Brand New Boat today left me stranded

[White Pointer]

G'day,

Lots of suggestions about the probable cause by lots on here who know what they are talking about. But that's small comfort to you now having your confidence in the engine destroyed.

It could be something simple, like a fuel tank breather. Or it could be a defective thermostat that is causing the engine to detect overheat and shut down. I had a similar experience with my 3.5HP Mercury 4-stroke just after I finished the running in period. The dealer initially said they had checked everything and it was fine.

I objected and told them to put it in the tank on half throttle and run it for half an hour. Sure enough, it broke down and they couldn't make it start again until it had cooled down. It was the CDI ignition unit. It was getting hot and giving up. They replaced it after waiting a number of weeks for a replacement part. They said they had never seen a failure like it.

So my suggestion is not to accept the possible simple fix but ask your dealer to run the engine in his tank for as long as it takes to heat soak it under load. Your life may depend on this test.

Regards,

White Pointer