More Fuel Problems

[BigNiner19]

1989 V6 Excel 225

Motor seemed to be firing up just fine and running on the hose. Finally put the boat in the water and idled away from the dock for about 10 minutes and the motor quit. Now on the water I could not get any fuel to pump through the bulb, essentially sucking air it felt like.

I came home now suddenly I am able to get the bulb to pump up nice and hard again and even see fuel running to the filter on the motor, but every time I try and start the bulb goes soft and it wont fire up.

Fuel pump? I cleaned the carbs thoroughly a week ago. Any suggestions.

I can continue to pump the bulb and it will get hard, but every time I try and fire the motor up it goes soft and motor wont run.

Cory

[robert graham]

Start back at the pick-up tube in your gas tank, and work your way up, checking all fittings, gaskets, O-Rings, fuel lines, primer bulb/check valves, quick-disconnect on front of cowl, fuel filter, fuel pump, for cracks, pin-holes, air in-leakage. How old is primer bulb and are the 2 check valves operating freely? Good Luck!

[BigNiner19]

Start back at the pick-up tube in your gas tank, and work your way up, checking all fittings, gaskets, O-Rings, fuel lines, primer bulb/check valves, quick-disconnect on front of cowl, fuel filter, fuel pump, for cracks, pin-holes, air in-leakage. How old is primer bulb and are the 2 check valves operating freely? Good Luck!

I put brand new hose, clamps, and primer bulb between the brand new water seperator and the motor to eliminate any issues there.

I did use the same quick disconnect for the motor, how do you know if that is bad?? Looks fine to me, and I can pump fuel through it for the most part.

I'm still trouble shooting, I hate fuel issues.

The motor sounds for a split second like it fires up and then dies, it does this consistently.

[CatCam]

Even if the primer ball in new doesn't mean it's good. 3 weeks ago my brother pumps the ball on his fuel line.....fuel starts dripping from the factory crimp on the bulb.....no problem, has a spare bulb in his "orange box".

Puts new ball on, pumps and the ball gets hard....then would bleed off after a few minutes.....not quite the same issues but the boat seemed to be starving for gas, no hole shot, couldn't get over 4100 RPM.

Got back to the camp, put the spare ball from my boat on his and it ran like a champ.....go figure..!!

[jb123]

rid of the disconnect, run straight from separator to motor filter

[99yam40]

guessing at the problem and trowing parts at it is a waste of time and money.
Test and see what is wrong and then fix that.
A fuel pressure/vacuum gauge will tell you if you have a restriction and if fuel pump is funtioning properly on both pressure and suction.

[BigNiner19]

Replaced the fuel pumps because mine didnt look very good anyway. Was not the issue with my motor currently, but probably still a good thing to do on a motor that has been sitting and I dont know much of the history.

Can 100% say that the fuel is reaching the carbs, but at that point something is wrong. I took the carbs off about a week ago and cleaned them pretty thoroughly, but I'm thinking now that they must be clogged up again. Everything else has been trouble shooted. No leaks, bulb gets hard now (the old one may or may not have been bad).

I'm going to remove the needles and clean out the seats real good, and put everything back together. Any other helpful input guys? There must be a lot of crap in my tank.

I've hooked the motor up to a little red tank to try and just get the motor running. I will deal with the boat's actual tank after I get the motor running good.

Cory

Cory

[200090tlry]

You said bulb goes soft while running

How about after replacing fuel pumps? Nothing wrong with throwing parts at outboards.

[BigNiner19]

How about after replacing fuel pumps? Nothing wrong with throwing parts at outboards.

Bulb gets nice and hard now. I may have had multiple issues. This boat/motor combo sat for a long time before I bought it. I've had it idling on the hose last week though.

I really think it just has gunked up carbs again though. Fuel is getting to the carbs.

[200090tlry]

The bulbs work best if

They are pointing up, I cut my new Walmart special shorter so it is indeed up. Carbs and carb adjustments maybe the problem.

[BigNiner19]

I've had these carbs on and off this motor a number of times over the past couple of days. To this point, the motor has won. I dont know what else to try.

I'm working on a seperate portable tank with good clean fresh gas. I have good spark, I have good compression, and I have confirmed that fuel is pumping into the carbs. When I take them off, a good bit of fuel drains out of them each time.

Also, if I shoot some starting fluid in the motor and crank it, it will fire up and run as long as I spray fluid in it. I've cleaned every jet, and every hole on all three carbs. Whats the deal.

I dont know much about the float and needle deal, but they seem to be free and moving as I believe they should be?? Any ideas? This is very frustrating.

Cory

[200090tlry]

Well you have not been doing much reading on internet

You should not use starting fluid. Instead mix up bottle of gas and proper oil mix. If the motor will not run without starting fluid. Do the carbs fill up with gas, how much comes out drain screw. Measure it with cut off plastic bottle. You also want to take your time reinstalling carbs, are rubber gaskets in place and sealing. Also just FYI for people installing fuel pumps there is hole that uses vacuum on back and mates to block. Be sure to use gasket. If your carbs are filling perfect then I suspect there still dirty or something. How clean were they on first inspection. Mine had no orange tint stuff. Carb air leak would cause issues, mine had no paper gasket just rubber fits in slots. I oiled them little bit reinstalled.

[BigNiner19]

You should not use starting fluid. Instead mix up bottle of gas and proper oil mix. If the motor will not run without starting fluid. Do the carbs fill up with gas, how much comes out drain screw. Measure it with cut off plastic bottle. You also want to take your time reinstalling carbs, are rubber gaskets in place and sealing. Also just FYI for people installing fuel pumps there is hole that uses vacuum on back and mates to block. Be sure to use gasket. If your carbs are filling perfect then I suspect there still dirty or something. How clean were they on first inspection. Mine had no orange tint stuff. Carb air leak would cause issues, mine had no paper gasket just rubber fits in slots. I oiled them little bit reinstalled.

Yes the carbs fill with gas, I guess the gas just isnt getting inside where it needs to??

They were pretty dirty when I pulled them off the first time. But after the first cleaning, it ran on the hose alright. I did the same as you, oiled the rubber gaskets and re-installed. The carbs are very clean now, I used compressed air to clear out all the passages. The floats dont look to be in the best shape, but they appear to be moving up and down as they should? But I doubt that would keep the motor from starting up.

Cory

[BigNiner19]

I did not use a new carb kit when I took apart my carbs. I just cleaned everything thoroughly. Everything appeared okay, no damage. The needles even still have a good rubber tip.

One thing I may have done is put the main jets (160 and 168) on the wrong side. I just read in the manual that the main jets are supposed to go on either the port side or the starboard side and the engine can be harmed if installed other wise.

This could not be problem right? This could not be the reason my motor wont fire up??? Surely something this odd and dumb would not be it..

Cory

[BigNiner19]

I was told that Yamaha spark is typically different from Evinrude or Merc. That it can be harder to see. Im certain I have spark at each cylinder but it is a light orangeish/whiteish spark on each one.

Cory