Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

[esco]

Hi Guys,

Guys,

I need a little help figuring this one out if y'all don't mind; I'm kind of stumped..., I recently replaced the fuel filter on the exit port of the gas tank, the water/fuel separator filter, the fuel filter entering the motor, and had a Carb job done on my 200 Johnson. All was well in the beginning of the season cause the boat was running like a champ, but then I had to take a trip overseas for about a month and a half, so i put the boat up in storage but I made sure stabilizer was well run through the fuel system prior to storing it. Now that I've returned and started to use the boat agin I started having problems, there was a huge lack of power and i noticed the fuel pulp started flattening out on me while running the the motor hard. I read on here that if the pulp is flattening then there's a restriction in the fuel line between the motor and the tank so I check into it and found that the fuel filter at the tank was clogged is some type of calcium build up material that I've no clue to what or where it came from. This is the stuff that poured out of the filter when i replaced it.

I replaced the filter with a new glass one and checked the filter at the motor but it was fine. it seemed as if the tank filter did it's fob and caught the trash was passed from the tank.

I ran the boat again and once agin noticed the there was a lack of power and again the pulp was flattening out. Pulled the boat back in and found the new glass filter had little of the same stuff in it but it appeared to be much less than before.

This time, I cleaned the filter, checked the fuel pick up tube was clear, replaced the fuel line from the tank to the water separator, replaced the pulp itself and drained and sprayed out the carbs (six of them) and took the boat out one more time... and Now Im stumped as I am still having NO LUCK and this time the check engine light is on solid. However, on a good note, those particles coming from the tank have pretty much been passed as only a small amount was collected this time and I've noticed that the power has returned. The only issue I seem to be facing now is the fuel restriction. The motor is starving for fuel and with this new glass filter i can literally see the fuel being sucked out of the line completely just as the pulp starts to flatten out.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Esco

 

[hidef]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

You need to pull the fuel pickup out of the tank and check the screen on the end of it also make sure the tank is venting correctly. It looks like somebody has dumped something in your fuel tank kind of hard to tell what is though. From the photo it looks like a metal tank if you can drain it completely and then flush it you might be okay.

 

[cfauvel]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

Do you have a fuel/water separater? If so unscrew it and see if the inlets has that garbage blocking them. My tanks are producing some sort of brownish crap too. when the inlets are clogged my primer bulb collapse and hor sounds for fuel restriction.

Since my boat sits for long periods I think my stuff is harden varnish, that gets removed and and settles to the botton via the ethanol in the fuel.

My tanks are aluminum, and I think your are too.

It would be nice if there were a safe way to suck out the crap at the bottom...if you drain the tank completely and then undo the pickup and were able to get a vacuum hose down there, you'll liable to blow up as the fumes gets to the vacuum's motor....yeah not cool.

 

[esco]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

You need to pull the fuel pickup out of the tank and check the screen on the end of it also make sure the tank is venting correctly. It looks like somebody has dumped something in your fuel tank kind of hard to tell what is though. From the photo it looks like a metal tank if you can drain it completely and then flush it you might be okay.

I did pull the fuel pickup checked it out, it appeared to clear all the way through. I don't recall there being a screen on the top end thought, I will double check though. Can you elaborate a bit on the venting of the tank? I'm not aware a of a vent other than the overflow it has but the tank is 120 gallons and seldom gets filled to that limit. I'll look for another vent just to ensure but to be honest i hadn't really given venting much thought. Perhaps that could be the issue. I did notice the fuel would slowly drain into the clear fuel filter when the motor had stopped requesting the mass amount of fuel. It makes sense that with a clogged vent there would be no way to compensate for the displacement.

Do you have a fuel/water separater? If so unscrew it and see if the inlets has that garbage blocking them. My tanks are producing some sort of brownish crap too. when the inlets are clogged my primer bulb collapse and hor sounds for fuel restriction.

Since my boat sits for long periods I think my stuff is harden varnish, that gets removed and and settles to the botton via the ethanol in the fuel.

My tanks are aluminum, and I think your are too.

It would be nice if there were a safe way to suck out the crap at the bottom...if you drain the tank completely and then undo the pickup and were able to get a vacuum hose down there, you'll liable to blow up as the fumes gets to the vacuum's motor....yeah not cool.

