Starboard engine cuts out fires right back up

[21B]

Just joined the Bertram family. Bought 1984 30 Flybridge cruiser from original owner. Boat is awesome been in doors for last 2 years and just ran her from Boston to Branford CT. Boat ran great 500 hours on original Crusader 454's. The only issue was after 3 hours of running perfect starboard motor shut off like hitting switch. Fired right back up and ran great again for hour or so then happened again we backed down from 3400 to 3000 happened again. Spent night in Newport changed fuel filters and left for home happened few more times. Took out for 1st time w/family and happened 3 times on quick trip. Has now happened at idle speed as well. Each time fires right back up. So now swapped coil from Port motor and changed on/off and start switches at helm. Distributor, cap, wires appear new and batteries are brand new. Fuel tank is new aluminum. Any help on what to try next would be much appreciated.

[MarkD]

21B:

Smarter people will chime in but this was happening with my B28 with Mercruiser 350's and it turned out to be a module in the distributor (under the cap and rotor). Apparently common on those but not sure if the same situation with the 454'? It was easy and cheap enough to do so I replaced both. We had the same symptoms and based on what you are saying it certainly sounds ignition related. If it were fuel, I would think it wouldn't be running fine and then just not. Good luck and congratulations.

Which B30 did you buy?

Mark

[Joseph Fikentscher]

Classic coil symptoms.

[Tony Meola]

Sounds like a module or the coil is getting hot. If you swapped coils from one side to the other and still had the problem then it is a module.

Try and get a work shop manual on those engines so you can see which module it might be. You could have more than one. Of course one other thought, cold also be a fuel pump issue.

[makomike1]

Had similar problem on my 270hp crusaders. Turned out to be my distributor cap. Take off your cap and see if you have any growth or green stuff on the contacts under your cap.Replaced cap and ran like a new one. After a lot of chasing and checking, that was the last thing I checked. It was by far the cheapest fix. Good luck. Mako Mike

[21B]

Thank you all for the feedback. Sure feels like electrical because it just shuts off no bogging down like starving for fuel. I will try the module 1st. Then move to new cap/rotor. Fuel pump looks original so definitely on the list for replacement! Ill post an update once I give this a try.

Thanks again!!

[farmer]

Possibly, pickup coil, electronic module, coil ,vapor lock.

[Tooeez]

I had a similar problem with both engines after my repower a few years back: randomly stop cold, then start right back up, sometimes port, sometimes starboard--gave every indication of being an electrical problem. I discounted a fuel issue because of the quick, sharp shutdown, and besides the electric fuel pumps had been replaced less than 2 years before the repower, and how could 2 separate units fail at the same time? After eliminating every possible electrical cause, and most fuel issues like a vacuum leak on the suction side or blocked pickup, I put a pressure gauge on the pumps: one was putting out about 1.5 psi, the other less than 1 psi (supposed to be about 7psi). The ethonol gas had gotten to the pumps; if you have electric pumps and the boat has been sitting awhile it might have damaged yours.

[ljmauricio]

I had identical issue. Ignition switch was the problem. Crusader gas engines