Buddys Tige is running rough.

So we were out surfing the other day and one of the ballast tanks drained into the engine compartment. The boat started running rough and wouldn't hold speed so we shut it down this is when we discovered the water in the compartment. We couldn't get it to start back up and had to get towed in. Now the boat will start but it's missing and running bad. He put more gas in and a couple stabilizer bottles. Any clues?

How about some water in your fuel tank. We have had this problem before on a couple of different boats and always when heavily weighted for surfing. If so change your fuel seperator if you have one and add some dry fuel to the tank.

What year, engine maker, size/hp?

Geez sorry its an 06 22v with the 340HP.

Make sure all the plug wires are snapped on tight to the plugs and dist cap. Inspect for any that may be cut or chaffed. make sure the flame arrestor is clean.

Pull the fuel filter but try to catch the contents. Then pour what you catch into a glass jar and let it settle. any water will settle at the bottom.

great advice from tigemike to check if that h2o in the gas is the problem.

oil pressure sensor might have gone bad if it got soaked

That engine has 2 oil pressure senders, one runs the gauge, one sets off the alarm. Neither would cause the engine to run rough, but it may, not 100% sure, cause the ECM to go into limp mode/reduced power.

The Knock sensor will cause reduced power and alarm. The CTS (Coolant temp sensor) will definalety cause poor running.

After talking to him a little more I'm pretty certain its water in the gas. We'll cycle it through the water/fuel separator a few times and it'll be all good I'm betting. Thanks for the advice guys and I'll let ya know how it goes.

Drained the water fuel separator and got out quite a bit of water. Ran it on the fake a lake and it still ran rough. We pulled the line up to the filter and it was straight gas so if it's a fuel problem it has to be at separator or beyond. We checked the oil and it is milky. Today we're gonna check/change the plugs and the oil. Any other suggestions?

Wait, the oil is milky??? Are you sure he doesn't have a blown head gasket? Do you think there is water in the oil? Put some of the milky oil in a clear water bottle and see if there is water in it. $.02

Did you buddy have the dipstick checked? Really, not joking. The dipstick was recalled for 2006 and some 2007 models.

(Message edited by dabell on August 17, 2009)

I'll ask him about the dipstick. I'm not sure why the oil would be milky he ran it on the lake the other day to check it out then put it back on the lift as it was running poorly. He pulled it out yesterday and checked the oil it was fine but only ran maybe two minutes. We put it on the fake a lake ran it a little not much, checked the oil and it was milky. It'll be pulled out with an oil boy so we should be able to tell if it has water in it.

Going to take it to the dealer and have it checked out. the water in the oil makes me nervous and I want to get it right so I can get it back and going for the rest of the summer.

Excessive water in the fuel could add to the condensation in the crankcase, causing milky oil.

good to know. I hope is isn't anything major, but I just want to make sure. The dealer can go through it. Thanks

Turns out there is something seriously wrong with the motor. Took it to Sport Boat NW (local Tige' dealer).
they are digging into it, but could be a couple different items. Seems odd. 96 hours on an '06 and engine problems???
I bought it in October of '07 with 8 hours on it! they will let me know Tuesday whether there is any warranty coverage.

Bummer to hear of the h2o in the oil could mean cracked block or head, I hope I'm wrong here. Was your boat properly winterized for last season and how long did you guys run this year before these issues began?

oh yeah. it was winterized. put around 40-50 hours on it this year.

Sorry to hear about that. The water in the oil was the point that made me think twice. It will be interesting to see where the issue is since the winterization was done by the dealer. And more interesting to see that the dealer is trying to get Tige to warranty some of the stuff.

forgot to mention. Not water in the oil. it got mixed up in the motor. sort of Whipped as the mechanic said. there are particles in the oil from the motor, so not good. so, I don't think the water from the ballast and the engine are related after all.

Time to sell!

