1981 40 HP Mercury 2 Cyl Fuel Filter Air Leak?

boweevil

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Jan 9, 2008
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2
Engine runs great except that occasionally, at just above idle in gear, it will miss a few times and die. The sight bowl fuel filter is mounted vertically on the side of the engine. Most of the time the filter only has approximatelly 1/8 inch fuel showning in the bottom. Is this a normal condition or should it show more fuel? Wondering if I may have a slight air leak in a line causing the filter to randomly become empty.
 

wrench 3

Commander
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Aug 12, 2012
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2,108
It's not uncommon. However if you can see bubbles coming into the filter you may have a problem.
 

boweevil

Recruit
Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
2
wrench 3, tks for the prompt reply. No bubbles so thinking my problem may not be fuel. IIRC a 2 cycle outboard will increase rpm's for a few seconds before it runs out of fuel, this one does not do that, just misses a few times and dies. Time to check for good spark at the plugs. Thanks again for your experience/advice, this site is excellent.
 

wrench 3

Commander
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Aug 12, 2012
Messages
2,108
The filter will tend to fill up more as the element gets dirty and it moves to a cleaner spot.
Good luck. Hope you find the problem.
 
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