I apologize for the long post but want to provide as much info as I can.
I have a Tartan 30 (1976) with a RWC Atomic 4. On the Tartan 30 the engine is mounted mid ships in the cabin just aft of the mast. The fuel tank is at the stern on the port side and is quite large (20 gallons I think) and is triangular in shape, narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. The top of the tank is about 4 feet above the level of the fuel pump on the engine. We have an electric fuel pump, a sierra water separator filter and a second fuel filter. There was a check valve (now removed) and there is a shut off valve at the top of the tank. The carb was new in 2007 and I did disassemble and clean it a couple of years ago and it seems in good shape.
One of the challenges I have is using up the fuel in my tank over the short season to try and keep the fuel reasonably fresh. We usually race weekly, do a some day sailing and the odd cruise. We generally do not motor for hours. Getting in and out of our harbour is about 15-30 minutes depending on where we are going. Last year I tried to burn through the old fuel in my tank before I added fresh fuel. I get my gas from a station that does not use ethanol in their premium high octane fuel so I usually use that.
Last August my tank had fuel to just below the halfway point in the tank and while going out for a race it died. The way the engine died I suspected a fuel issue. I gave it a minute or so and was able to restart it again. We came back in and it died again on the way in and again I was able to restart it and get back to my slip.
I opened the drain on the carb and a little bit of gas came out. I ran the pump by jumping the OPSS on my oil filter (Indigo) unit and only got a slight dribble of fuel. I changed the filter on the water separator and checked the other fuel filter. I also added about 15 litres (4 US gallons) of fuel to the tank. I rechecked the flow of fuel from the pump and it was flowing well after running the pump for about 20 seconds. I did not have any problems for the rest of last year.
Over the winter I checked the fuel pick up line in the tank to ensure that it was ok. I also removed the check valve since there were some posts saying it was not required with the fuel shut off valve and I was wondering if it was causing at least part of the issue.
This year the engine has been running fine but again died on me last week while I was warming it up in my slip. I had not added any more fuel since the end of last season so the level was again down to about half way up the tank. Again I checked the carb and fuel flow and found the flow to be just a dribble. I added more fuel (again about 15 litres) and the fuel flow was fine. I ran the engine for about 15 minutes without any issues. I also checked my fuel tank vent and it is clear.
I am not sure of the make of the fuel pump on my engine and I am not sure if it is original or has been replaced at some point. It is a small silver unit and I can’t see any identification on it. I am wondering whether my issue is related the height of the tank, the level of fuel in it and the ability of the pump to draw it from the tank. As the level of fuel falls in the tank I think it becomes harder for the pump to pull the fuel from the tank and it reaches a point where it just does not have enough umph to get it to the carb.
I would appreciate any comments on my suspicions. I was thinking about replacing the pump and keeping the existing one as a spare. If I replace it should I get the facet pump for Catalina 30s which has a 3-4 PSI rating? I guess the other option is to keep the fuel level to at least above the half way point in the tank.
Thanks in advance.
I have a Tartan 30 (1976) with a RWC Atomic 4. On the Tartan 30 the engine is mounted mid ships in the cabin just aft of the mast. The fuel tank is at the stern on the port side and is quite large (20 gallons I think) and is triangular in shape, narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. The top of the tank is about 4 feet above the level of the fuel pump on the engine. We have an electric fuel pump, a sierra water separator filter and a second fuel filter. There was a check valve (now removed) and there is a shut off valve at the top of the tank. The carb was new in 2007 and I did disassemble and clean it a couple of years ago and it seems in good shape.
One of the challenges I have is using up the fuel in my tank over the short season to try and keep the fuel reasonably fresh. We usually race weekly, do a some day sailing and the odd cruise. We generally do not motor for hours. Getting in and out of our harbour is about 15-30 minutes depending on where we are going. Last year I tried to burn through the old fuel in my tank before I added fresh fuel. I get my gas from a station that does not use ethanol in their premium high octane fuel so I usually use that.
Last August my tank had fuel to just below the halfway point in the tank and while going out for a race it died. The way the engine died I suspected a fuel issue. I gave it a minute or so and was able to restart it again. We came back in and it died again on the way in and again I was able to restart it and get back to my slip.
I opened the drain on the carb and a little bit of gas came out. I ran the pump by jumping the OPSS on my oil filter (Indigo) unit and only got a slight dribble of fuel. I changed the filter on the water separator and checked the other fuel filter. I also added about 15 litres (4 US gallons) of fuel to the tank. I rechecked the flow of fuel from the pump and it was flowing well after running the pump for about 20 seconds. I did not have any problems for the rest of last year.
Over the winter I checked the fuel pick up line in the tank to ensure that it was ok. I also removed the check valve since there were some posts saying it was not required with the fuel shut off valve and I was wondering if it was causing at least part of the issue.
This year the engine has been running fine but again died on me last week while I was warming it up in my slip. I had not added any more fuel since the end of last season so the level was again down to about half way up the tank. Again I checked the carb and fuel flow and found the flow to be just a dribble. I added more fuel (again about 15 litres) and the fuel flow was fine. I ran the engine for about 15 minutes without any issues. I also checked my fuel tank vent and it is clear.
I am not sure of the make of the fuel pump on my engine and I am not sure if it is original or has been replaced at some point. It is a small silver unit and I can’t see any identification on it. I am wondering whether my issue is related the height of the tank, the level of fuel in it and the ability of the pump to draw it from the tank. As the level of fuel falls in the tank I think it becomes harder for the pump to pull the fuel from the tank and it reaches a point where it just does not have enough umph to get it to the carb.
I would appreciate any comments on my suspicions. I was thinking about replacing the pump and keeping the existing one as a spare. If I replace it should I get the facet pump for Catalina 30s which has a 3-4 PSI rating? I guess the other option is to keep the fuel level to at least above the half way point in the tank.
Thanks in advance.
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