Before Posting, Please Read Our Posting Guidelines Below.
1. Use the full 4 digit year for everything you are asking your question about. Example: 1962, 1988, 2000, 2011 2. Include the correct name of your Whaler model. Example: Montauk 17, Montauk 170, Outrage 26, Outrage 260 3. Include the length when necessary. Example: 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 4. Do not post your email address anywhere on this site as it is already in your user profile.
The external filter they installed is supposed to be a filter/separator but its a cheap Marpac brand with no clear bowl. I'll upgrade it to a Racor B32013 10 micron filter/seperator with a clear bowl.
JohnnyCW wrote:
First off, the diagnostic software is just plain super-cool.
Secondly, the software revealed just how far off my imagination and guessing was about my Engine Check light.
Turns out the fault that set it off was water detected in the fuel. I had emptied the tank before taking the boat in for the engine installation. The shop added 15 gallons of gas to the tank to take it out and test the engine and prop. I then topped the tank off before I took the boat out for my first time. No telling where the water may have come from.
Fortunately I now know my System Check lights all wired correctly.
My plan is to empty the tank again, change both the external fuel filter and the engine's under-cowl spin-on filter, refuel, add stabilizer, then give it another go. Any comments to that plan appreciated.
That should work.
Critical engine faults (such as overheating motor or hot EMM) that light up the Check Engine light will also cause the motor to throttle back to about 1200 RPM or less. If the EMM wasn't detecting oil pulses, the NO OIL light would light up instead of the CHECK ENGINE and it would also throttle back. A water-in-fuel fault should light up the CHECK ENGINE light but it alone will not cause the motor to throttle back.
Took the external Marpac filter and the under-cowl Etec filter off today. Boy did I get a disappointing surprise. The Marpac filter was nearly 3/4 full of water. The Etec filter had just enough to contact the water detecting probes that stick down into the filter.
In all the years I've had this boat I've never had this kind of water problems. My dad believes the water came from a municipal dock I filled up at to top the tank off about three hours into my first run. Impossible to know for sure. I got the check engine light about an hour or so after that fuel stop.
I've now changed the Marpac filter out for a 10 micron Racor with the clear bowl to allow visual monitoring. I also installed a new Evinrude filter under the cowel. Still gotta drain the remaining 20 or so gallons in the tank and fil with fresh gas before I run her.
Hello All, for what it's worth, my mechanic showed me an example of phase separation in a brand new boat he had a customer come to run. Our gasoline is now sold with up to 10% ethanol. Ethanol likes to combine with water and when the ethanol in gasoline becomes 100% combined with water it falls out of solution. It is heavier than gas, so your tank's diptube will suck this up first. The ethanol/water combination can be detrimental to an engine. In two strokes the ethanol/water combination will compete with the oil in bonding to metal engine parts. See this article from the EPA http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/fuels/rfg/waterphs.pdf. Either way it is a GREAT idea to have that racor spin on filtler with the clear bottom and keep your tank full of treated gas during the winter/offseason. Also, it is nice to know that the etec will check for this! thanks to everyone for all the info on this site and over at CW, btw!
