that the vent isn't blocked externally. It is not a bad idea on a hot day to lt the blower run all the time the engine is running .You'll also want to make sure to turn the blower on well before starting (if you shut it off) to make sure things are cooled off. This is not an unrealistic thing to do ... how many cars do you walk by on a hot day and hear the fan running after tha car has been shut off.

Your boat is significantly different than a car. The bilge of a boat typically does not have a lot of air circulating around it unless the blower is on. Also, cars have their fuel pumpslocated in the fuel tank.This keeps the pump cooler and allows the fuel between thepump and tank to be pressurized whichraises the vaporization temperature.

Try buying fuel from another source. We recommend using gasoline from a "Top Tier" supplier. Yuo can find which suppliers sell Top Tier fuel by checking out the following site. http://www.toptiergas.com/

I hope this gives you a little insight into vapor lock. It is a condition that has been around for a long time.It can be very frustrating but can be prevented in many cases by following a few simple procedures.
__________________
Larry Engelbert
Indmar Marine Engines
"Send Ed Down Under"

[yearround]

Does anybody know if altitude can have an effect on this. I started having problems last summer moving from Sacramento under 1000' elev. to Nv at about 5,000 elev. change fuel pumps then it did it again. Never had the problem before.

fortunately, we have not had this vapor lock problem. we have ran our boat at elevations as low as 3600 in lake powell to over 7000 in colorado. we have an 08 lsv.