starved for fuel

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Ric Shultz

I have installed a tempo 12 gal internal tank in my 25. Love the convience, but there is a problem. After starting, it runs 1-3 minutes, begins to stall and if I squeeze the prime bulb 4-5 times, it recovers. No squeeze, it dies. This goes on interminttently. Also, if I run the engine at low RPM, most of the time it is OK. Fuel line progression is as follows: tank, anti-siphon, valve, prime bulb, auto gas filter, thru hull and 9.9 Johnson. It is 5/16 line about 7' long including all the fittings and the engine is about 1' higher than the tank. Ideas? Here's some of mine: Anti siphon is a problem. Filter is a problem. Install 3/8 line and equipment. Engine fuel pump is a problem. I had the engine tuned this winter, with the portable tank, and they said nothing. Maybe I should call them too. Ric comes a time Amherst, NH
 
B

Bob Todd

How about a tank vent?

If the tank isn't ventilated (via the cap or otherwise) you'll starve. Cheers, Bob
 
D

Don Evans

Vent?

By antisyphon, do you mean vent? You mentioned it as a seperate device. If the engines fuel pump was OK before, it is not likely that now. I think you have the right hose size. If there are no kinks in the line restricting the flow it might be the vent hole. Do you notice the line or bulb collapsing before it stalls? I might take the line off the tank and stick into a container of gas to bypass the tank. Eliminate each piece of the puzzle working back to the fuel pump itself. It's been awhile since I've used an outboard so I hope others will jump in here. Let us know what you find. Oh one other thing...is the additional fuel filter necessary. I'm wondering if the pump on the outboard is working at its maximum draw? Don
 
D

Don Evans

Vent?

By valve, do you mean vent? You mentioned it as a seperate device. Also ...is there an antisyphon device on these tanks? If the engines fuel pump was OK before, it is not likely that now. I think you have the right hose size. If there are no kinks in the line restricting the flow it might be the vent hole. Do you notice the line or bulb collapsing before it stalls? Is the vent plugged or perhaps not bored out by the manufacturer? I might take the line off the tank and stick into a container of gas to bypass the tank. Eliminate each piece of the puzzle working back to the fuel pump itself. It's been awhile since I've used an outboard so I hope others will jump in here. Let us know what you find. Oh one other thing...is the additional fuel filter necessary. I'm wondering if the pump on the outboard is working at its maximum draw? Don
 
L

lnranch

Connection

I had same problem with my outboard. My problem was the connection from the hose to the engine was not locking correctly. The engine was drawing in air instead of fuel. Good Luck
 
R

Ric Shultz

vent should be ok

I installed a new vent, line etc. The valve is a simple ball vale to create a shut off. The extra filter was to improve filtering, but I am suspect there. I guess I could blow into the fill cap and see if air comes out the vent. I purchased 2 more hose barbs and was going to start skipping pieces like the filter, valve, etc to see if I could find the problem. Could it be the anti-siphone? Is it neccessary? Good idea to just try the portable tank and work backwards.
 
J

Jim B

Ric - I am having EXACTLY the same problem

Mine is on an existing system that is exactly like yours (on an O25)except I have a Yamaha 9.9. I had some comtaminated fuel which required that the engine be serviced and it ran fine on a portable tank. I drained the tank though the supply line to the engine, added some Heat and stabilizer to 3 gallons of fuel, pumped out some fuel though the supply line into a glass jar to make sure it looked good and ran the engine in the driveway for 1/2 hour, ran fine. Put the boat in the water it died after about 5-10 minutes of running under load. Squeezing the primer bulb revived it. As long as I squeezed the bulb every few minutes, it ran fine. It occurred to me that after pumping that bad fuel through the inline filter I should have replaced it, so I did. That seemed to have fixed it, got out of the marina fine. Coming back it died again though. The only other thing that I changed was the connector to the engine, the old one had failed. I plan on making up another fuel line and temperary replacing the old one. This will eliminate everything except the check valve at the tank and the engine itself. If that fails I will try a portable tank. If you figure anything out Ric please post it here, as will I. I will try to attach a pic of my setup, maybe that will help you validate your installation.
 

Attachments

R

Ric Shultz

my mechanic says

I amnage a country club so I asked my golf course mechanic for ideas. He is giving me a small John Deere fuel pump for a mower that fits 5/16 line. It is 12v and delivers 3-5lbs of pressure. He told me to install close to the tank and it should solve my problem. He said that between valves, fittings and filters, I have too much restriction for the weak vacuume pump for the Johnson. I'll let you know after the weekend if it works. comes a time
 
J

Jim B

Ric - I went out this afternoon and.....

replaced the fuel filter again. It ran flawlessly. I had put in a dinky filter I found in the lawnmower section at Rural King. I went and got a real filter, I believe it was a Fram G3. This seems to have done the trick.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.