^^^ Time to shut up

Hay "The Truth", since you are the all knowing in the towboat industry, i'll let you in on some info before you even start spewing your chit! That engine is the same marinized block that everyone else use.....Merc, PCM, Indmar, Volvo. So dont start your usual Tige crap!

Just talked to him and the *****ing thing is blown!! 96 hours and the 7 cylinder blew out. Of course its retarded money to replace the whole thing (1/4 of the cost of the boat). We're crossing our fingers that either Marine Power or Tige will step up and cover it. The mechaninc feels that it was just a bad motor from the get. He put it on the scope and it was run in normal RPM ranges and properly maintained. We'll see what happens.

That sucks! I see he posted over on Tigeowners too. I hope the best for him, hopefully someone will step up for him on this one!

Sounds to me you the ballast filled the engine compartment the motor sucked it in and hydro- locked the motor. NO Engine manufacture will warranty that motor> IF this is what happend to it and I am saying IF because i have not seen the motor. Did your buddy tell the mechanic the engine compartment was full of water? Eng. compartment fills up the belt slings it up into the intake the motor sucks the water in and bam bad things happen.

Yes he did and he said it was just coincidence and believed it was unrelated they tore into the motor and didn't find any water where it shouldn't be. Now, the water was barely to the bottom of the motor when this occurred it wasn't even to the belt level. I've had that happen in my boat when I forgot the plug once. It was much deeper and in my instance the belt was spinning up the water, here it was not the case. It sounds like to me the service guy believes it should be covered and he's going to bat for him with the powers that be.

Well I hope it works out for him. Marine power has ALWAYS stepped up when they should have in my dealings with them. I am just not convinced in this coincidence. But I have not seen the motor so I guess we will see.

Thats good to hear. I suppose without seeing it you couldn't make a judgement either way.

Was the warranty transfered from the previous owner properly? If not that could be an out for Marine Power. Sport Boats NW has takin great care of My Tige.

I hope he gets some help from Tige or MP.

(Message edited by majestic on August 25, 2009)

For a hydrolock to kill an engine you'd expect to see bent/broken rods or valves... If that is the case then warranty would be out the window but doesn't seem to be what happened. Doubt it would have got anywhere near the intake if the water wasn't even up to the belts we've had water over the belts a few times too and hydrolocked the motor once when the wake came over the back of the boat and down the intake. Still didn't break her but the salt water killed the rings.

The long-block (block, crank, pistons, con rods, cam, heads, intake etc) is the base part for the engine package and is purchased complete by Marine Power from General Motors. I have bought a few of these from Marine Power to replace frozen engines and they have a GM part number. Would this mean a flaw within the engine could be a GM warranty issue?

Here is where we are now...

"Just finished the call about an hour ago. Not great, the boat is out of warranty by 3.5 months and the warranty was not transferred upon new owner purchase. The latter of these is the #1 reason for no coverage.


He is going to work with us on this as much as possible.
Number one, we are going to scan the engine tomorrow in the AM and read out the RPM percentages to him. This is what we discussed the other day about how the boat was used and he will make a judgment call on that too.

Number two, he offered up a “core engine” to build off of. This is not an easy thing to get through any engine manufacturer, but it simply consists of the block and the head. It saves tons of money vs. a short or long block, but takes more of our time to build it from your old engine. The cost on this is only $2,185, and I am estimating aprox. 13-15 hours on our end for Removal, building and re-install.

This is vs. over $5,500 for a short block and $6,850 for a long block plus 10-12 hours for R&R.



I have one more conversation with them tomorrow and I will let you know as soon as I have a chance after the meeting. "

not sure what will happen. SPort Boat NW is trying to take care of me.....

Everything is looking much, much better. His original quote of $11,000 shrunk to $5,500 and now to $2,500 with his 100 hour service included in that. It sounds like Marine Power stepped up quite a bit as did his dealer Sport Boats Northwest. It's great to see a company get behind their product even in tough times.

Well that's good to hear.

Glad to hear it worked out for you guys.