supra power loss on take off

alright - i searched through the archives, but couldn't find this problem...

bought my 2002 supra ssv last month. took it out and it ran great all day. near the end of the day, when first hitting the gas to pull up a boarder, the boat bogged and lost power, stalling out. after once more, i decided to call it a day. the boat takes off smooth with a slow accelleration, but not on a full blown take off. people told me maybe bad gas.

next trip out, i was nervous so filled up with 93 octane and poured 2 bottles of fuel injector cleaner in. it took a while to start at the dock. ran it for about 20 minutes, then gave it a 'test pull'. it bogged, died, and wouldn't start. a fellow boater came aboard and helped start it. even with choaking it we could not smell any gas. spraying starter fluid would help it start, but it would not run. figured fuel pump and maybe water seperator...

took it to the supra dealership and they ran it on the machine with no problems all day. said they could start it easily and run it repeatedly. now they want to drop it in the water to test, which is a $150 charge. i am going to have them do it... but what do you guys think is wrong?

sediments in the fuel tank? fuel pump? timing issues?

PLEASE HELP!!

did it smoke at all? possible map sensor. check the harness coming from the rear of the dist. cap to make sure it hasn't broken down (it has a, sort of, fusible link there) starting fluid takes the place of so many things at times and can be confusing, not necessarily a fuel issue. the eng has no choice but to run off of starting fluid when there is compression.

thanks.
there is no smoke at all. does that change anything?

I had dirt in the fuel tank that collected on the screen. Worked great at the dock, but when agitated. Also, fuel line collapse can cause the issue. The fuel pump pressure can be low.

Recommend:

See if the fuel tank is dirty and verify screen.
Change fuel lines and filter.
Check pressure on fuel pump.
Water in the fuel tank. Use water sensing tape or paste to verify when the tank is open.

These are all cheap, but take time.

My vote is the filters. Check all of them.

if no smoke, check all of your filters... this is something oyu can do -- how long has it been since they have been repl?

thanks - i feel it might be the filter - or they say I don't have a fuel filter, I have a water seperater. i just bought it, so i have no idea when the last time they were changed.

also - it bogged at takeoff sometimes and didn't stall, then i really ripped it and it stalled and didn't start. then took it to the shop and it started fine... makes me think there is something in my gas tank as well...

when it was at the shop, they tested fuel pressure and it was great. i think either water or sediments... but i just don't know how to do any of it and it is at the shop.

alright, changed the water seperater/fuel filter. for the first 10 min on the water, i thought everything was fixed...

then - engine bogged. very bummed out, i continued to search for the problem. it would only bog on full take off. i took off the distributor cap and it was pretty corroded with a hairline crack. i changed that and dropped the boat back in. seemed even worse with the bogging and it stalled out and would not start.

did some tests and there is no spark or power getting there.

my friend now thinks it is the ignition control module, which sits right by the distributor cap. as it gets hotter, the problem gets worse. this would explain that when it stalled the first time, and i took it to the dealer, that it worked just fine, because it cooled down.

i am going to fix this tomorrow - any thoughts?? agree/disagree??

thanks for all your help

i know on my malibu there is a hidden filter on top of the fuel tank, maybe your boat is the same, it caused us a huge headache until we found it. we had the same problems as you

When you took the water separator off, did you pour the gas into a clear glass cup? If so, was there water in there? If so, you may have more water in your tank. It may take a couple times of dumping out the filter. Also when you replaced the filter did you fill it with gas? If you didn't, your boat isn't starting, because there is no fuel. The pump will not prime. It was running on the fuel that was already in the system. I had a similar problem. I would also do what greg says though. EFI has an extra fuel filter. Carb's don't. I have a carb, so it took a while to find the prob. Had to change the filter twice. Don't know how, but I had a ton of water in my tank.

Ignition problems seem like fuel problems sometimes. Check it out.

i told the dealership to change all filters and they said this is the only one (water seperater). i trust they know what they are talking about. they also said when they took off the filter that it really wasnt that bad.

when the boat died, we were getting zero spark to the engine. no electricity at all (although it would crank and all accessories worked). we are going to put a new ignition control in today and test it out. i am hopeful. i will let you know.

If you're not getting spark, it seems like you've found your problem. I could very well be heat related as the ignition system becomes heat soaked. This can reduce the efficiency of the ignition system enough that you'll have a faint spark which could be enough to ignite some fuel when your idling, but when you open the throttle there's not enough to ignite all the fuel that gets added. Check your spark on a cold engine and then do it again when you start having problems. If you don't have spark when it gets hot, open the engine compartment and let it cool off. If it starts again when cool you'll definitely have a starting point on what to fix.

On your engine, im pretty sure there is an electric fuel pump mounted on the engine. There are filter screens on the input lines. Make sure those are clean as well.

well - i replaced the ignition control and no luck... it runs really well cold and about 20 minutes into it, you get the problems. the fuel pump is located in the gas tank. the filter on it might be clogged, but i have no clue how to get to it.

reluctantly and sadly, the boat is going to the shop.

ah the heartbreaks and pains of boating....

mike, as i mentioned earlier -- check the harness reight behind the ign module at the dist -- disconnect and remove the black tubing protecting the wires -- there is a fusible type link there that can break down --i have seen this more than once.....

I was having similar problems with my 03 SSV. It was the low pressure fuel pump. The boat shop took it apart and cleaned the gum/ sludge or what ever you call it out of the pump and it has run great since. this is something that you may be able to do yourself if your model has the same low pressure pump as mine. mine ran good for about 20 minutes as well and then started sputtering and the problem got worse till it would'nt run at all.

i hope that is all it is... i am taking it to the shop today - thanks again guys