Saturday 9/12 Long beach breakwall

[naldodook]

Fished this Saturday launching from Davies at 5. Our plan was to fish the horse shoe area for some bass and bonitos if they are running. But as we were leaving the harbor, I felt the hole shot was pretty sluggish and boat took much longer than usual to get up on plane, it just didn't feel right, so I gave it a full gas and it was only going up to 4500 rpm. So, instead driving anywhere, we just stayed at the just outside of east end of the breakwall. We fished there whole time until we came back in at noon.
Conditions were just awsome, no swells, slight breeze to cool you off time to time, all except boat wakes and air quality wasn't great at all.
We managed to get 3 sheepheads, 2 being legal size, total of 3 bonitos, and bunch of smallish calicos and sandbass, countless perch and wrasse mixed in. It's such a blessing to live so close to such a rich fishery, although not as good as some other places, but still good.


We kind of cheated on these fish by dropping a gopro under the boat to see what was under the boat and matched bait to underwater situation.

As we were coming back, engine got worse and it wouldn't throttle up more than 2500 rpm.
All in all wonderful half day spent on ocean pacific once again except the boat part. But still, we were able to comeback without a tow : )

After we came back, I changed out all the filters(Yamaha F115 with only 200hrs), inline fuel filter, fuel water separating filter, onboard inline fuel filter, and cleaned out vst filter (which was very dirty), cleaned vst bowl, and cleaned fuel injectors (DIY style). Hopefully that was it. We haven't done water test so we won't know until we take it out next time. In worst case we'll stay by the wall again, we've been to much worse fishing before. Let me know if you guys have any other suggestions that I might try. TIA.

Short clip of fishing the breakwall, and underwater footage of breakwall. Jump to 10:40 mark for underwater footage.

 

[Capt Devo]

Fished this Saturday launching from Davies at 5. Our plan was to fish the horse shoe area for some ba Es ss and bonitos if they are running. But as we were leaving the harbor, I felt the hole shot was pretty sluggish and boat took much longer than usual to get up on plane, it just didn't feel right, so I gave it a full gas and it was only going up to 4500 rpm. So, instead driving anywhere, we just stayed at the just outside of east end of the breakwall. We fished there whole time until we came back in at noon.
Conditions were just awsome, no swells, slight breeze to cool you off time to time, all except boat wakes and air quality wasn't great at all.
We managed to get 3 sheepheads, 2 being legal size, total of 3 bonitos, and bunch of smallish calicos and sandbass, countless perch and wrasse mixed in. It's such a blessing to live so close to such a rich fishery, although not as good as some other places, but still good.


We kind of cheated on these fish by dropping a gopro under the boat to see what was under the boat and matched bait to underwater situation.

As we were coming back, engine got worse and it wouldn't throttle up more than 2500 rpm.
All in all wonderful half day spent on ocean pacific once again except the boat part. But still, we were able to comeback without a tow : )

After we came back, I changed out all the filters(Yamaha F115 with only 200hrs), inline fuel filter, fuel water separating filter, onboard inline fuel filter, and cleaned out vst filter (which was very dirty), cleaned vst bowl, and cleaned fuel injectors (DIY style). Hopefully that was it. We haven't done water test so we won't know until we take it out next time. In worst case we'll stay by the wall again, we've been to much worse fishing before. Let me know if you guys have any other suggestions that I might try. TIA.

Short clip of fishing the breakwall, and underwater footage of breakwall. Jump to 10:40 mark for underwater footage.


View attachment 1200557

No need to use Towel on you’re fish they don’t mind being Wet.

On you’re Mercury it may be you’re FSM fuel supply module (with the hi-low speed fuel pumps, float valve and pressure relief valve all in one module ) if yours is 10 years old spend the $1000 at boats.net for the whole module ( 2 weeks delivery ) especially the way you Fish so close the Rocks.

The old Module has value as a spare ($500) so rebuild it when you can afford to but use only Factory parts. By the way you can do this swap out with a Screw Driver and Socket Set in 20 minutes Google It !!!!!!
Lastly it takes 10 minutes to pop out the fuel injectors....Get them over to RC Fuel Injectors in Torrance even by Over Night Mail they diagnose and refurbish them for $25 each 1 week turn around.......Do this every 2 years and keep running the Sea Foam every fill up....just saying.

If you Mercury is newer change out the Hi-Speed fuel pump for $400 at Boats.net as you did all the other stuff already.

 

[naldodook]

Thank you, but its yamaha f115, bought brand new last year. But as you mentioned, it might be one of the fuel pump, and if it is one, hoping it is low pressure one. So much cheaper and easier to change out. Ha

 

[WallsOut]

I had a similar problem years ago on Suzuki. It was low pressure fuel pump and it was covered by warranty. Might want to take it to shop since it should still be under warranty if it’s only a year old.

 

[naldodook]

I had a similar problem years ago on Suzuki. It was low pressure fuel pump and it was covered by warranty. Might want to take it to shop since it should still be under warranty if it’s only a year old.

I am going to do a water test this Friday, and if I still have an issue I'll take it to the dealer. Yes, I still do have 2 more years of warranty.

 

[ChoeMan]

 

[naldodook]

This is an update, so that if any one of you can avoid such thing from happening.

