Guages flutter and engine stalls when hot-gctid399159

[Guest]

2005 Bayliner 185 4.3 Mercruiser

When first up and running all the guages read steady. After about a half hour the tach, oil pressure and temp guages all begin an intermitant flutter in synch with each other. They all flutter at the same time. The boat runs ok until after about an hour and then the engine begins to hesitate. This gets worse the longer it runs. After cooling it runs smooth and the guages are steady. It has ben suggested that this may be a heat related electrical issue. Does the fact that the guages are moving irregularly but at he same time give a clue as to where I may want to start looking for a bad connection? Could the stalling be an electical connection affecting the neutral safety switch or the key ignition switch? Thanks for any input.

[Guest]

rbrandel wrote:
2005 Bayliner 185 4.3 Mercruiser

When first up and running all the guages read steady. After about a half hour the tach, oil pressure and temp guages all begin an intermitant flutter in synch with each other. They all flutter at the same time. The boat runs ok until after about an hour and then the engine begins to hesitate. This gets worse the longer it runs. After cooling it runs smooth and the guages are steady. It has ben suggested that this may be a heat related electrical issue. Does the fact that the guages are moving irregularly but at he same time give a clue as to where I may want to start looking for a bad connection? Could the stalling be an electical connection affecting the neutral safety switch or the key ignition switch? Thanks for any input.

Yes... it sounds like a ground or positive connection issue somewhere in/near the engine, since it is affecting the ignition coil as well as the gauge feeds. First check all your basic power/ground connections, on the battery, engine, and wherever the engine positive comes from - starter solenoid or something is the junction point?

[Guest]

Well, ishiboo, you have bailed me out twice this morning. First with help for the loose ignition switch and now with my guage flutter and engine hesitation. I started up front and found the loose ignition switch but the connections seemed tight. At least as tight as a slip on connector can get. But as I headed back to the engine compartment the first big yellow ground wire I checked back by the coil (Mercruiser 4.3 Alpha) was barely hanging on! The nut had loosened and was not even finger tight. I'm hoping this was the issue because it seems like it could account for most of my symptoms. Thanks again for taking the time to point me to the ground conncetions.