Etec lower cylinder not firing

[1st Sail]

I had my '06 Etec 50 reprogrammed for X100 oil. I seldom run at WOT or even 4k+ rpm. X100 is known for its clean burning properties. So far the plugs are always running clean. Last spring I made a mistake of buying fuel at the marina where I have a slip. Looks like I got a tank of old fuel from the previous year. Engine ran like crap until I burned off the tank. I dumped half of the second tank in the truck and mixed with premium to burn it off. Engine ran like a clock with new fresh unleaded fuel from the local station.

[Ixneigh]

Stranded in Nassau...could be worse What did you do ? Did you have spare plugs?

[March]

Ixneigh wrote:
What did you do ? Did you have spare plugs

Nope, we returned from Nassau to Bimini under sail. Then we got towed to Miami by BoatUS.
The dealer changed the injector in Iowa. It's been working fine ever since

[Ixneigh]

Wow towed across the stream. That's scary. (To me)
If you had had a spare Injector could you have changed it yourself?
Would it be worth carrying one for long trips?
Ix

[March]

We were lucky: the Gulf Stream was glass-like, with a five KTS wind from the back. Having left at four in the morning, out of Bimin's west coast where we had anchored at night, we managed to crawl half way across it before the towboat picked us up. The dude put out dinghy across his cockpit, we lifted the fins, centerboard. and the engine and we were flying at 20+ KTS. Made it to Miami in a couple of hours.

I don't think I would have had the guts to break up the ETEC mess with the injector: it looks like an impressive piece of machinery, with a coil that is supposed to heat up the fuel spray. According to the ETEC mechanic, what happened was, the coil burnt through and it was arking--sometimes it would make contact, sometimes it would not. That's why the engine would start intermittently, work for 15 minutes, and then die again.

Initially I simply thought the problem was with contaminated gas: I emptied the tanks (and found no place to dispose of the fuel, LOL) and replaced it with clean fuel. Back home, the mechanic agreed at first, but talking with ETEC factory guys, he pointed out that it must have been the injector's fault. The ETEXs are military grade and run with sh~t fuel, too., the fuel I brought back home seemed OK, so I don't know--maybe...

At any event, I suggested we tested the old injector, but the mechanic said that the electric ark might have soldered temporarily the broken section of the coil. It may have lasted... or not.Now I have it as a questionable and doubtful spare, for what it's worth

[Ixneigh]

That's the black thing ontop of the cylinder head? Looks like it could be somewhat easy to remove?
I initially thought my problem might be a bad injector. By I smelled unburnt fuel an decided ths injector was working. Is there an hour range when these things typically start acting up?

Ix

[March]

Not sure, Ix. Don't have the boat here--it's been 16 months since I took off the cowling. The spare is over at my buddy where I keep the boat over winter-months
The mechanic said that this was certainly not a common problem with injectors. More like a fluke.
M