Honda Outboard Water Problem

mixman

mixman

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I have a pair of Honda BF60s. Running them at around 5,000 RPM the other day one went into "Power Reduction Mode" (RPM dropped to near idle, visual text warning via NMEA 2000 on plotter). When this has happened before I hook up a hose and flush the motor out and the problem goes away. But today when I hooked up the hose and turn it on I'm not getting any water coming out. Impeller is 1 year old with less than 100 hours on it. Both engines won't flush (only one is giving error codes). Tell tales are flowing strong. I've got an hour-long trip to get home today so I'll dial up temperature via NMEA2000 and keep an eye on that but regardless I need to figure out why I can't get either outboard to flush.
 
did you flush out all old impeller pieces when you changed them? Did you recently pass through a lot of sea grass??
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

There has to be a blockage somewhere...

Click to expand...


Yes, but where? Tell tails are very strong. Honda support sucks. I should have gone Yamaha (next year I'm going Perkins :-)
 
quote:
Originally posted by pdecat

did you flush out all old impeller pieces when you changed them? Did you recently pass through a lot of sea grass??

Click to expand...


Old impellers were in such good shape (original after re-power) I almost didn't change them. There was nothing off of them. Too much rain here in MD this year for much sea grass. Granted, you're right that it is some sort of clog somewhere, but probably silt. My main issue is why can't I flush it out? Hondas (and Yamahas, and some others) have a garden hose fitting that is used for flushing. No water is coming out of the hubs for me though. I guess I'll start tearing stuff apart. Probably bad check valves as I think the flush hose isn't part of the cooling system.
 
Oh, I forgot to add that on the 1-hour trip back home from across the Chesapeake the same engine only went into warning mode once. Shut down, restart, fine. 5,000 RPM as usual (and that's taking it easy on Honda 60s as they'll run 6k all day long). The only thing I noticed really strange was that my NMEA2000 fuel consumption data was way, WAY off. It showed we burned 3 times what we probably actually used. I had full tanks at 72 gallons. That trip probably burned 15 total. Chart plotter said we only had 26 gallons left. I guess I'll call Honda USA tomorrow. They'll tell me to call a dealer. I'll remind them that the 2 dealers in my area are clueless morons that only know Mercs.
 
strange that you have two seemingly unrelated symptoms. actually blocked cooling and possible incorrect fuel consumption readings. Has the flushing improved after your run?
 
I haven't had a chance to try flushing again. I will and will update.

Thinking back to your "sea grass" idea I did a short-haul about a month ago and the pit did have some plant life in it. That was the first time I had this issue (after re-launching). But I forgot about it as we just did two 4-hour runs last week and I didn't have any issues.
 
I should add that the fuel consumption readings are way off. It was a 1 hour trip each way and the plotter showed we used 49 gallons (we only hold 72!). I just topped the tanks off and the boat took about 12 gallons as expected.
 
Was the engine really hot or is it a computer problem that caused the shutdown. No amount of flushing will fix a computer problem.
 
The NMEA2000 data being messed up somewhat scares me that this may indeed be a computer (ECU) issue. I'm waiting on a call back from a Honda shop 1.5 hours away (via boat). It would figure that the warranty period ended a few months ago!
 
Have you tried the BFRS solution or Big effing Red Switch? When electronics go "goofey" on me I always pull the power source and let them sit several minutes before applying power again. By pulling the power I mean disconnecting the battery terminals so that there is NOTHING going to the engines. I usually do this when we experience crazy power issues. If you are plugged into shore power this might be a consideration.

Not sure how the OBs would react in this case tho so some consideration for "cold start" issues is appropriate.
 
I just replace the splices from the repower on that one but I will pull both main fuses and see what that does. It could be a coincidence with the three issues, who knows.
 
How did you go from no water flow to an electrical problem?
 
Original problem was an engine in limp in mode.
Water flush was an attemp to clear the computer shutdown
Second problem was computer misreporting fuel usage.
 
Thanks, Mike, you nailed it. Bruce, I do see where this is somewhat confusing:

Starboard engine goes into "power reduction (limp/safety)" mode after I did a haul out. Comes back up coughing and hacking (4.5 year old EFI Honda BF60), and then does a 1.5 hour trip just fine (strange!). Then, 2 weeks later, we do a 4-hour trip one way and 4 hours back and everything is fine. 1 week after that we do a 1-hour trip and it goes into "safety mode" 4 times one way and 1 time on the way back. Fuel "might" be an issue but I go out of my way (20 miles by truck) to buy non-ethanol and both tanks get the same fuel. Add to that I get correct real-time fuel-burn information via NMEA2000 data from the outboards to the plotter but the "total consumed" figure is way, way over inflated (burned 12, NMEA2000 info said we burned 53). The "water" issue is that most of the new outboards have an easy-to-access garden hose attachment to flush with. Both of mine are clogged (I'm guessing). I'm going to pull things apart and see if the check valves are stuck (check valves are there to keep the actual flow from the water pump/impeller from getting into the flush line). I also took Dan's advice and shut power down to both engines to reset the ECMs. It is possible this is just some sort of coincidence of a number of different factors. With luck, this time next year I'll be riding on twin old Perkins Diesels courtesy of BillyIII! :-)
 
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