Fuel line blockage/obstruction

[Rainmaker]

I had a little issue with the boat. Of course not until I was 80 miles from nowhere on my single outboard.

It seems that after 7-8 miles my fuel bulb compresses and of course the boat doesn't run. Shut it off, blow in the fuel line (tank side of the ball) and good for another 7-8 miles. If I just get it running again and do not blow in it I am good for a few minutes.

I suspect a few options.

First something could be getting sucked onto the pick up

second, fuel lines could have an issue (ethanol??)

Third, could be a plug in the vent (though I blew in it with no restriction)


I am running a 1998 Seacraft 23' CC with a 2006 eTECH on it if that matters. I have access to the fuel line (will replace since I cut it too short in an on the water repair) and can get to the fuel tank. I also have a second pick up on the tank that I can use.

My thought is, new fuel line. New RACOR (though that is not the issue since I took it out of the line already to no avail) and hook it to the second pick up. Run it, if still an issue drain the tank to see if anyting is in it.


Has anyone run into this before? Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I going in the proper direction? Could it be something else?

[Old'sCool]

Possible vent plugging, fuel hose/vent hose collapse, anti-siphon valve, fuel pick-up....you have to work through them all.

[Capt Chuck]

Could it be something else?

Do you have a Navman or the like type fuel monitor?

If so, the fuel bulb MUST be kept higher than the in-line monitor at all times or the bulb will collapse

[Rainmaker]

Nope, just a fuel tank, Racor, then to the ball and the seperator in the motor. There is a valve on the fuel line at the tank but it is just a shut off valve, I checked it and all looks well in side and out.

I took the RACOR out of the picture while on the water so it is not the failure.

I picked up a new fuel line today and will install it tomorrow. I may put it on the second pick up so that I can elimimate the pick up I was using. The pickups both look welded so removing them will not happen easily. Also the vent is behind the liner so getting to it will not be easy (but with some effort I can get there).

After the fuel line is reattached, I will drop the boat in some calm water and run it for a few miles to see what happens. If I still have trouble I'll pop the gas cap off to see if it is a vent issue.

If none of that is the issue the next step is to drain the tank and make sure no crud or other stuff is in there.

Am I heading down the proper path? Any easier ways to find the gremlin?

[Bushwacker]

The collapsed bulb indicates a restriction between the bulb and the tank, although a plugged vent could also cause the problem. I'd suspect an ethanol damaged fuel line, so changing it out is a good idea. Did the old fuel line show any signs of ethanol damage on the inside? With so much counterfit stuff coming from Asia these days, fuel hose stamped with the USCG & SAE specs unfortunately doesn't mean much unless it's known to be made in the USA! I've even heard of fuel line installed by dealers having problems with ethanol damage, even though the hose was marked as being rated for ethanol fuel!

[gss036]

I think you are picking up junk in your fuel pick up in the tank. That was exactly the same way mine was acting/running last year or so and I ended up replacing the tank. I could not believe all the junk I had in the bottom of the tank. Try blowing back through the fuel line from the primer bulb, (probably have to take the bulb off)if you can a little while and then the problems reoccurs, then you have a problem w/junk in the tank. Some tanks have a filter attached to the pick up tube. The Racor filter does a really good job of stopping the junk from getting into your engine lines up stream. Most fuel pick up tubes just unscrew from the tank. Lots of pro and cons on anti-siphon valves. My old tank did not have one, but the new ones does.I used to be able to siphon off gas for the lawn mower, but now w/the anti-siphon valve you have to manually pump it out w/the primer bulb.

[IslandRunner]

Rainmaker, that sound just like what was happening to me. I bought a 1988 20' Seacraft sometime in June. The guy I bought it from fill up the tank (50 or 60 gals. tank) and only ran about 15 miles last time he used it LAST SUMMER (over a year) and DID'T add any fuel additives and hadn't used it since. So after I purchased the boat my first thing on the list was running that fuel out of the tanks. I add some Star Tron Fuel additives. Boat run great the first 30 miles until he got in to some ruff water, then just like you say the bulb was sucked flat and the motor was not getting enough fuel to run above idle. So we start trouble shooting, changed bulb, went run it again, nope not it, changed, in-line fuel filter, nope not it. So end result I pulled out both pickup tubes, (one a spare or for second motor I guess.) I looked through it but could not see light, like i could with the the spare one. I unscrewed the ninety from the tube and there was a skinny stainless steel filter that slides into the pick up tube, it was all cogged with settlement and trash. Looked into the tanks and could see a little bit of trash sitting on the bottom of the tank, so I left the filter out of the pick up tube so the trash could be caught by the in-line filter. I have run approximately 75 to 100 gallons trough it without any problems, glad it’s over.
May want to check your pick up tube again cause at first glaze of mine I also thought they were welded in but it was because they were screwed down so far. Hope this helps.

[Rainmaker]

Islandrunner,
I think you are correct, unfortunately I didn't see your post until I was finished for the night.

I think I took care of this.

I drained the tank of its remaing 60 gallons of fuel without learning much. To get the siphon going I used forced air through the vent so I know it is not blocked. I did not see much in the tank that would cause any issue. I took another good look at the pick ups though and found that they were screwed in but had some goop on them so you could not tell. Someone must have thought they needed to seal them a little better. I pulled the pick up that I use and found it had some brown particles stuck in the screen. It was basically clogged all around the edges, the bottom hits the tank so it could easily get blocked. I blew it out and cleaned up the screen. I found it much easier to blow through once I cleaned it out. I think I am in good shape now. I did not remove the screen though. I suspect I will have this issue again at some point. Next time I will know where to start.

I have one more question. WHY would anyone put a screen there? I am running through 2 water seperators + an inline fuel filter (screen). I hope that one of those items will catch any debris that gets sucked up the fuel line. I think I should remove the screen from the pick up but I am not sure why it is there.

Has anyone ever had any issues after removing the screen? What have the rest of you done with the pick up screens?

The only thing I can think is that since the pick up reaches the tank bottom the screen acts as a little spacer so you don't suck the pick up onto the bottom of the tank. (I could shorten the hose by 1/32 of an inch and solve that potenial issue though.)

I still have to replace my racor and pull the new gas line as well as install the new ball I picked up for good measure. No big deal, but night came. I have not run the boat yet, but I suspect I found the gremlin.

[McGillicuddy]

My gremlins were chunks of silicone. Someone must have used it to seal the sending unit. Alcohol breaks down silicone. I found some first in the fuel/water separating filter and then in the supply elbow fitting at the tank. A screen would have kept this in the tank rather than the pick-up tube.

[IslandRunner]

Rainmaker, glad you found that screen that is the same thing i said when i found it. before i found it i was thinking i was going to have to pull my tank, but once i found that screen i knew that was the problem. like I said I just pulled that screen out and put the pick up back in. and now just letting the water/fuel separator and in-line filter do their jobs. i just bought a recor but have not installed it yet.

I do have a question for you Rainmaker, for your pick ups in your tank is it hose or alu. tubing?