Engine shutdown

[ArtJ]

I thought all my engine shutdowns were gone permanently. Wrong.

Earlier last week i flushed the main passage which when cleaned , eliminated a need for the choke
to be out.

New problem

What happened yesterday, upon initial startup I turned on the fuel
primed with squeeze bulb till hard. Engine started instantly, as usual.
Went to the fuel dock topped off tank with 7 gallons until came out
the deck fill plate (oops).

Left the dock, ran the engine less than 10 minutes to get sails up.
Shut engine down for about 50 minutes restarted engine to get
thru a swift moving narrow gut, boat was also under sail and heeled.
Engine ran for about 5 minutes, then sputtered and shutdown.
Restarted, ran 4 or 5 seconds , Restarted again using choke, kept
going another 5 seconds then would not restart.
I ran below and reprimed with the rubber bulb. BUlB would not get
hard and remained collapsed.
Engine started immediately, and ran well the rest of the day.
BTW I have a facet fuel pump mounted at about the same level as the
head of the engine on the firewall.

Could this have occured due to a full tank and the boat being heeled
possibly temporarily blocking the air hose bleed to the tank?
Could the engine have lost prime due to fuel pump losing prime due
to heel angle?

Crap in the fuel just added?

Other suggestions appreciated

There is a 1 season old Petronix and a 3.5 ohm coil with a 1.5 ohm resistor
added recently. Engine has been running well this season.

Best Regards

Art

[CalebD]

"I ran below and reprimed with the rubber bulb. BUlB would not get
hard and remained collapsed. "

This symptom alone suggests a vacuum in your fuel tank and lines as you suggested. You added 7 gallons of gas and completely filled the tank. Your boat was heeled when you had this failure to start. I'd bet that the fuel in the completely full tank had blocked the vent line causing a vacuum.

How clean is your fuel tank? You could have stirred up crap from the bottom of your tank when refueling. The fuel you added could also have had crap in it.

If your engine starts up fine and the bulb pump can be made hard when the boat is flat I'd bet that it's the vent hose on your fuel tank being blocked. Try not to overfill next time.

[jhwelch]

Over the years I am sure I have run with a full fuel tank while heeled. The only difference between my system (and probably many others) and yours is I lack the squeeze bulb. When you went to use that bulb was it already collapsed? I don't see how having fuel in the air vent hose would cause any trouble -- the fuel pump will still pull gas and air will bubble in as necessary. What do others think?

-Jonathan

[Sony2000]

While sailing gas filler neck and vent line became blocked by the gas. Bye bye engine.

[ArtJ]

Both points about vent line seem possible. What do the experts on line
think? Is it possible that the vent line being filled as well as tank being
filled while heeled would cause shutdown due to lack of vent?

The Tartan 34c has the fuel tank in the main cabin under the port sette.
The engine is half buried in the keel with the top of the engine almost
at the same level as the top of the tank. This is compounded by
the electric fuel pump being mounted on the firewall/sette wall at
the same level as the top of the tank. Years ago, with the mechanical
pump I would occasionally get shutdowns which would self correct
after cranking engine a few times, then behave the rest of the day.
THis usually occurred on long trips of more than 3 or 4 hrs.
I had issues due to air leaks in hoses a couple years ago, but sealing
them with permatex helped immensley.

I am considering moving the
pump to on the engine so it will be lower and prime better.

What issues have those of you with Tartan 34c's had ?

Why
can't a pump be used which can self prime? Is this a case where
the Catalina pump would do a better job?

Could the valve in the squeeze bulb be stuck causing the bulb to
stay flat?

Best Regards

Art

[Dave Neptune]

'twer blocked

Art, I have heard other stories that mimic yours here. I doubt it was anything more than a vent line being blocked~~if it happens again try tacking over every once and a while to purge the tank.
As it began running well again I would bet on the above a nd be done with it. You could check the side of the tank the vent is on and if it was the low side on your "tack" problem solved.

Dave Neptune

[ArtJ]

THanks Dave

I think you are right. Especially since the fuel tank is so low and at engine level

Regards

Art