Hi,
Boat - has not been run much in about two years. I have run it infrequently this season.
Sunday - added 16l (about 5 US Gal) of supreme fuel to the tank which was about 1/8 full. Went for a sail. Motor quit abruptly at mouth of harbour. Set sails. Got to an anchorage. Motor started no problem but would not run without full choke. Produced excellent power. On return trip to harbour we were on a broad reach in swells about 2-3 feet and we rocked and rolled quite nicely. Motor ran fine with full choke.
Monday - thinking I had some type of blockage in the carburetor, I drained the fuel bowl with the intention of trying to clean the main jet. Very carefully placed a trimmed polystyrene cup under the carburetor to do this. Fortunately, anticipating I would knock this over, I also put a thick layer of paper towel under the cup. Gas dissolved cup and I rapidly replaced the drain plug to deal with the spill. Once I had it all cleaned up and had run the blower for a good long time, engine started fine but still needed full choke.
Tuesday - knowing if i posted a question here about this without having a fuel pressure gauge installed, I installed one - easy to do and not a big $ item.
Started engine and it needed full choke again. Full pressure was maybe 2 psi and dropped precipitously when throttle was opened. Then, presto, engine started to run just fine with no choke. FP hovered between 4-5.5 psi.
Further running and monitoring of fuel pressure - you simply have to get one of these gauges for this type of trouble shooting - revealed pressure not so steady. Could drop as low as 2 psi and seemed a little jumpy.
So, I am thinking problem is either in fuel pump or somewhere upstream of the pump.
My next steps
1) connect an aux tank with nice clean gas directly to the fuel pump - start and monitor pressure - if pressure is ok, fuel pump is ok (except I seem to have the wrong pump in which produces the 4-5.5 psi instead of the 3-4.5 as recommended), if pressure not ok, bad fuel pump
I had planned to then insert aux tank prior to the filter etc, but given the state of the fuel tank, I think I will simply change the filter and clean the tank regardless.
Appreciate the keen eyes of those more experienced to see if my thinking is clear or if I am missing anything.
I have eliminated consideration of problems downstream of the fuel pump because the engine has always produced excellent power even when needing full choke.
Fuel pressure gauge was indespensible in this diagnosis - super good addition to the engine and very easy to do.
Thanks,
Peter
Boat - has not been run much in about two years. I have run it infrequently this season.
Sunday - added 16l (about 5 US Gal) of supreme fuel to the tank which was about 1/8 full. Went for a sail. Motor quit abruptly at mouth of harbour. Set sails. Got to an anchorage. Motor started no problem but would not run without full choke. Produced excellent power. On return trip to harbour we were on a broad reach in swells about 2-3 feet and we rocked and rolled quite nicely. Motor ran fine with full choke.
Monday - thinking I had some type of blockage in the carburetor, I drained the fuel bowl with the intention of trying to clean the main jet. Very carefully placed a trimmed polystyrene cup under the carburetor to do this. Fortunately, anticipating I would knock this over, I also put a thick layer of paper towel under the cup. Gas dissolved cup and I rapidly replaced the drain plug to deal with the spill. Once I had it all cleaned up and had run the blower for a good long time, engine started fine but still needed full choke.
Tuesday - knowing if i posted a question here about this without having a fuel pressure gauge installed, I installed one - easy to do and not a big $ item.
Started engine and it needed full choke again. Full pressure was maybe 2 psi and dropped precipitously when throttle was opened. Then, presto, engine started to run just fine with no choke. FP hovered between 4-5.5 psi.
Further running and monitoring of fuel pressure - you simply have to get one of these gauges for this type of trouble shooting - revealed pressure not so steady. Could drop as low as 2 psi and seemed a little jumpy.
So, I am thinking problem is either in fuel pump or somewhere upstream of the pump.
My next steps
1) connect an aux tank with nice clean gas directly to the fuel pump - start and monitor pressure - if pressure is ok, fuel pump is ok (except I seem to have the wrong pump in which produces the 4-5.5 psi instead of the 3-4.5 as recommended), if pressure not ok, bad fuel pump
I had planned to then insert aux tank prior to the filter etc, but given the state of the fuel tank, I think I will simply change the filter and clean the tank regardless.
Appreciate the keen eyes of those more experienced to see if my thinking is clear or if I am missing anything.
I have eliminated consideration of problems downstream of the fuel pump because the engine has always produced excellent power even when needing full choke.
Fuel pressure gauge was indespensible in this diagnosis - super good addition to the engine and very easy to do.
Thanks,
Peter
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