2006 225 Pro XS idling problems...

Hey there,

I have a 225 Pro XS and its been giving me some crap recently. I move down to Florida to expand my guide service to the Orlando area lakes.

Once here I filled up and I noticed the first time out that my motor was running like crap. My idle sucked, my motor would die occasionally when shifting in and out of gear, and at cruising speed my motor felt like it would miss occasionally or drop a cyclinder.

I heard rumors that the station I filled up at had bad gas and once the tank was about as empty as I could get it I filled up at a more reputable brand station. Since then the motor has been running way better and I have no more miss during the cruising speeds. But my idle still sucks and my motor occasionally dies shifting into reverse or neutral or when the idle dips way low sometimes it doesn't come back up...

Thinking my plugs might have been bad, I changed my plugs. I just ran it and the motor started good and sounded good. I put it in reverse to get off the trailer and the last few weeks it would usually die in that process and today it went off without a hitch.

The idle was better but not great, but I had no dying issues until I got back to the ramp. I got my truck and I jumped back into my boat to load it and I was idling towards the trailer and it died when the motor had ones of its "misses." Other than that incident and the still rough idle, the motor ran better than it has in a while.

Any ideas on what it might be?

Sounds to me like you got a heavy dose of Ethanol and water.. Have you checked the water separator for water ? If not get with Don the moderator on here and he can help you out.. It is possible that if the Ethanol content was high enough it could of caused some damage to the diaphragm's and fuel lines which caused trash to get into the valves inside the VST.. Don will be able to help you out as soon as he gets here..

Let's start somewhere simple. Change the water separating fuel filter. Attach a six-gallon plastic fuel tank (with it's own fuel line) directly to the engine (right at the bottom of the pulse fuel pump is a good attaching point... though you'll need to leave the cowling off to run it).

FRESH, KNOWN GOOD FUEL in the 6 gallon tank, please. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

Go run it... see if the problem improves. If it does... you've disconnected the problem (plan to COMPLETELY pump every last drop of fuel from the fuel tank).

BTW... when you replaced your spark plugs... what plugs/gap/torque value did you use? http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

I used NGK plug IZFR6J and gapped them at about .040... as for torquing them I went as far as I could while still easily torquing... I didn't tighten them a crazy about just until it got a little tougher to keep going which is how i've done them since owning the motor...

Don, do you know what part number the fuel separator is?

Plugs should be torqued to 20 ft. lbs... and this is VERY critical on this engine. We want the electrodes "exactly" at the correct depth in the cyl. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

If your running quality persists to be poor... you may want to remove the plugs again and take a good look at them under a "bright light" with a magnifying glass. Look for any lines in the porcelain around the electrode that appear to run "remotely lengthwise". If you see ANY... replace the plug (it is likely cracked). http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

Water separating filter part# 35-8M0020349. Retail $43.00

DON"T buy an aftermarket filter for the above... for good reason. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

Thats the red capped filter on the side correct?

"Water separating filter part# 35-8M0020349. Retail $43.00"

Correct! This is the "red capped filter that screws into the top of the IVST" (Integrated Vapor Separator Tank). http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

Problem solved...

I had a feeling thats what the issue was... When I changed the filter, the old filter was brown... I admit, it had been a while since I had it changed, but man...

I put the new one in, and ran it today, she started fine, and idled smooth and great...

Thanks for the help!! I appreciate it...