01 225 OX66 loss of power when live wells are full

[RL552]

When coming out of the hole with a full lw, my 206 Champion feels like its only running on half the cylinders. It plows through the water, not getting on plane for maybe an 1/8 to 1/4 mile, then the rest of the cylinders kick in and it jumps on plane immediately and runs fine. I've replaced fuel line, bulb, cleaned vst and filters, new low pressure pumps, plugs, cleaned o2, head and cover gaskets, poppet valve, thermostats.

Something is putting it in safe mode when I add the weight of a full live well, but just on take off.

Any ideas whats causing this?

[1ranger487vs]

so it runs fine when live wells are empty. hmn you could take my fishing partner ricky with you . he never catches anything so your live well will stay empty too. problem solved , for both of us.call Ricky 504-122-1234 sorry couldn' help myself lol

[CJ1]

Vent the prop more or try a different prop. Filling the well is just adding more weight and not letting the engine spin up. Just a hunch. Cj

[RL552]

Vent the prop more or try a different prop. Filling the well is just adding more weight and not letting the engine spin up. Just a hunch. Cj

I don't think its the prop because when the other cylinders kick in, it jumps out of the hole.

[JoeFriday]

I would wonder if your coils are breaking down. Have you pulled the plugs to take a look at them? I don't know if the Ox66 has a limp mode. Another thought is the injectors. Have they been cleaned and calibrated? The reason I am thinking one of those two is it sounds like the motor is having a hard time burning all the fuel under load.

[201pro]

Mine was doing this when the o2 sensor went bad. Great holeshot when empty, but add a load and it ran like a dog.

[RL552]

I haven't checked or cleaned the injectors, plugs were tan colored. I did inspect the pistons and cylinder walls, when I replaced the head gaskets and everything looks good. I'm thinking it may be a coil also. Whatever it is, it only happens taking off with a full lw, after that its fine.

[CJ1]

I don't think its the prop because when the other cylinders kick in, it jumps out of the hole.

Check your shift cut out switch. I think it can be unplugged to eliminate it. This is just from memory, so check with a manual first. Cj

[JoeFriday]

I haven't checked or cleaned the injectors, plugs were tan colored. I did inspect the pistons and cylinder walls, when I replaced the head gaskets and everything looks good. I'm thinking it may be a coil also. Whatever it is, it only happens taking off with a full lw, after that its fine.

You'll want to get the injectors cleaned and calibrated at some point. I'm guessing that could be contributing but not the main cause. Full live wells probably add around 225 lbs. If I was troubleshooting it, I would probably run it with the live wells full for a bit and pull the plugs after you observed the problem and before it planed out. If some were wet, then I would be thinking about the coils on those cylinders. Hard to guess. Just thinking what I would try to run down the problem.

[201pro]

Why did you replace head gaskets?

[RL552]

Why did you replace head gaskets?

Because the head covers were leaking around some of the bolts, same with the exhaust plate cover. I'm glad I did because it was about to leak water into the cylinders, I figured 17 years was long enough for the original gaskets. My head covers both had what looked like slag or bumps on the mating surface, causing the gaskets to fail.

[HaulinBass]

Replace the VST tank filter, clean the small screen at the fuel pressure regulator, check fuel pressure, injector cleaning, O2 sensor, pull the LP fuel pumps and gently squeeze the bulb to MAKE sure they're not leaking ( I've installed new LP pumps that had a bad diaphragm) and possibly the fuel squeeze bulb could be an issue.

[RL552]

I've done all that except checking fuel pressure and injector cleaning. It seems like its going into the limp mode, or whatever its called. Something's causing half the cylinders not to fire, its not cutting out, it just acts like there's not enough power to come out of the hole, then when the other cylinders kick in, it will jump up immediately. Its like trying to take off with the motor trimmed way up is the best way to describe it. But that's not the case. Thanks for all the suggestions.

[RL552]

Had injectors cleaned and calibrated, but its still doing same thing. Anyone have anymore suggestions?

[HaulinBass]

Have you had it tested to in fact not running on all cylinders?

[Cwirth]

What prop are you running? What kind of rpm and speed are you getting when livewells empty?

[JoeFriday]

When you cleaned or replaced the O2 sensor, did you clean the tube in the block?

[Rich Z]

If you think some of the cylinders are not firering clip on a timing light to plug wires as the problem is occurring to verify ignition. And yes, the shift interrupt switch can be unplugged to eliminate it as a problem. If it is interupt switch issue the gearshift cable on the rail needs to be adjusted properly.
Also, verify good ground connections particularly from ecu to the block. There are several of them. Bty, what are you seeing on the volt gauge for charging voltage?

[RL552]

When you cleaned or replaced the O2 sensor, did you clean the tube in the block?

Yes, never had a problem with carbon on O2 sensor, but there was a lot of oil in and around the tube. I'll check the other things mentioned this weekend, thanks.

[CJ1]

You may have lost a 02 sensor, mine seems to get one every couple of years. I have been able to clean them but still does not act like a new one. CJ