2007 Nautique Missing/Surging Issue

[BrennanKMN]

I have a 2007 Nautique with the 330 and Zero Off Rev R (dual puck)

 

The past few times I have been out it has been acting funny. It almost feels like a very minor miss or surge in the slalom course. You can feel it and you can hear it (barely), but the boat and zero off hold speed as normal. I tried RPM only mode to eliminate any GPS issues and even running with ZO off. Do note that I have a failed GPS puck, but one is still functional. (New puck on order) I still had the issue. I was hoping ZO would be the issue.

 

I have no check engine light and no out of the normal operation other than a slight noise/surge during 30+ mph runs.

 

I have no clue where to start on this. I am thinking I will completely disconnect ZO and see how the boat reacts. The boat has just shy of 700 hours on it. The oil, transmission and fuel control cell filter were all replaced in the last 100 hours.

 

Any thoughts or things I should dig into further? I don't know the problem is and I don't want to make things worse by continuing to run the boat in a degraded state.

[h2onhk]

@BrennanKMN I had the exact same problem on my 07 running a single puck ZO. Above 30mph I would get an occasional miss and surge. New cap and rotor solved the problem.

[j2nh]

If you still have the cover on the motor remove it. Heat tends to build up under it and leads to rough running at speed. Had this happen to our club boat. Could also be the throttle position sensor which is an easy replacement.

[BrennanKMN]

I will have to look into the cap and rotor. I'll check if I can see any degradation on them. I am not sure the last time they were replaced. Probably original.

 

If the engine is missing, shouldn't it set a code and activate the check engine lamp?

[DanE]

@BrennanKMN That engine does not have any diagnostic coverage to set a fault code for misfiring. Read this thread:http://ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/comment/280525 and pay close attention to your engines serial #. A change of cap and rotor might diminish the symptom but if the problem is the above it's just a temporary patch.

[BrennanKMN]

@DanE Thanks for the information - my engine falls inside that TSB serial range. Doesn't look like a huge fix, especially if you have access to DIACOM.

 

I ordered a new cap and rotor for now and will see what that does. I pulled mine this afternoon at it was pretty corroded up. Worst case I will get a new distributor and adjust the CAM Retard at that time.

 

Is the distributor on this engine a PCM/Marine specific part? The cap and rotor at just generic ACDelco parts.

[h2onhk]

If you adjust the CAM I highly recommend you have a dealer with a laptop hooked up while you do it. My engine manual calls for 0-4°. Blowing on the bolt while loose moved mine 2°. It was really sensitive and very easy to get out of whack. Just my experience.

[DanE]

@BrennanKMN You do need a Diacom for this and yes it is an easy fix. I would not bother changing the distributor with such low hours. Have no idea if it's PCM specifific but the cam retard value depends upon the right kind of distributor.