SV230 hard start

[MCs 230 1]

So I have a 2004 sv230 with the black scorpion engine. This afternoon while at the lake we decided to take a break and go have some lunch. I didn't want to dump all the weight just to go anchor up for an hour or so so I left the boat ballasted. I had around 1800lbs in the back and about 300 in the front. Boat was mostly weighted even because I was testing a homemade wake gate. I have no issue listing the boat but the wife is a goofy rider and it's a pain to transfer all the weight. Once we were done hanging out we decided to take off. I went to start the boat and it would turn over but not start. Popped the engine hatch and took a look and also checked the kill switch found nothing wrong with either. I finally decided to put it in neutral only and give it some throttle and after a few it started and ran without issue. This is my first year with the boat but have not had a starting issue until today. This is also the first time I had left it weighted while just hanging out. I thought I had read a thread on here some time ago about this issue but searched and couldn't find anything. Ran the engine on the hose when we got home with no issue. Wondering if anyone new if the weight could have caused it or if anyone has any other ideas on what could have caused it

[boat tx 0]

Inspect under the distributor cap for corrosion

[DarksideR 1,679]

I seem to remember someone having a similar issue a few years ago that ended up being a fuel filter issue... Can't be sure though.

[MCs 230 1]

thanks guys. I will check those two things out and see what I got going.

[Dewman 0]

I am having similar problems with my 2006 SV230. Our boat starts up fine when it is cold or has sat for a few hours after running however if we turn it off at any point in time on the lake it has a real bad hard starting problem. We are able to get it started by giving it almost full throttle while out of gear but you really shouldn't have to do that. I spoke with a tech from the dealership where we purchased the boat and they said to try replacing the IAC motor and gasket and cleaning the filter but that didn't work either. I checked the fuel pressure at the Schrader valve on the fuel rail and we are only showing 25 psi when the fuel pump is primed and the boat hasn't been started that day. The fuel pressure stays at 25 psi when running and jumps anywhere from 0 to 25 when trying to start after running the boat. The service manual says it should be at 43 psi so I'm guessing (hoping) we have a blockage in the fuel line instead of a bad fuel pump. If I were you I would try checking the fuel pressure so you can rule out numerous other issues, then run through the fuel line components one by one starting with the cheapest and easiest to access. That is the direction I am headed in. Let me know how things progress, I'll follow up once we've solved our issue and maybe it will help you.

[Pildo 6]

I am having the same issues with a 2006 sv230. Also replaced the iac motor and filter. Actively following this post and open to try ideas.

[MCs 230 1]

I'll definently check on the fuel pressure. we were out this entire weekend with no issues. I did not sit for any amount of time with my bags and tanks full. Anytime were were anchored up i would empty my bags. maybe next weekend I will try and sit with the bags full again and see if this is an ongoing issue. I was also going to change the fuel filter just because. I'm new to this boat so I don't really know its service history.

[Rhale 80]

Our old Malibu would do this when hot. Vapor lock was the final diagnosis. Now I keep the blower running or prop open the engine cover to let some heat out. Had a few friends with different boats that running the blower more often or opening the hatch solved it as well.

[MCs 230 1]

We went out the other night and the boat was running just fine. We came to the end of the night and I was emptying all of my ballast which included 4 pumps running at the same time as well as running light and my transom LEDs and I started to get the 2 beep every 60 seconds alarm. I checked all of the gauges and didn't see any issue other than the voltage seamed low. took the boat home and did some research thought it might be the water pressure sensor, I ran the boat on the hose with no further alarm also went back to the lake and ran without issue other than what seamed to be low battery voltage. at idle or at speed it was showing right at 12 volts. after starting the boat it was lower. took the boat home again and ran it on the hose and checked with a meter at both the alternator and the batteries and both showed 14.2 at idle. So the question is could have pulling to much power by running lights and pumps at the same time have caused the alarm. I've done some research and it seems like it is almost always water pressure but this doesn't seem to be the issue as even after running hard I can feel the risers and they feel cold so I assume the impeller is just fine. Any help is appreciated. I am leaving for a week long boat trip in a couple of days and would hate to break down over something stupid.

[Dewman 0]

Well, here is an update:

 

First off, Fish I can't really help with the alarm, haven't had that issue on the boat. Sorry man.

 

On another note, I pulled up the floor of the boat to access the tank and fuel lines to replace/clean the anti-siphon valve at the tank and replace the inline fuel filter. Our anti-siphon valve has the standard 3/8 barbed end connected to the fuel line to the inline fuel filter and a 5/8" (1/4" ID) threaded end going into the fuel tank. I called all sorts of shops around Denver and no one carried the 5/8" valve, only the 1/2". Apparently this is a very specialized part according to them so I chose to clean and reuse it... whatever. Either way, I pulled off the anti-siphon valve cleaned it and blew air through it (taste of fuel is great...) and found it to be a little stuck at first. It took a bit of effort the first time but after that it seemed to move just fine. took out the fuel lines all the way up to the LP fuel pump and water separator filter to dump them and make sure there were no obstructions. Didn't find any. The one thing I did find was that the old inline fuel filter although relatively clean was dented in at the inlet so the aluminum was touching the inside filter cylinder on one side of the threaded inlet adapter area (I'll post pics later for reference). I guess this could cause an issue with choking the fuel at this point but who knows, replaced it with a new one anyway. Whoever put in the lines before me didn't use any thread sealant on the inline filter threads or the anti-siphon valve threads so I went ahead and did that.

