First 10 Hours: One problem after another…

[SHANE1300]

of Course the first thing they are trying to tell me that its winter blend fuel.. NO NOT IT... so now it is the fuel octane? I understand higher octane burns faster than lower, it should not matter what octane you are running.. The point is this should not be happening either if its 87 or 93 octane.

[smokedog2]

Someone had this problem awhile back and it was a plugged or bent vent line to the gas tank causing the "vapor lock" actually a vacuum lock.

I'd check that first.

SD2

[JoeTechie]

Shane,

Actually Higher octane retards explosion at higher compression levels allowing higher performance engines to work more efficiently. It has little to do with the fuels flamability. If anything, 87 is more easily combustable than 93.


European Octane ratings are in RON vs EKI or RMS - so 95 other places is 91 US.

-J

[lowdrag]

To the first two posters, your problems sound exactly like what happened with my new boat last year. It was indeed vapor lock. So far every fuel delievery component from the tank to and including the fuel pump have been replaced. Some of the repairs were made late last year and I haven't had the time to get the boat out this year to see if it's cure the problem. Mine got so bad that it was pretty much a certainty that it would not start after sitting for any period of time with a hot motor. I ended up have to diagnose the problem by myself by going to an automotive parts store and finding a fuel pressure guage that would fit the nipple on the fuel system. The results were clearly vapor lock. For anyone who's interested I have video to document the situation and you can hear the rough running motor and see that the pressure in the fuel system is very low when the problem is happening. The last thing that was done with my boat was having the fuel pump replaced. I'm hoping that it was just a weak pump and that the swap will correct the situation but I can't be sure yet. The best solution I had to remedy the problem at the time was to use the bleed off valve on the fuel pressure guage. Whenever the motor vapor locked, I'd have to run the hose from the bleed off valve into a beer bottle and purge the system. When the boat was vapor locking the line would purge mostly vapor and extremely hot fuel.

[SHANE1300]

Thank you all for your info.. I guess i am going to have to go buy a fuel pressure gauge and get some video of the problems myself..This is sad that we have to do this to our new boats. For some reason you would think SC would be finding a way to cure these problems as they keep resurfacing with more and more boats it seems. And then the dealers never want to believe what you think it may be. But What can you do other than prove them wrong :P And that is my next mission.......

[JoeTechie]

I'm sure both Indmar and SC who both have reps reading these boards are interested in the problem and resolving it.

Lowdrag - did you send your video to Larry ?

These are exactly the kinds of things they want to know about. Fixing one boats particular gremlins are a nice thing for them to do for us, but knowing about a possibly larger more widespread problem is what we can do for them.

-Joe

[SHANE1300]

I am sure they will do what they need to solve the issues.. It just gets frustrating knowing your boat is not going to run when you take it out... I will do what i can to help solve these issue as well as i can with them...

[moomba_armada]

Thanks for the info about the european octane grade,Joe. Makes me feel calmer about the vapor lock.

[mtm_lsv]

I agree with Joe, you would expect SC and Indmar to me monitoring these boards and would be interested in addressing the problems to allay our concerns. I would welcome their participation in the discussion. hint, hint...

[aintskeered]

We got back from the dealer last night about 11:45pm...... Gotta love the long night drives. While looking at ways to correct the vapor lock that was happining with our 07 lsv. They moved a couple of lines/ hoses that were laying right against the fuel pump. two oil lines from the filter, The connection line from the R&L exhaust manifolds and another which i can not rember what went too. tie wraps and twisting fittings to make this all happen also a wire loom on the oil filter lines. I dont know if all or any of this will fix the problem but any time you can reduce the temps on the vacume or static side of the fuel pump you are heading in the right direction. I will find out this weekend if it helped. I wish I would have thought or noticed this myself as this could be a quick and easy fix.