Hard Starting Cummins

[captain's cat]

For goodness sakes Gene, if my bride said that about my current boat, I'd hate it instantly and get the next one up with her blessing and love her forever!! :!: :!: :!:

 

[Diamond Bear]

Has anyone who is dealing with this issue heard from the folks at Cummins NW? My experience has been you need to call them, more than once, to make contact. That is still the case for me.

Cheers

Trust me on this from months of experience: Not to be a hard #** on this subject, but if you wait for Cummings NW to answer your calls, you had better have patience. Were it not for Andrew, I would have never gotten a call from them...only when Andrew gets in their faces does anything happen...They want this issue to just go away.

 

[Andrew Custis]

I have had the meeting with Cummins USA. We have all come to a conclusion that this is an ECM problem. Cummins has a letter out for legal that will be distributed to every Cummins dealership inside the USA. It will have a procedure on how to change out and re-program the ECM's.

In my earlier posts I had asked for anyone that is having the issue to send me their information. I have had contact with every person that is experiencing that issue. As soon as the new ECM's arrive those people on my list will be contacted by the Cummins dealer in their area.

If you have not contacted me with this issue please send me an email and I will add you to our list to be contacted and have the start issue fixed.

Once again as I have said this engine is great. If we can move on past this start issue we will see what the future brings. Please let me know if you have any other questions @ andrewcustis@rangertugs.com

 

[sparky]

FINALLY!

Thanks to Andrew's persistence, and a few calls to Cummins myself, on Thursday we got our new ECM installed. And programmed. For the first time in months the engine started on just one try, and did not need the battery switch in parallel mode. The bottom line is that it took months for the folks at Ranger Tugs to get the folks at Cummins to admit that the problem was created by Cummins. All of it.

Now before I deem this issue resolved, I plan on going up to the boat Sunday morning, when it is very cold out, to see if she still starts so easily. But I am hopeful for the first time in four months. :lol:

Sparky
Starry Night 2009 R25
Virginia Beach, VA

 

[norbhat]

Andrew, may I trust that this "hard starting" stuff will NOT be a concern when we launch "Two If By Sea" next mont?

Norb :?

 

[Andrew Custis]

I will make sure it will not be an issue!

 

[sparky]

It started like a brand new engine this morning, in 43 degree rainy weather. Barely had to turn the key, started up on the very first try.

Bottom line on our repairs: Sand the paint off the grounding system, run a cable directly from the starting battery to the engine block (removed the woven strap), replaced the starter battery (6 months old), replace the ECM. Viola!

I am now a happy camper. If the weather would ever improve, I'll be a happy boater as well!

Thanks for getting to the bottom of this Andrew!

Sparky
2009 R-25
Starry Night
Virginia Beach, VA

 

[AKDAVE]

Andrew,

I took delivery of hull 142 with the 150 Cummins on last Friday. The dealer has not yet sea trialed the boat as there is too much ice on the launch ramp. Since the motor has not yet been started, I do not know if I have this problem or not. Are all of the ECM's needing replacement or is the problem only on some of the Cummins motors? If the change should be made on all of the motors, it would be good to have this done now to eliminate the problem before it occurs.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Diamond Bear]

Andrew:
I have been following this thread for weeks and will hopefully be launching Diamond Bear in a couple week...weather is not cooperating...My question is; I have replaced the ECM with one the Randy sent last September, I read that there is some "programing" involved with the replacement. Is this going to be an issue for me? I do not yet know how she will start after the winter layup. thanks,
Ed

 

[henrym]

Per a previous post, one might want to think twice before removing the woven grounding strap as it is connected to the green through hull bonding wire. The more and better the engine's ground, the less likely the possibility of other problems. Andrew might have some ideas about advisability of removing the engine grounding strap.
Henry

 

[dr. o]

A little bird whispered in my ear that the Cummins is history... Going to be the yammy from now on...
Fact or fiction = Andrew?

 

[Tom Ray]

Dr. O, the Yanmar 150 is now the standard engine, but the Cummins 150 is available as an optional upgrade. I have not heard of any plans to change.

 

[HonuKai]

Hi all. Update: New ECM and programming completed Thursday on Honu Kai. Engine started on first crank this weekend. Thanks Andrew for all of the follow up.

 

[sparky]

Same here. Got the first chance to actually run the boat with the new ECM. Starts up on the first try, ran great. What a beautiful thing!
Sparky

 

[henrym]

If Ranger is replacing the Cummins QSD 2.0L 150HP with a 150±HP Yanmar engine, it looks like us R-25 QSD owners are stuck with a very expensive to maintain pig-in-a-poke!
In view of all the posts concerning the ridiculous cost for replacement Cummins QSD parts etcetera, who in their right mind would want to own an engine with a block that is made in Korea, assembled in Italy by a company that is 50% owned by Russians and replacement parts in the USA are controlled and punitively priced by Mercury Marine?
Henry

 

[IdleUp]

I checked and double checked the grounds and there's nothing wrong with my connections ( a ground is a ground) - can't for the life of me understand that even if it were the ground, why that would make it hard to start after a lay-over.

Anyhow I'm just still waiting on my fix . . . . . . . . :?:

 

[sparky]

Idleup
Things will start right up when you get the new ECM. It was amazing!

Sparky
Virginia Beach

 

[henrym]

I checked and double checked the grounds and there's nothing wrong with my connections ( a ground is a ground) - can't for the life of me understand that even if it were the ground, why that would make it hard to start after a lay-over.

Anyhow I'm just still waiting on my fix . . . . . . . . :?:

I asked the gentleman from Cummins Power South who oversaw the replacement of the ECM about the possibility of an inadequately grounded engine causing start problems etc. He left me with little doubt that a poorly grounded QSD has the potential to cause problems. On my engine, the Cummins white paint caused the large flat washer not to be grounded and the grounding bolt looked like it was galvanized but it was actually gray paint. After removing the paint from the grounding area on the engine and bolt , and Per Andrew's suggestion, adding a #2 gauge grounding wire directly from the engine to the start battery. The QSD's start time went from 30± seconds to 1-2 seconds....
Henry

 

[IdleUp]

I checked and double checked the grounds and there's nothing wrong with my connections ( a ground is a ground) - can't for the life of me understand that even if it were the ground, why that would make it hard to start after a lay-over.

Anyhow I'm just still waiting on my fix . . . . . . . . :?:

I asked the gentleman from Cummins Power South who oversaw the replacement of the ECM about the possibility of an inadequately grounded engine causing start problems etc. He left me with little doubt that a poorly grounded QSD has the potential to cause problems. On my engine, the Cummins white paint caused the large flat washer not to be grounded and the grounding bolt looked like it was galvanized but it was actually gray paint. After removing the paint from the grounding area on the engine and bolt , and Per Andrew's suggestion, adding a #2 gauge grounding wire directly from the engine to the start battery. The QSD's start time went from 30± seconds to 1-2 seconds....
Henry

Ok, then the 64K question is; why are they changing out the ECU?

 

[IdleUp]

By the way, I checked the continuity on my ground to the engine and its fine!