Honda 135 HP engine shutdown-intermittent

M

marcagrin

New member
With only 270 hours use, my starboard Honda 135 hp engine suddenly quit while accelerating during a lengthy trip. Despite a well charged battery,adequate good non-ethanol fuel, adequate oil, I could not restart the engine for over 1 hour. No audible alarms or warning lights appeared.This same scenario repeated 4 times during the trip. After several hours, I could restart the engine and it performed flawlessly- until the following day.
A thorough evaluation by the local Honda dealer revealed absolutely nothing. The computer check was perfect. The thermostat, wires, gas lines,gas tank, filters , pump, anti siphon valve , water separation filter were all fine. I have ,thus far, been unable to recreate the engine failure locally(despite urgent attempts) so that the marina can run a computer check isolating on the moment of failure.
Any suggestions?

Marc G
2008 Tomcat
 
I don't know but good at asking Qs.

Since fuel problems have been checked them I would suspect electrical problems. Have you inspected the battery cables to the OB have good crimps, tight connections and using nuts not wing nuts on the battery? Maybe it is the cut off switch is going bad or poor connections. The switch can be cleaned and lubed, and inspect the connections. When the OB is running do you have water discharging as tell tale stream?
 
Did you try and prime the fuel bulb right after it died? If so, did it have pressure on it? If not, I would go back to checking fuel lines. Mine did the same, ended up being the connector at the motor.
 
The priming bulb worked fine (I replaced it just to be certain.)Electrical connections look good. Water stream indicator from motor is good.
 
Marc,

I don't suspect your priming bulb being bad, however when the engine starves itself for fuel, possibly do to a very small air leak or clogged vent line, the bulb would not be pressurized keying us in to a air leak. The "during acceleration" still leads me to think fuel starvation. How long have you ran the engine at higher RPM's since the last fault?

John
 
I think John makes a good point.

In addition to his comments, do you have inline fuel flow meter (factory or after market, most are paddle wheel type) to this OB? It might be installed in the fuel line after the external fuel filter (ex Racor) and before the filter under the cowling. You could bypass it and take a test run
 
Brewkid":10ydmvsh said:
Did you try and prime the fuel bulb right after it died? If so, did it have pressure on it? If not, I would go back to checking fuel lines. Mine did the same, ended up being the connector at the motor.
Click to expand...

Great advice! I had the same thing happen some years ago with a different brand. My problem turned out to be a blockage at the fuel filter (the filter itself was fine) connection. Check the bulb.
 
The engine quits suddenly and rapidly. The bulb seemed well pressurized the one time I remembered to check it. I have recently run the engine at 4500 rpms for 15-20 minutes twice without issues! Will attempt to recreate the problem this weekend.
 
That sounds like an electrical gremlin that will be very hard to chase down. I'd probably disconnect and clean and reconnect, every possible electrical/electronic component that is directly attached to or internal to the engine (and relatively easy to get at). Whenever, I've had weird electrical things going on, cleaning and reconnecting all the electrical connections often resolves them with no return of the problem.
 
We just sold a brand new Tohatsu/Honda 90 and on the second day of use the main engine control relay went bad . It would turn over but not start . One of our trained technicians went through the troubleshooting procedures as outlined in the shop manual and that's where it led him.
Marc
 
I am still attempting to recreate the problem-without success. Hopefully I have cleared some type of fuel block by changing the Racor filter, priming pump, examining fuel lines etc.
For me, the crucial but confusing issue is that after engine shut down, the engine would turn over but not start for one hour or more. Then, it would run fine for hours. None of the many excellent and appreciated suggestions from c-brats explains this consistent delay in engine response.
Marc G
 
There is an overheat protection feature built in to the processor. These engines have 4 temp sensors. It only takes one bad one to kill the motor. BTDT. There is a test procedure for the sensors. I missed a trip to Lake Powell waiting for a new one.
 
I did check out the thermostat sensors and replaced one that appeared corroded after the initial shut down. Unfortunately, the engine shut downs continued.
Since arriving home and thoroughly checking out the situation per above, I have had no additional episodes. Ran the engines hard and erratically for several hours last weekend and the starboard ran perfectly.
Time will tell!
Marc G
 
Ok thanks for the update.

Do you have a Honda shop manual? What is the SOP to check the sensors?
First check continuity ? Then place in water at different temps and check resistance?

I am surprised it didn't throw a code.
 
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