Mercruiser 350 MPI

[Remediation]

Just some information for the few of us that have older Mercury (2008) I/O Benningtons. I have dealt with the fuel cooler issue that was a secret Mercury recall. I have rebuilt the outdrive unit. 2 years ago installed a remanufactured engine because of 1600 hours on the original. I love this boat and to replace it is 5 time the list price of the boat in 2008. This post is about an issue i have been chasing for multiple years. At times it would run like crap. For the last few years, it would puke and cough for 5 minutes and then start running better but also had a hiccup in the exhaust sound. I had eliminated fuel and mechanical issues. It came down to the ECM or the distributor. The flat cap GM distributor has a terrible reputation for the cap and rotor in the marine environment. We had replaced those parts many times. Having had auto repair shops for a long time , I felt that ECM's usually die. Back in the day, I had run into distributers that wore out but they still fired the engine. I really felt I had and ignition issue. I told my boat tech to install an new distributer. We launched the boat yesterday afternoon in KY and it is running the best it has in 10 years.
Hope this might help somebody fighting this issue.

I am looking forward to this boating season.

 

[PartyBarge]

Good to read you found the problem. Many years ago, my brother had a similar issue with a Chevy and I had one with a Blazer. I found that both problems were electronic parts in the distributor. One was an intermittent short in a triggering coil and the other was a capacitor in the electronic trigger.