No Prime in Fuel Line

[KWolfe]

I have a 2002 model two-stroke 50-hp Yamaha. I was out in the bay yesterday and the boat ran fine. I then took the boat back to the house and while I was flushing the motor with saltwater, the motor kept dying. It seemed to run fine when I would open up the throttle, but whenever the motor sat idle, it would continuously die after about thirty seconds or so, which it was not doing earlier in the day. I disconnected and re-connected the connections at both the motor and the gas tank in order to make sure both were snug, and they were. I then went to squeeze the primer bulb and it would never get firm, of which it normally does after a few pumps. I couldn't see any visible defects in the fuel line itself. Do any of you have any clue what the problem might be? As the motor would begin to die, it would sputter a few times and then stall, as if it was running out of gas, leading me to believe it was a priming problem.<br /><br />Thanks a lot folks<br /><br />Kevin

 

[Casco Bay Outrage]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

Is there a vent on the tank? Was it closed by mistake?

 

[KWolfe]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

There is a vent on the tank and I do not know whether or not it was open or closed or what when I was going through all this. I had the cap on, and I'd assume the vent was open because I hadn't touched it since I ran it earlier in the morning. Once it wouldn't idle properly, I removed the gas cap altogether and at one point left the cap off and started the motor, still dying after idling for a moment. I would check that now, but the problem is that my boat is down in Houston and I go to school in College Station so I am not currently near the boat.<br /><br />But assuming that is not the problem, what could it possibly be? And wouldn't the primer bulb still firm up regardless of how open or whether or not the vent was open?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Kevin

 

[JRJ]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

Hold the bulb with the arrow pointed up (toward the sky) and try again. Good luck.

 

[KWolfe]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

I am not disagreeing because obviously I can't go out and give that a shot right now, but what good does that do? I'm not questioning you, just curious.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />Kevin

 

[DJ]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

The bulb has a check valve in it. The check valve can seat better with the bulb in the vertical (arrow up and pointed toward engine) position.<br /><br />Make sure the arrow is pointed in the direction of fuel flow, toward the engine.

 

[KWolfe]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

Thanks a lot. I hope one of those two things will solve all this. If that is not the case and it is still not holding a prime, would the next step be to replace the bulb? If so, how difficult is that?

 

[arno2]

Re: No Prime in Fuel Line

I had the same problem; wouldn't hold a prime. The fix was to replace the fitting on the end of the hose, where it attaches to the motor. I found the problem by squeezing the bulb---it shot raw fuel into the air, indicating the check valve wasn't working. It was a cheap fix.