'97 Intruder 175 - No power

[craneage2001]

Here's the scoop (keep in mind it was 90* outside):

The motor ran fine for the quick 5 minute run to get to where I was going. Fished there for about an hour, then decided to make the next 5 minute run upstream to my next spot. Motor fired right up and I proceeded to idle through a stumpy section. About a minute or two later, the motor stumbled and died. I just figured it lost it's prime since I had it tilted up while sitting...primer was soft; a few pumps later, the bulb was hard and it fired right up. Got just a little farther, and it quit again; same story. Turned around for home and then it gave me the 1 second on/off alarm for no oil. I just fished my way back with the trolling motor and brought it home.

1) I replaced the primer bulb, just to eliminate that issue.
2) I also checked the fuel filter...looked good (changed it late last season).
3) I pulled the plugs, and all looked fine...none oily or burnt; all were a nice golder brown.
4) Just to be sure, I put some 2-stroke oil in the tanks to pre-mix it (given the oil alarm) and took it back to the water later in the evening.
5) Another note: it had 14psi for water on that first run; the stream looked strong while idling as well.

Got it in the water...took a little cranking to get it to fire, but I figured that was from pulling the filter. Seemed to be running fine, so I backed it out to take it for a run. I just got up on plane when it stumbled and quit. Fired it back up...idled fine but bog down and quit when I'd give it any gas in gear. Idled back to the trailer and right when I got there it gave the oil alarm again.

Once I had it home and still a bit warm, I took some compression readings. I also checked for spark...all looked good.

Compression readings (looking from the back):
(100) (100)
( 95) (100)
( 90) ( 95)

Any thoughts?

(1997 Intruder 175 - E175GLEUC)


Modified by craneage2001 at 9:14 PM 5/28/2006

[Bassmeister]

From previous posts, If it's a carb engine I think thowe are acceptable #'s. I believe it was normal for the bottom 2 cyls to be a little lower. The gurus will straithten me out if I have model years wrong. They are all still within 10%.

[ChampioNman]

H20 is a little low I like to see them run no lower than 18 PSI, from your description sounds like it is time to check all the hoses and if necessary replace the VRO with a new OMS. Make sure your recirc lines are all tight and be sure to check your hose from the pulse limiter and the limiter itself.

[craneage2001]

Well, the sun finally went down so I could get it back out on the water without scorching myself...here's what I found out:

Starts and idles fine. If I reach back and prime the ball until it's hard, it runs fine and gets up on plane. However, it only runs fine long enough to get up, then starts surging and dies. Idling, as long as I reach back and prime it every 30 seconds or so, it's fine; otherwise, it'll die out. The only time I get the 'no oil' warning is when I run it up on plane and really draw the fuel down.

Given this info, it makes me think fuel pump or possibly the in-tank pickups. Does this sound reasonable? How bad is it to just change the fuel pump (probably a good idea anyway)? Is fhe fuel pump combined with the VRO module?


Modified by craneage2001 at 8:58 PM 5/29/2006

[craneage2001]

Did some reading, checked all the hoses and cleaned the pulse limiter...my guess is the VRO quit; it runs fine if you keep priming it. Is there something else I could be missing before I just pick up a VRO or rebuild kit for it?


Modified by craneage2001 at 6:05 PM 5/31/2006