Port engine stalled after retarding throttle

[mwest74]

Hello everyone. I am the owner of a '95 Carver 330 Mariner with twin Crusader 350 xl's. To say this boat has been a money pit since I bought it is an understatement. My latest problem, while my wife was driving (a.k.a. the boss lady) under my watchful eye, she pulled the throttles back slowly entering a no wake zone and the port engine stalled. We had been running 20 to 30 minutes. I took over and quickly tried to restart a couple of times while fighting the boats tendency to want to turn left. I realized it was still in gear and shifted the engine into neutral and tried to restart a couple of more times. It would crank but not turn over. Well, being as the cooler was full we had food and a good engine and generator, we decided this was as good as place as any to drop the hook for the night. I also was not going to try and take it back into the marina on one engine. To say on one engine she is a wallowing pig would be kind. Anyway, we got the anchor out courtesy of a new windless, and I decided to just forget about it and try it later. About 3 or four hours later, I went and tried to start and... PFM, it started up with a puff of black smoke and then a little white smoke I'm told by the boss lady. Did I mention she was in a floating lounge chair right behind the port engine exhaust? The next afternoon it again started fine. No smoke this time and we returned to the marina without issue. I talked to the marina mechanic and he said it was probably vapor lock. Some further information: No loss of oil pressure, and the temps. looked good right before it stalled. I believe that engine has a rough 300 hours on it. Anyone have any ideas on what it could be? I'd buy the vapor lock theory, but, in my mind that doesn't explain the stall. Maybe that could be the reason why it wouldn't restart immediately. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[mjk1040]

Black smoke would indicate flooding, most likely from your attempts to restart it earlier. If you have throttle bodies, make sure the spark arrestors are clean, and try to clean the air flow sensors. Crab cleaner and a tooth brush will work.

[Cooler]

What was your gas tank level at when this happened? Vapor lock occurs more often when the tanks are low. When the boss pulled back on the throttle, the fuel sloshed forward. A friend of mine had exactly the same problem, same symptoms. His lesson learned was....while the gas tanks are SUPPOSED to be 190 gallons total, a previous owner replaced the OEM tanks with smaller size. So while he thought he had 95 gallon capacity on each side, he actually had 60 gallon capacity on both sides. Long story short, he was always running with a lot less gas than he thought, and ran out of gas just outside the marina. ( Did not trust his gauges ) Also, like Mike said, clean those flame arrestors. Easy job with Dawn and a tooth brush. Lot of boaters just ignore them, but those Crusaders need air. er

[Cooler]

Sorry to hear about the money pit issues. My 330 runs like a champ, all the time. 300 hours is not much for those engines. Crusaders are built like a brick house. Back in 95, they were marinized with a lot of aviation technology. You certainly do not want to have an engine fail at 15K feet altitude. er

[mwest74]

What was your gas tank level at when this happened? Vapor lock occurs more often when the tanks are low. When the boss pulled back on the throttle, the fuel sloshed forward. A friend of mine had exactly the same problem, same symptoms. His lesson learned was....while the gas tanks are SUPPOSED to be 190 gallons total, a previous owner replaced the OEM tanks with smaller size. So while he thought he had 95 gallon capacity on each side, he actually had 60 gallon capacity on both sides. Long story short, he was always running with a lot less gas than he thought, and ran out of gas just outside the marina. ( Did not trust his gauges ) Also, like Mike said, clean those flame arrestors. Easy job with Dawn and a tooth brush. Lot of boaters just ignore them, but those Crusaders need air. er

The tanks were nearly full roughly 3/4-7/8. First time it's ever done that . We also came off plane very slowly. I'll check the flame arrestor also. My fear is it does it when pulling back into the marina. Maneuvering within close quarters with 1 engine would be the stuff of you tube legends, for all the wrong reasons .

[Cooler]

One more thought...are you using ethanol blended gas? These engines really prefer straight, non-ethanol gas. If that is not available in your area, then use some Star-Tron marine gas treatment. Instructions on the bottle. er

[mwest74]

Ethanol free gas isn't an option. It's just not abailable at any of the marinas nearby. I do use a stabilizer. I'm wondering if maybe I have a fuel pump right on the edge of functionality.

[bud37]

Do you have a carb or throttle body injection ?

[mwest74]

Do you have a carb or throttle body injection ?

I believe it is carb. Like I said, I good with vapor lock being the cause of it not starting again. Well, good might be the wrong word. It was hot that day in the low to mid 90's. So that makes sense. The stall is what I'm having a hard time with. Is it stalling. I was just starting to trust it again

[Cooler]

Yes, you are carbed. Your engines would have an XLI model designation if you were injected. You may be a little over sensitive, based on your past experiences. If this were me, I would see if it happens again before getting all out of shape about it. It really sounds like an anomaly. You may want to use an octane additive also. Really sad how so many marina's have switched to ethanol blended gas. I have seen phase separation for those blends in really short periods of time. Actually had one dock master tell me it will not break down for 3 yrs. What a crock! He does not own a boat. We still have pure gas over here, and that is all I run. Did you check those flame arrestors yet? They actually form a film around them that prevents air flow. I clean mine at least 3 times a season. Good luck...you're going to fine. er