Fuel problem - bulb goes flat

[brichey]

Facts: new Suzuki 4 stroke, new Moeller 6.5 gal tank, new hoses and bulb. Fuel flow thru bulb is correct. Used hose with bulb to pump/siphon gas from old tank to new tank, and pumping the bulb worked fine. Lastly, the vent valve was open. Any ideas why the bulb would go flat after only a few seconds of running the engine? The bulb was going flat even as the engine was sputtering to start, almost instantly.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuel problem - bulb goes flat

Empty the tank and look inside VERY CAREFULLY. As a matter of practice, I check brand new tanks whenever I pass a shelf full of them. The plastic debris from the manufacturing and drilling processes sometimes ends up inside the tank and these small bits of plastic can clog the pickup and even work their way into the bulb. How do I know this? I have experienced it. About 30% of the time I find large amounts of this stuff in the tank. If that is not the problem, there is a restriction somewhere before the bulb. As a result, the fuel pump sucks the bulb flat just as a plastic soda bottle caves in if you sucked hard on it.

 

[brichey]

Re: Fuel problem - bulb goes flat

Thanks for the info. I emptied the tank, checked for debris, poured the gas back in using a filter, and retested but got the same result. I removed the quick-release value and placed the fuel line directly into the tank, but the bulb still went flat. So, I removed the bulb and placed the fuel line directly into the tank, and the engine ran like a gem. I put the quick-release value back onto the line and properly connected the line to the tank and put the cap back on the tank (and opened the pressure vent), and all was still fine. So, the bulb was bad even though it appeared to work when I used it to siphon the gas (see original post). Thanks again. Debugging these sorts of problems is a great learning experience.