 

Checked the fuel pressure afterward and this time it went up slightly to 26/27psi ish while primed. I bought the little fake-o-lake thing so I could run the boat in the driveway and turned her on and the pressure went up to almost 30psi, probably a little below 30. Who knows if this did anything... I'm still a bit concerned with the low fuel pressure both while primed and while running.

 

SO, after running it in the driveway for a while I took it to the lake and idled for a bit, filled the factory ballast and ran around the lake for about 20 minutes. Then idled for a good 20-30, then ran around the lake again doing about 20mph on the perfectpass for another 15-20 minutes. Took it in to the dock, turned it off for about 10 minutes while I went and got the truck and low and behold when I got back she fired up just fine. I would have expected to have the same hard start issue. Decided to take her off the lake and drive home (20-25 minutes) and put it back on the fake-o-lake and she fired right up again in the driveway no problem... I checked the engine in the driveway and it was super hot, I didn't let it vent or anything at the lake or in the driveway. All of this should have reproduced the hard start issue because it happens (used to happen?) just when driving from the dock to the marina which takes maybe 10 minutes of idling and throttling up to speed between loading the boat and waiting for people to get on...

 

So now I don't know, fuel pressure didn't really change significantly, I did clean the anti-siphon valve and replaced the inline fuel filter so maybe it was one of those two that was the culprit for the hard start? This week will be the real test in 90 degree weather and actually surfing and running the boat as she was meant to be run. As of right now it seems the fix was either the filter or the anti-siphon valve but I'm not getting my hopes up quite yet. Also, batteries are fine and all voltages look good so I'm ignoring potential electrical issues for now... I'll report back with findings after this weeks lake trip.

[MCs 230 1]

Well, here is an update:

 

First off, Fish I can't really help with the alarm, haven't had that issue on the boat. Sorry man.

 

On another note, I pulled up the floor of the boat to access the tank and fuel lines to replace/clean the anti-siphon valve at the tank and replace the inline fuel filter. Our anti-siphon valve has the standard 3/8 barbed end connected to the fuel line to the inline fuel filter and a 5/8" (1/4" ID) threaded end going into the fuel tank. I called all sorts of shops around Denver and no one carried the 5/8" valve, only the 1/2". Apparently this is a very specialized part according to them so I chose to clean and reuse it... whatever. Either way, I pulled off the anti-siphon valve cleaned it and blew air through it (taste of fuel is great...) and found it to be a little stuck at first. It took a bit of effort the first time but after that it seemed to move just fine. took out the fuel lines all the way up to the LP fuel pump and water separator filter to dump them and make sure there were no obstructions. Didn't find any. The one thing I did find was that the old inline fuel filter although relatively clean was dented in at the inlet so the aluminum was touching the inside filter cylinder on one side of the threaded inlet adapter area (I'll post pics later for reference). I guess this could cause an issue with choking the fuel at this point but who knows, replaced it with a new one anyway. Whoever put in the lines before me didn't use any thread sealant on the inline filter threads or the anti-siphon valve threads so I went ahead and did that.

 

Checked the fuel pressure afterward and this time it went up slightly to 26/27psi ish while primed. I bought the little fake-o-lake thing so I could run the boat in the driveway and turned her on and the pressure went up to almost 30psi, probably a little below 30. Who knows if this did anything... I'm still a bit concerned with the low fuel pressure both while primed and while running.

 

SO, after running it in the driveway for a while I took it to the lake and idled for a bit, filled the factory ballast and ran around the lake for about 20 minutes. Then idled for a good 20-30, then ran around the lake again doing about 20mph on the perfectpass for another 15-20 minutes. Took it in to the dock, turned it off for about 10 minutes while I went and got the truck and low and behold when I got back she fired up just fine. I would have expected to have the same hard start issue. Decided to take her off the lake and drive home (20-25 minutes) and put it back on the fake-o-lake and she fired right up again in the driveway no problem... I checked the engine in the driveway and it was super hot, I didn't let it vent or anything at the lake or in the driveway. All of this should have reproduced the hard start issue because it happens (used to happen?) just when driving from the dock to the marina which takes maybe 10 minutes of idling and throttling up to speed between loading the boat and waiting for people to get on...

 

So now I don't know, fuel pressure didn't really change significantly, I did clean the anti-siphon valve and replaced the inline fuel filter so maybe it was one of those two that was the culprit for the hard start? This week will be the real test in 90 degree weather and actually surfing and running the boat as she was meant to be run. As of right now it seems the fix was either the filter or the anti-siphon valve but I'm not getting my hopes up quite yet. Also, batteries are fine and all voltages look good so I'm ignoring potential electrical issues for now... I'll report back with findings after this weeks lake trip.

