Engine miss/hesitation

[willbaker13]

Took the boat out today. She started right up, no issues at idle or making my way through the no wake zone. When I went to open her up she kind of hesitated then took off but then started hesitating and it felt almost like running out of gas (power/no power/power/no power) - 1/2 tank of gas. There were no noises (popping, backfire, etc.). I stopped and was at idle and the alarm went off. I turned the engine off but forgot to look at the alarm code. The oil pressure and temp were good and nothing appeared to be leaking. I ultimately limped back to the dock. The fuel filter is new and the spark plugs were checked/cleaned last summer. Would welcome any suggestions on where to start - spark plugs, spark plug wires, fuel filter, ??? Engine is the 2013 VP 300-C-A V8 with 192 hours.

 

[Doc]

Might be bad gas. Can you top it off with non ethanal gas?

 

[Denny]

Water?

 

[willbaker13]

We used fuel stabilizer over the winter so did not even think about bad gas. Went and pulled a couple gallons of gas out, basically idled over to the gas dock - about 1/4 mile outside the no wake zone, put 20 gallons of gas in. Voilà. I ran for a few minutes at about 2000 rpm, then opened her up to about 4000 rpm. No issues.

The gas that we pulled out didn't appear bad (smell, water) but who knows.

Thanks Doc for the suggestion. One less thing to worry about

 

[Doc]

Glad that got you going!!!!!
Been there done that. Especially with ethanol in the gas.
Now they are giving the okay for 15% ethanol Nightmare to me.

 

[Denny]

Glad that got you going!!!!!
Been there done that. Especially with ethanol in the gas.
Now they are giving the okay for 15% ethanol Nightmare to me.

They have to do something to keep the mechanics busy, and keep the cost of boating up.

 

[Ontariochaparral]

Might also be the anti syphon valve on the outlet of the fuel tank. The fail and starve the motor of fuel. Really easy to replace and cheap. It can exhibit an intermittent studder when going up on plane. When fuel flow demand is at it's highest. It's a little spring and ball that pulls forward when drawing fuel and the spring pushes it back when the draw is stopped.

Attwood Universal Anti-Siphon Valve Fuel Fitting https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E21PVE8/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_C8QNSH8ZF8XE46F61S39?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Iggy]

When was the last time you changed the cap and rotor? If its over 3 years old, I would take it off and look inside.