Two pickups are provided for two engines and two separate filters. Running two engines off one filter isn't real smart for several reasons . . . besides setting yourself up to allow one clogged filter to shut down BOTH engine, twice the flow rate thru one filter will:
- cause the filter to clog faster,
- increase the pressure loss and flow restriction, increasing the probability of starving the engines for fuel.
Starving an engine for fuel not only reduces power, (AND lubrication, if running an old carb'd 2-stroke on primix!) the resulting lean mixture significantly raises combustion temperatures, leading to overheated pistons, causing them to scuff the cylinder bores if they don't completely seize or come apart! Ethanol-laced gas contains extra oxygen so it burns even hotter. The old carb'd 2-strokes were jetted relatively rich to begin with, so had more margin, but the newer motors calibrated for low emissions and better gas mileage are relatively lean to begin with so are more sensitive to fuel starvation.
Fuel starvation and the resulting lean combustion has probably killed more engines than any other single cause and it doesn't take long to do it! This is why it's wise to do a compression check if buying a used motor. Over-powered rigs are probably the most susceptible because a slight loss in power is less noticeable, and the natural reaction to a slight loss in rpm, especially if you have lots of power, is to just bump the throttle up a bit instead stopping to try to figure out what the engine is trying to tell you! Advancing the throttle just makes the failure happen faster!
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