 

Maybe I will pull the floor on Saturday morning and take a look at the lines and valves and see about cleaning them out and replacing the fuel filter. the boat seems to have been starting ok but like you said this week will be the real test with the weather finally warming up here in Denver. thanks for all the information.

 

Dewman: what lake do you guys boat at?

[Dewman 0]

 

Maybe I will pull the floor on Saturday morning and take a look at the lines and valves and see about cleaning them out and replacing the fuel filter. the boat seems to have been starting ok but like you said this week will be the real test with the weather finally warming up here in Denver. thanks for all the information.

 

Dewman: what lake do you guys boat at?

 

Yeah it wouldn't hurt to look into those issues. I think we may have gotten lucky with this issue though, seems like most people have bad fuel pumps. I'm hoping it was just this fuel filter/valve issue. Check out the pics in this post. The inlet of the filter is bent inward touching the smaller cylinder inside the filter. I feel like this would obstruct the fuel flow enough and allow air to sit in the fuel lines to cause starting issues. I would just assume this causes hard starting when hot because we are running too lean? I dunno, we'll see what happens when we get on the water I guess.

 

Fish: We usually go to either Chatfield or Cherry Creek. Kind of depends on the day and where we are tagged. Currently we have a Cherry Creek tag but Chatfield is usually pretty easy to get on since they have the decon station at the lake... get there early enough and they are pretty quick.

 

[MCs 230 1]

thanks for the additional information. We are out at Chatfield 3 or 4 times a week. If you see an all red SV230 stop by and say hi. we are either riding or hanging out in the no wake area

[Dewman 0]

Yeah so none of that did anything... took it out to Chatfield last night and still had the hard starting issue after a few hours of surfing. Well crap, I think we are going to just take our boat to Island Lake Marine and leave it with them for a few weeks. The dealership we bought it from agreed to help with the service costs because they sold us the boat with what they said was a fixed prior issue... clearly not fixed.

 

BTW, Fish were you leaving Chatfield yesterday (06/09) around 6:30-7pm? White tow vehicle? If so we passed each other, I was heading to decon in the green Excursion with the all red SV230 in tow.

[MCs 230 1]

Yeah that was us in the White Yukon. I had just left Decon. We are headed up to Carter lake for the week. I remember why I try and stay at the same lake for the most part. Decon is a pain in the A$$. Kinda funny I thought we would be one in a million in an all red enzo. We saw maybe one centurion all last year in this area. We'll see ya around out there.

[Rhale 80]

Our '06 Enzo will give the same low voltage alarm if we run the pumps and tower lights as well. It'll happen as well if the mother is off and I have the stereo on and then try to run the pumps as well. Two brand new optima yellow tops and still no change. I'm guessing it's a possible ground issue? Running across the lake and the volt gauge still shows low voltage even though it shows fine at the battery post using a multimeter.

[MCs 230 1]

So after a week on the lake in fairly high temperatures we had one hard start situation. Put it in neutral and gave it some throttle and it started up with no other issues the rest of the week. Throughout the entire trip we had the every once in a while two beep alarm but it was only repeating on one of the occasions. it seems to only do it when I am getting on the throttle or running the boat fairly hard. during the day when the lake was rough we would pull tandem tubes for the kids and this seemed to be a time for the alarm. the one time the alarm repeated itself every minute I took the boat back to camp and shut the batteries off and left it alone for a while. after it cooled down I took a look around the engine compartment and noticed a decent amount of water in the bilge. found the shaft seal leaking a drop at least every second if not more. adjusted the shaft seal and pumped out the bilge and the boat seemed to run without issue the remainder of the trip. I'm wondering if water sloshing around in the bilge could have gotten some wiring wet and caused my alarm. I plan on giving the boat a tune up now that we are back from our trip. I don't believe there is an issue with the cooling system, temp never went over 175 and you can see good water coming out of the exhaust when surfing. my only other thought on the alarm is the IAC with the intermittent start issue as well as the engine almost dies every once in a while but recovers itself and then runs without issue this has happened a couple of times while at idle. Any thoughts?

[prunjr 0]

I know this is an old thread but I have the identical problem on my 06’ Avy. It started out happening a couple years ago once in a while and now happens every time we go out. I have to put in neutral and give it throttle to get it started when it’s warmed up. Strait off the trailer when cold it fires right up. Or if it sits for an hour or so no problems starting. I have changed fuel filter, water separator, cap, rotor, plugs and cleaned IAC filter to no avail.  A mechanic I talked to said vapor lock but I’m not buying that since it never did this for the first 4 years we owned it. I’m leaning towards ignition coil/module or fuel pumps. Has anyone fixed their problem?

[andersonoverland 0]

Anyone ever figure this out? Having same issues with my avalanche. Changed plugs, wires, fuel/water filter, inline filter, fluids, oil filter, killswitch, and nothing worked. We put her on the lake twice in the last two weeks, started up at launch, hard started after 2 hours anchored in a cove, then killed the engine after a few tows, then wouldn’t start again. Just turns over and won’t fire. Uhhgggg. So frustrated. Spent a fortune to take her to the mtns 4 hours from the house for 3 months and now she’s having issues. Any people on here still? Thx!