1996 Mercury 175 EFI dying in rough water.

[Hayden scott]

I have a 175 EFI that dies in rough water. On days with a 1.5' chop or less it does just fine, but any more than that it will take off just fine but after a few hard waves it will just shut off. I put it in neutral and it fires right back up, and it will eventually die again. This weekend I had a full tank of gas, probly 5/8 tank of oil, after it dies I pump the bulb and it's very firm, no alarms going off. I'd just like to narrow my search on finding the problem, any help is appreciated. Powerhead was replaced in 2006 and only has 130 hours, fuel filter was replaced a few weeks ago.

[leonreno]

I would check all connections: at battery, on motor-canon plugs, 12v connections, kill switch, etc.. search on here for canon plug to know what to look for.

[bnt55]

^^^^^What he says, sounds like something is loose

[Batman1977]

Loose ECU drivers could also cause this problem. The EcU can most likely be repaired.

[speckandred]

Does an alarm sound? I had the same issue and a quick beep would happen when it died. The ignition switch went bad, replaced haven't had a issue since.

[mrdeath]

Check the connections on the electric fuel pump. I had the same issue and one of my connections was loose. Tightened it up and haven't had an issue since.

[Hayden scott]

I pulled the canon plug, it was a little dirty so I cleaned it and spread the prongs just a little and added dielectric grease. Checked under the cowling for any loose connections and couldn't find anything. Also changed the spark plugs just to be sure. I really won't know if anything worked until I get out on some rough water. I looked under the dash for any other plugs, didn't see anything, is there something I should look for under there?

[EuropeanAM]

Please see the Forum Announcements, and be sure to provide the REQUIRED info when posting. Thanks!

I pulled the canon plug, it was a little dirty so I cleaned it and spread the prongs just a little and added dielectric grease. Checked under the cowling for any loose connections and couldn't find anything. Also changed the spark plugs just to be sure. I really won't know if anything worked until I get out on some rough water. I looked under the dash for any other plugs, didn't see anything, is there something I should look for under there?

Test run it and see how it does.... be sure to report back.