I have an 04 Yamaha V-Max 200 that is cutting out when I get into rough water. It will cut out also when I try to gun it out of the hole. Sometimes it cuts when I do this or sometimes it just runs rough and won't pick up the RPM's to get on plane. I can ease it up out of the hole and ease it up to higher speed, but as soon as I hit a wake or rough water, it cuts out and dies sometimes. Any ideas? I haven't taken it in yet, but was curious if anyone else has one that has done this. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Sounds like it could be a loose connection but its hard to say. That one could be a tough one to diagnose and then again it might be easy.

Has the boat set up for a while?
Are the battery connections tight?
How much fuel is in the tank when it was doing it?
When is the last time any maintnence was done on the boat?

Have a neighbor that was having similar problems. He took it in and they said it was dirty carbs. That cost him 600.00. Took it out after he got it back and the same thing. Then he took it back, they told him it was the key switch, ignition switch. So that was replaced. He took it back out and same thing again. Motor would run fine and then all of a sudden the tach would go to zero and it would run like [censored]. It would do it here and there at different times. He took it back and they finally found the problem. It was the wiring harness for the motor. They replaced the whole wiring harness and it has run fine ever since. So maybe check the main plug where it goes into the motor and have someone lay back there and and check it out when it starts happening.

Never had this on a Yamy but did on an Evinrude. Would sometimes take off fine and as soon as you hit a boat wake or rough water it would sometimes start running bad. After a lot of fuel system and ignition testing found it to be the timer base. Part of your description tells me to replace the manual fuel pump diaphrams and other tells me to clean all of the plug connectors and grounds on the motor.

Start with the inexpensive things first. Check the hoses first, twice in my old Skeeter it was tiny cracks around the bulb, which sucks air as you increase speed. Check your entire fuel line from the tank to the engine.
If it's been over a year change your plugs or at least regap them. The diaphrams in your fuel are easy to change, you could do them yourself. Don't attempt this if you're not good with tools and schematics. The schematics are easy to find at Google.

Thanks guys. I will start checking and see what I come up with. If I don't find anything, I'll take it in.

You might also want to check your speedometer line that runs through the rigging tube. Right at the motor for some reason they use a connector instead of a solid line and on two of my Yamahas where they splice them together it was cracked and filling the lower plate of the motor up with water, when I would run in rough water I had all kinds of problems; however, if it was smooth she would run pretty good. In rough water the water was splashing up and getting sucked into the intakes... Yamahas run real good on gas; but, gas and water not so good.

Good luck with finding out problem....

This sounds like a fuel restriction. Is it carbed or the EFI VMAX? Check the bulb, all the fuel line connections and filters first with either motor. If it is the EFI model, which I'm guessing it is, it sounds to me like the VST screen may be dirty. This is restricting flow to the injectors. The screen can be easily cleaned or replaced if you are mechanically inclined. It is in the big aluminum box on the side of the engine. You can find a schematic and parts for this motor on www.boats.net. It could also be one of the mechanical fuel pumps dumping fuel. There are three of these. These are notorius for going out on this motor and cause rough idling and cutting out at high speed. The diaphragms leak. Iboats.com and Boats.net both have good Yamaha message boards. You might also try asking there. In any case I wouldn't run your motor with a fuel restriction. Running lean leads to bad things like a rod through the block. Get it fixed if you don't want to handle it yourself.

Steve
www.amistadtackle.com

I think johnny123 is fishing in the wright area.I have repaired and replaced several boat wiring harness.they will break where they go into the rigging boot.Do the wires get into a bind when you trim the motor up? if a fuel problem normaly would be consistant no mater what water conditions are.it would be a good idea to inspect your lift pumps.If the diphrams are still plastic replace them reguardless.yamaha used them for a little while.I have my own shop 26 years experiance.If i can help let me know.Good luck

I looked on there for a schematic on the VST screen, but could not find it. Do you have a link to it? My motor is a VZ200. 2004. I checked the bulb, fuel lines, and electrical connections starting at the battery. Did not find anything. It still did the same thing this last Sunday. If I gun it up out of the hole, it will cut out and die. If I ease it up, it will get on plane and gradually get up rpm's, but will still cut out near 3/4 throttle. Thought it might be gas, but probably not since it is consistent how it cuts out.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Well my engine ain't near as big at a 60 hp yammie, but I had very similar problems a few months back. The carbs were rebuilt and nada change. Motor would idle rough, cough, spit, run fine then here we go again running rough and then quit.

Problem turned out to be a corroded battery connection that was causing a voltage problem. Cleaned the battery terminal and cable and voilla, problem fixed. Sometines fixes are the simple stuff.

I had several people to ask me to check the battery and connections. That was the first thing I did. Still no luck. this is getting so frustrating. I guess I will have to take it to someone to help me figure it out.

Does anyone know a good mechanic to recommend that is located around Lake Lewisville? I need to figure this out and I hope it is not too expensive of a problem. This is a bad time of year to be dropping a lot of dough on the boat. Thanks for the help.

I wonder if I am seeing the results of this ethanol epidemic that seems to be running rampant these days. I hear about it pretty regular now and saw two articles in Bassmaster issue. Gonna look some more this weekend.