Fuel issue?

[Wingedwheel]

Hey Gang, I have a 1989 40hp outboard ser#OC202880. I took her out for a spin today and after about 10 mins or so my motor just seemed like it ran out of fuel. It started right back up but as I took off it took a few seconds before I could get it to rev up to WOT. I ran for a minute or so and same thing happened again except it was harder to start this time and I had to move the throttle lever up to get it to idle without stalling. I dropped the lever at the same time I put it in FWD and was able to get underway again. Quickly enough the same thing started happening again. I felt like it might be a fuel issue but if I pressed on the choke it really bogged down. Just to make sure I ran through a few checks, the bulb was firm and I seemed to be getting gas to the carbs. Could this be a fuel pump going bad or does it sound like I might need to rebuild the carbs? I'm pretty sure its a fuel and not electrical issue. I bought the boat two years ago and it ran perfect. I usually run the carbs dry when I put her away. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[dish]

Re: Fuel issue?

Quick test.Use yourself as a fuel pump.When it starts boggin,squeeze the bulb and see if it picks back up.Other than that do the usual.Check for air leaks,compression test,spark test,check the ignition coils for cracks and ohm test them,carb clean etc etc

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: Fuel issue?

So I bought my carb and fuel pump kits and decided to do more visual tests before I got started. I squeezed the bulb with the cowl off and noticed my inline filter clouding up like a snow globe with black particles. I think I may have found a big part of the problem. I'm assuming its rubber from the ethanol eating my fuel lines. I'm going to give the filter a good cleaning and replace all the lines before I tear into the carbs or the fuel pump. Hopefully the particles didn't get past the filter and I can save myself a lot of time. If not, I've got the parts on hand and will work my way through the fuel system until the problem is solved.dish, thanks for the suggestions, but it's definitely not an electrical issue.

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: Fuel issue?

Good news! I cleaned the fuel filter really well and replaced all the fuel lines. It took a second as I had to get fuel running through everything again, but when it fired it idled good. I'll take her out tomorrow for a test run to see if the problem is solved. I did notice some water coming from somewhere near the top plug. I'll address that in another post. I think this was a blessing in disguise also because when I took the oil reservoir loose to better get at the fuel lines, all my oil lines broke right off from being old and brittle. I'm glad that happened while I was working on it and not out on the river or the big water.