F200 Hesitating

[JA5ON]

Went night fishing tonight for some blues. The F200 fired up like a charm, but as Im leaving the dock at very low rpm, the engine begins hesitating like it wants to stall but doesnt. The hesitation went away when I hit cruising speed around 4100rpm. Trying to dock at night was nerve wrecking bc it felt like the motor was going to stall. The F200 has 386hrs on it. What could this issue be? Thank you

ps- There are no issues with the prop if that helps diagnose the problem

pps- The hesitation/thumping/clanking noise does not happen while in neutral

 

[JA5ON]

Anyone?

 

[DaleH]

Try a search on the term 'vst' by poster TomS. Also look for both terms 'F225' and 'vst' via the searches. Lots of info here ...

 

[grouperjim]

My 2006 f250 did the same thing once. There was a known issue with the ECM which is the computer on the motor. Yamaha replaced it under warranty. No problems since. May or may not be your problem. Contact your Yamaha shop for recalls on your motor.

 

[JA5ON]

Hmm this is becoming a mystery to me. What could the possibilities be that Ethanol could be the culprit? I got my boat a month ago which already had 1/2 tank of fuel with no problems, I fueled twice up at my marina thus far and am down to 1/4 tank left

 

[JA5ON]

Just spoke to the marina mechanic. He sea-trialed the boat and all the issues I experienced did not occur while he was on it. WTF? He said the lower unit oil was old so he changed it and also found no traces of water. Other than that he said theres nothing he could do. I havent been on the boat since but I have this gut feeling that the sputtering will happen again.
I hope my issue does not involve a bad ECM like GrouperJim had bc i dont have a warranty. Its a shame that I can't fish in peace without worrying

 

[Brian S]

Restart the engine and it works...I had this happen to my f250 3 occasions between 100-150 hours. I have 553 hours now and have not had a problem since. Something with the computer having an error or something...resets upon restart.

 

[grouperjim]

Restart the engine and it works...I had this happen to my f250 3 occasions between 100-150 hours. I have 553 hours now and have not had a problem since. Something with the computer having an error or something...resets upon restart.

what he said!

yeah Jason.....i forgot to add in my PM that a restart/reboot of the ECM, just like your home computer, will cure the issue. Temporarily/permanently.......who knows. Hopefully like Brian, it won't come up again.

 

[JA5ON]

Thanks, how do I go about restarting the ecm? I think there is more to it than just turning the key on and off I suppose?

 

[grouperjim]

yep. restart the engine to reset.