05 Outback wont run after warm

[randy p]

Just put my 05 Outback in water and ran great until we took a break for lunch (11/2 or 2 hours). When tried to crank again, was near impossible to crank and when finally did, would only rough idle. Could not get to run the rest of the day, then the next morning, same thing, ran great at first, then took break and would not crank after that. Dealer has it now and cant get it to repeat problem. He runs it for a while and lets it sit, but will not repeat problem. Does anyone know what is going on? They say fuel pressure is ok. (fuel injected 350cid engine)

[smak]

hey randy p......we hav an 05 outback 2......with less than 10 hrs on ours the fuel and bilge pump quit working and needed replacing....since then its been fine.....the mechanic and I heard the fuel pump working fine but there was no fuel in the carb.....ran like a charm after the replacement and no problems since.....sometimes when we change skiers it wants a little more throttle an just turn key to start it....its gotta be fuel or electrical.....our fuel pump before it quit and and stay quit would work fine for a few hours then hard to start(mostly at the dock thankfully)....this happened a few times....then I started it no problems took it about 2 football fields from the marina it died and never restarted until the repair(I still hav night mares about the tow in.....and now the kids think I cant drive)....like I said pump sounded like it was working but no fuel in carb....it always had lots of electrical juice....maybe hav them focus on fuel pump....is it a carb?.....anyway good luck.....smak

[Buttafewcoe]

Check the anti siphon valve on the top of the gas tank. It may be sticking.
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Hope this helps
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Jim

[Schmitter]

My 2004 Outback has problems also. It never doesn't run, but I can only pull one skier, then the boat is no good and loosing power. Three weeks ago the dealer removed the anit siphon valve because he had no replacement. then last week he replaced the fuel pump, and it is still doing the same thing. It is getting a little better each time, but it still seems like the engine is not getting enough fuel. At this point I am extremely frustrated. I keep the boat in the water all season, and there is no public launch and I feel that I am wearing out my welcome at the ramp that I use.

[Schmitter]

Ok, here is an update to my previous post, if anyone has any ideas, all are welcome and appreciated. So after removing the anti-siphon valve and replacing the fuel pump and still having the same problems, my mechanic came out to the lake and was able to more effectively troubleshoot. Of course the problem was easily replicated. After running a short while the fuel pressure drops from about 30PSI to 20PSI, thus causing a loss of power. He ordered a new throttle body, because the fuel pressure switch is in there somewhere and it is not a serviceable unit. Last night he came out to the lake and installed the throttle body and it did not fix the problem. basically no change, although I no longer have to wait for the boat to warm up for as long to experience the problem. So I have a nice boat that has 32 hours on it. The first 10 are break in hours, with no skiing, the next 20 are from last season enjoying the boat, and the next two hours on the boat are non functional troubleshooting hours. It is currently the middle of July, in New England, where the season ends in early September. I would like to use the boat for something other than a dock decoration this year.

[WakeMe]

Schmitter, Try changing the fuel filter. That fixed our problem with the same symptoms. I believe it is in the trunk behind the rear panel. Hope that helps. Keep us posted.

[Schmitter]

Since installing the new throttle body did not fix the problem, the mechanic removed the screen from the old fuel pump, which was still kicking around at the shop. When he removed the screen it was clogged up with a light brown powdery/chunky substance. So he ordered me a fuel filter, not a replacement, since my boat did not have one installed originally. He gave me the tools to use to cut in the fuel filter and remove the screen from the fuel pump and I installed a clean screen and fuel filter. It seems to have corrected the problem, but now I don't think I have as much top end as I used to have.

I think that the root cause is a reaction with the cheap off brand gas preservitive that they use. I have heard of several people who have had this same problem and the common factors are the boats did not have fuel filters, which I don't understand, but I am not a boat builder so what do I know. The second common factor is they all had their boats winterized at a dealer, not done themselves. No one I know that winterized their boat themselves had this problem. I winterized all my other stuff with Sta-Bil and did not have a problem with my motorcycle or jeep, but the dealer did the boat and there was the problem.

Anyone have any other ideas?