- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- RO Number
- 2435
- Messages
- 48
On my last leg of a 7 day Chesapeake Bay vacation, my starboard VP 5.7 Gsi (2001) would crank OK, but would not start. Port was normal. I limited cranks to 10 seconds per the manual and used the flooded engine procedure but no luck. Two days before, I filled up for the first time with the ethanol gas (80 gal) on top of 60 pre-ethanol mix (which I hadn't used up before the fuel dock shifted to ethanol). The engines had been running about 2 hours the two previous days on this mixture and started up fine two days previous.
I changed both fuel filters, pulled and dried each spark plug, lightly sanded the distributor and rotor. Each time no joy. Finally called the dockmaster. He diagnosed some fuel issue. And after cranking about 15 seconds straight and cycling the throttle to 3/4 and back, finally got the engine running. And it stayed running.
He said it was a vapor lock. Air temperatures after the engine was previously shutdown were in the low 80's and low 60's for two days. Then low 80's when it failed to start. I flush both engines raw water sides with cold fresh water after the engines cool down a bit. This is the first time I have ever had a starting problem since the boat was new.
1. Could this have been a vapor lock?
2. If so, any chance it was due to ethanol gas?
3. If a vapor lock, was this the right procedure to get the engine started?
4. How do I avoid in the future?
Thanks,
Joe
I changed both fuel filters, pulled and dried each spark plug, lightly sanded the distributor and rotor. Each time no joy. Finally called the dockmaster. He diagnosed some fuel issue. And after cranking about 15 seconds straight and cycling the throttle to 3/4 and back, finally got the engine running. And it stayed running.
He said it was a vapor lock. Air temperatures after the engine was previously shutdown were in the low 80's and low 60's for two days. Then low 80's when it failed to start. I flush both engines raw water sides with cold fresh water after the engines cool down a bit. This is the first time I have ever had a starting problem since the boat was new.
1. Could this have been a vapor lock?
2. If so, any chance it was due to ethanol gas?
3. If a vapor lock, was this the right procedure to get the engine started?
4. How do I avoid in the future?
Thanks,
Joe