Please Help! 2005 200hp 2-stroke EFI 3.0L
TLDR: I hit a sandbar a month ago, motor hasn't ran properly since. A bunch of different things have been done to the motor since then (including new water pump, spark plugs, compression test, and plastic prop hub). However, every time it hits the water it pops and starts to life, it will be peeing, I accelerate to get on plane, it hits a rev limiter before being on plane, I let off and bring the boat down, it stops peeing. Mechanic is giving me totally different information of how boat is acting during test drive and in shop. I am at a loss of what to do. Please help! Motor and owner history/info is in first paragraph along with incident explanation. Second paragraph is damage assessment by me. Third paragraph is what mechanic is doing and reporting to me. Fourth, is my questions and concerns. Sorry for the book, mods if this needs to be fixed/moved please let me know, new member.
Hey guys, I have owned a 2005 Stratos 295 pro xl with the above listed motor for a little over a year now (my first boat). 276 hours on the motor, I am the second owner and got it at about 250ish. Compression was perfect at time of buying. Boat ran amazing and I loved it. The morning of the day this incident happened (08/05/2023), I had topped off the oil tank from about half empty. It had been a long week of pre-fishing after work almost everyday and it was Saturday. We were only out for the morning that day, 6 hours at most, idling, checking spots, and then ended fun fishing in new areas. We were headed into the marina idling and all of a sudden I found myself partially lodged on sandbar (drivers side in the sand). Like a complete idiot, I tried to power off the sandbar in the other direction. Of course, the boat only buried itself deeper and the motor along with it. All of a sudden, I came off the sandbar and the motor started alarming a single beep really loud at me (Guardian Mode I assume, I thought it was overheating b/c of being in the sand and running). I shut it off immediately and trolled away a little bit. Conveniently, this was right in front of the marina at the entrance to the backwater, so I attempted to turn the motor back on to just idle in (figuring maybe it just needed to take in water and cool off). I get the same single beep just blaring BEEEEEP! at me. However, the beeping stopped after like 5 seconds, so I idled to the ramp and took out of the water to assess damage.
Prop was bent, not too bad though, still had its shape just a couple little bends. Small rocks in the intake holes on lower unit and the lower unit looks like someone took sandpaper to it. After seeing everything and checking the thermostats, I kept trying to flush the motor to get it to start peeing again. I did eventually get it to pee and no weird sounds, so I said a thank you prayer and left the launch without ever leaving the no wake buoys to get on plane. I had a tournament the next day, so I tested it out in the morning and it wasn't peeing again at first. Then a weak stream. I eventually flushed out more sand until it wouldn't push any more out and it would pee normal. I then tried to get on plane. The nose would lift and right as it started to plane out, the engine hit a rev limiter. I let off the throttle and just let the boat go back down. It stopped peeing after that. Hoses were all clear, along with t-stats. Took it out of the water and noticed a little bit of smoke coming from the lower unit intake vents. My battery compartment also smelled like burning electronics, but I think this is an unrelated issue since I think my livewells blew a fuse. I took it to the mechanic shop after I felt I did everything I could do, and I had been talking with one of them (a personal, long-time friend) throughout this entire process and letting him know. Used the big motor on tourney day to only idle out to main channel, attempt to get on plane, then back in.
First job they did was replaced the water pump and fuses in battery compartment. They gave me the boat back. Put it in the water, the motor popped but came to life and started smoking more than it ever had before. The mechanic told me to try to get it on plane, I was worried about the smoke but I did it anyway. Boat was doing the same thing. Peeing, accel, nose up, rev limiter, back down, no more pee. Took it out of the water, and checked the oil reserve tank immediately bc my limited two stroke knowledge tells me smoke=no oil. Keep in mind, I had just topped off oil before it went to shop. Sure enough, empty oil reserve tank (or at least very near empty, hard to tell). 1.5 gallons of oil later and it was full. I called the mechanic and explained I had just topped it off, how could it be empty? He didn't know because he did not do the service on the motor (Truthful, they put names on the jobs they did). Boat goes back. Second Job, they flushed out the motor even more and found a couple rocks, told me motor went into Guardian Mode several times, Compression was perfect still, they replaced all spark plugs, replaced the propeller hub (old one was aluminum, cracked in four places, they put a plastic one in), and told me they went for a test drive on a small local lake and hit 50mph after putting spark plugs in. I took the boat to the water, and the engine wouldn't even start. I was so mad, I just took it to the shop and dropped it off that night and texted the mechanic my issue. By some fluke, the fuel pump came unplugged. They gave me the boat back. I took it out tonight first time, it popped and started to life again (never did this before the sandbar incident BTW) and a plume of smoke came out but eventually died down after 10 ish seconds. Oil was full this time. Once again, it's peeing, I accelerate, nose comes up, rev limiter, back down, not peeing anymore. I called the mechanic and asked how he got it to 50mph when I cannot even get it to go on plane? He sincerely apologized and said it was their master technician that test drove it, he wasn't there, and he will question him about it. That is where we are now.
What do I do? I have offered time off of work to come in and talk with them now because it has been a month and $750.00. I think they really are good mechanics, I have had bad ones before, but now I am worried with the test driving story and the oil issue. Has anyone else had their motor do something similar? Is it stuck in Guardian Mode? Should I be worried they haven't checked the lower unit for damage (oil/seals) or the injectors for a clogging/timing issue? All mechanics working on this motor are Mercury certified. Sorry for the book, but I have read previous posts on here that lack details. I have tried to give you guys everything to date. I have photos of propeller if needed, mechanics tell me the bends are not bad and I shouldn't be worried. Also have service receipts.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by lpugh
yep