So, I took the boat out on Friday and tested with running it at full throttle for 5 min at marine stadium and it was running smooth and all looked ok, so thought it was fixed now.
Thinking that it's all fixed out took the boat out (with confidence) on Saturday, 9/19 to the breakwall and same symptom developed after I was done for bait fishing and as I was about to leave the harbor to horse shoe area. Including testing, it happend after about 25 min of harbor cruising at idle speed and about 15 min of zipping around at crusing speed and full throttle combine.
The symptom eventually got worse and engine got cut off, and wouldn't restart so I had to be towed in.
As I got home, I opened up VST tank and once again filter was completely clogged. After more testing, and inspection, I have found high pressure pump was dead also(reason for engine not running?). My guess is it was due to pump not able to get any fuel through due to clogged filter, but it was keep trying to pump and probably overheated? Upon more inspection, I've found about 2 feet of fuel line coming out from fuel tank pick up is original fuel line that's been there probably since 1995(the year of the boat). It was underdeck and I probably missed it when I pulled the old fuel line out last year. I pulled that fuel line out, and that same black powder covering the VST fuel filter was coming from inside of that line. So it didn't matter if I cleaned the filter and changed out any other filters out.
All the parts are in order, and we'll see after all is changed out.

Being towed in on Saturday.

 

[the SLIDER]

You didn't offer him a beer . . .

"psuh"

 

[naldodook]

You didn't offer him a beer . . .

"psuh"

Ha, you read my mind. Actually on my way out next time(hopefully it'll be soon), planning to drop off a six pack. I was by my self and my thoughts were chaos and had no idea what I was doing, but they did great job and their service was awesome.

 

[SemperFi75]

This is an update, so that if any one of you can avoid such thing from happening.

So, I took the boat out on Friday and tested with running it at full throttle for 5 min at marine stadium and it was running smooth and all looked ok, so thought it was fixed now.
Thinking that it's all fixed out took the boat out (with confidence) on Saturday, 9/19 to the breakwall and same symptom developed after I was done for bait fishing and as I was about to leave the harbor to horse shoe area. Including testing, it happend after about 25 min of harbor cruising at idle speed and about 15 min of zipping around at crusing speed and full throttle combine.
The symptom eventually got worse and engine got cut off, and wouldn't restart so I had to be towed in.
As I got home, I opened up VST tank and once again filter was completely clogged. After more testing, and inspection, I have found high pressure pump was dead also(reason for engine not running?). My guess is it was due to pump not able to get any fuel through due to clogged filter, but it was keep trying to pump and probably overheated? Upon more inspection, I've found about 2 feet of fuel line coming out from fuel tank pick up is original fuel line that's been there probably since 1995(the year of the boat). It was underdeck and I probably missed it when I pulled the old fuel line out last year. I pulled that fuel line out, and that same black powder covering the VST fuel filter was coming from inside of that line. So it didn't matter if I cleaned the filter and changed out any other filters out.
All the parts are in order, and we'll see after all is changed out.

Being towed in on Saturday.

I resemble that remark. AAA on the water.

 

[bendingmoments]

Naldodook,
Sorry to break to you the bad news. but I suspect that it's your fuel injectors... I have the exact same motor and have experienced this a few times. Once this occurs, you need to get your fuel injectors cleaned or replaced. Sorry to say, it's not cheap @ $400 per injector. Times that by 4 and you get the picture. There are numerous cleaners procedures (google it) but that's not a guarantee.

Water in the fuel tank is the start of this problem... It doesn't take much to cause this issue. Water condensation occurs from old standing fuel or maybe water getting into the tank thru your filler overflow (get a good clamshell cover pointed towards the bow). Once this bad fuel gets to your fuel injectors, the tips corrode or get clogged and the lack of performance is the result that you are experiencing.

High maintenance on these 4-strokes (as compared to the more forgiving 2-strokes) is a must and much cheaper than replacing fuel injectors. I use Sta-bil in the fuel tank to preserve the fuel, I replace my water separator filter every year at a minimum. If yours is rusty, it's old and most likely contributed to the problem. I replace the little fuel filter on the block (rear starboard side) every year as well. Since doing this, I haven't had to deal with issue going on over 5 years (knock on wood).

Hope this helps... Tight lines..

 

[naldodook]

Naldodook,
Sorry to break to you the bad news. but I suspect that it's your fuel injectors... I have the exact same motor and have experienced this a few times. Once this occurs, you need to get your fuel injectors cleaned or replaced. Sorry to say, it's not cheap @ $400 per injector. Times that by 4 and you get the picture. There are numerous cleaners procedures (google it) but that's not a guarantee.

Water in the fuel tank is the start of this problem... It doesn't take much to cause this issue. Water condensation occurs from old standing fuel or maybe water getting into the tank thru your filler overflow (get a good clamshell cover pointed towards the bow). Once this bad fuel gets to your fuel injectors, the tips corrode or get clogged and the lack of performance is the result that you are experiencing.

High maintenance on these 4-strokes (as compared to the more forgiving 2-strokes) is a must and much cheaper than replacing fuel injectors. I use Sta-bil in the fuel tank to preserve the fuel, I replace my water separator filter every year at a minimum. If yours is rusty, it's old and most likely contributed to the problem. I replace the little fuel filter on the block (rear starboard side) every year as well. Since doing this, I haven't had to deal with issue going on over 5 years (knock on wood).

Hope this helps... Tight lines..

Thank you for the input. I've always used stabil every fill-up, changed fuel water separator every 50 hrs, on board fuel filter every 20hr and 100 hrs service and my 200 hr is not due yet(it's almost due). I check and drain whatever is left on fuel water separator filter clear bowl after every outing. I also have cheapo in line filter in front of fuel water separator. All filters are clean, didn't see a single thing whenever I changed out filters, no sign of water in the bowl. May be too much service? Haha. I've changed out all fuel lines including 2 feet of that old line, changed out the bulb this week. Tested on trailer, its running smooth, will do water test tomorrow. Hoping that I can ride back in rather than towed in. Lol. But as you and capt devo suggested, I will send in fuel injectors next week to get it professionally cleaned. Thank you for the suggestion, I will definitely have fuel injectors checked out.