boat runnin not quite right

went out this mornin and the boats runnin a little bit not right. I kept gettin' a little bit of a deep gurgle sound (almost sounded like exhaust type sound), I would've disregarded it, but every time it made the sound the boat would lose just a little bit of power (maybe 1 mph) for just a brief moment. If I were carburated I'd probably start there cuz it kinda sounded and acted like possibly a fuel supply issue, but fuel injection rules that out. I stayed out cuz it didn't seem like anything major. Kept and eye on temp, etc., but really everything ran really good except for the slight hiccups. any ideas? 03 supra launch ssv

You went out this mornin? You bum

Maybe some water in the tank getting sucked up every once in a while?

Fuel Filter

One more thing. Skiers Choice is now recommending that fuel filter be changed every 50 hrs like your oil. Start there my friend.

I would say fuel filter too, but that shouldn't be intermittent.

Rule out filter if possible. Likely water in the fuel. Sta-Bil makes a marine product that reduces the effect of alcohol attracting water in the tank. Since MTBE was eliminated, almost all fuel now contains alcohol; since it is an open vented system, we now collect water from air humidity.

Use the Sta-Bil every tank to prevent the problem.

so replace the fuel filter and add sta-bil to the tank of gas? Okay, sounds easy enough. Can I add the sta-bil to my tank now or should I wait til I fill it up again?

Now. You need to have a few tankfulls to get all of the water out. It does not take much. Buy the blue stuff, not the red. It will also prevent damage to the fuel lines and seals.

Replaced the fuel filter. I was talking with another ww'r and he mentioned to maybe check the fuel/water separator as well. Where might that be? I also added a some blue Sta-bil. I ran it this weekend after the new filter and sta-bil. No positive changes...possibly a tad bit worse actually. Is there anything else it might be? If its just water in the fuel, I'm fine with letting it run as is for a few more trips because i don't believe there is much damage to be done, but I just want to make sure I'm not forgetting to check something that may actually be causing some real damage..

My buddy that was out with me when I first noticed said to him it sounded like something intake related. He used to be the captain of some large fishing boat, but I'm not sure how/if his knowledge translates to Vdrive wakeboard boat...

I'm not sure if water to the intake could cause this, but I guess worth mentioning because I noticed I don't get good water pressure to the cold line on my shower which is teed off just before it enters the manifold. It could just be the T because no other signs that the engine isn't getting sufficient cold water, temps are good...

electrical/ignition maybe. Plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, coil..check em or replace them. Not too expensive to replace yourself.

Boat was tuned prior to season so I don't see any plugs, wires, cap, etc that would need fixin

well, I read some other posts to check the fuel in the filter to check for water. I emptied it into a jar and no visible traces of water. any other ideas?

Jeremy, is it when you are sufing and on list or just any time? I almost wonder if it's cavitation.

Also how does the oil look?
Did you check you plugs or replace them when it got a tune up? They could be fouled and or arching which could also ruin you plug wires.

no, I really notice it when wakeboarding mostly.

Oil looks good. I just added some the other day because it was a touch low, but color good. Not milky

I thought all the plugs were changed during tuneup, but what do I look for? I can pull the wires easy enough....is there something an untrained eye could notice easily?

Well you had have to pull each one and look at the insulator around the tip where the spark occurs. It would have crap on it, such as oil or fuel. Also look at the plug wire where it connects, if there are white halos it would be because of arching.

These are unlikely if it doesn't do anything at idle though.

boat ran a lot better today. Didn't notice anything. I added a bottle of fuel injector cleaner before I filled it up so maybe that was it.

now onto the next thing...I just rename my thread "what's wrong now"? But my boat again, very intermittenly, makes a strange sound. Last time we were out my wife described it as a grinding noise which scared the crap out of me. Then she redescribed as rubber on rubber? She said it almost sounded like we were rubbing up against a buoy or something. She heard it when she was came out of gear to pick me up so I never got the chance to hear it last time. But sure enough we were out today I heard it. Definitely not a grind, but I think her description of buoy against the hull sounds right. almost a dull squeel when you put it into gear, or just out of gear...but again, only brief and it only happened once

Sounds like the cutlass bearing in the strut

well, that hiccup is back. Still nothing consistent. A couple sets you don't notice...the next few sets it seems to be something going on. Again, boat runs great, but that slight power loss is disturbing. A friend that was out this time ( I guess he knows car engines a little) said it sounded like something exhaust related or fuel. I think the sound is definitely from the exhaust, but I also think a fuel problem would trigger the same kinda sound. And in case you haven't read the whole post, basically getting a slight power drop directly related to hiccup in the exhaust (bah bah bah bah bah) intermittenly. runs fine, bah bah bah bah, runs fine. nothing noticed at idle and notice more at wakeboard speed vs surf speed.

oh yeah...changed fuel filter, added sta-bil, added stp fuel injector cleaner

I'm at a loss on the motor but I'll second Darren on the cutlas bearing likely being the noise when you start out.

Rubber cutlas bearing