Yes it would be nice if there were a safer way. I literally had to hand pump 60 gallons of bad gas prior to getting the carbs job. I checked the water/fuel separator, and even removed it from the circuit just to see if it made a difference, It didn't help the line still pilled a vacuum and squeezed the pulp flat. That's pretty much the reason I posted this thread, I'm a bit stumped on this one, the varnish build up didn't make it to the motor inlet fuel filter and I've replaced the tank filter and even removed the separator and am still at square one. I'm going to look into the tank ventilation next like hidef recommended; how does you're large tanks vent?

I'm actually glad to hear someone else has seen this sort of build up before, perhaps that's what it is some sort of hard varnish build up that's been broken down. if I rub the stuff in my hands if devolves into a fine powder easily. I'd have a hard time believing someones dumped any sort of foreign material in the tank, the boats kept in an enclosed 40' storage unit and the tank cap requires the two prong key to open it so yeah, I'd be more inclined to lean towards build up.

Thanks,

Esco

 

[hidef]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

The overflow should act as a tank vent to help displace the fuel with air as the engine draws off the fuel from the tank. It could be old fuel that has varnished and now it is loosening up with the ethanol in the tank. The foreign substance was just a thought as I have never seen anything that bad in a tank. Some pickups have screens others don't all depends on the manufacturer.

The reason I mentioned your tank looked like metal is because my brother has a composite built-in fuel tank in his boat and the ethanol has destroyed it.

 

[boobie]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

To me it looks like the damage this lovely ethanol fuel we now have can do to to a fuel system.

 

[cfauvel]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

if all of your filters are clean now and you still get a flat primer bulb, then yeah it has to be your venting/overflow hose.

disconnect the hose from the tank and place the end into a clear jar, then disconnect the hose at the overflow point, and with compressed air blow into the hose. Sometimes the vent hose will create a P-trap full of water that the fuel pump can not suck up into the tank, thus not allowing your tank to vent. The fuel pump is not very powerful (at least I don't think so). You may see water in the clear jar after this.

also see if you can get another hose connected to the vent connector , remove your fuel level sender, and blow into the vent tube with your mouth or very low pressure from air compressor you should hear your breath from the fuel sender hole...then reattach everything properly. I have never seen the vent connector at the tank clogged, but....

 

[esco]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

The overflow should act as a tank vent to help displace the fuel with air as the engine draws off the fuel from the tank. It could be old fuel that has varnished and now it is loosening up with the ethanol in the tank. The foreign substance was just a thought as I have never seen anything that bad in a tank. Some pickups have screens others don't all depends on the manufacturer.

The reason I mentioned your tank looked like metal is because my brother has a composite built-in fuel tank in his boat and the ethanol has destroyed it.

I agree, and the overflow is going to be the first thing I look into tomorrow morning and yes this ethanol is going to be us Carb users worst nightmare come soon.

Thanks for the advise!

 

[esco]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

if all of your filters are clean now and you still get a flat primer bulb, then yeah it has to be your venting/overflow hose.

disconnect the hose from the tank and place the end into a clear jar, then disconnect the hose at the overflow point, and with compressed air blow into the hose. Sometimes the vent hose will create a P-trap full of water that the fuel pump can not suck up into the tank, thus not allowing your tank to vent. The fuel pump is not very powerful (at least I don't think so). You may see water in the clear jar after this.

also see if you can get another hose connected to the vent connector , remove your fuel level sender, and blow into the vent tube with your mouth or very low pressure from air compressor you should hear your breath from the fuel sender hole...then reattach everything properly. I have never seen the vent connector at the tank clogged, but....

I'll try this tomorrow morning and let you guys know the outcome.; the vent has got to be what's causing the issue. I've pretty much exhausted all other options.

Thanks again!

Esco

 

[esco]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to let you all know I was able to get the boat up and running today. It turns out there were a couple of issues all happening at the same time which complicated just that much more.

1. The Fuel overflow valve was slightly blocked which was partially causing the fuel restriction. I removed the hose and used an air compressor to make sure the line was clear, i had to stick a metal wire through the top of the tank where the overflow comes out of the tank, that's where i found a little resistance. I'm thinking is was perhaps some varnish that accumulated over time, I couldn't see in there so its really hard to tell but none the less the tank is now venting as I was able to force air into the fuel fill line and confirm it's exhausting out of the over fill line and vise-versa.

2. My 7psi vacuum line just before the fuel pump was shorted in the close state (just a contact switch) which was always causing a CEL to come on constantly. I replaced it and pressured up the line and all was fine.

3. Once I took the boat out for a spin, it picked up and all was running fine for about 5 min when the check engine light came on. I looked into it on the water and it appears that the new 3/8 fuel line i just installed isn't robust enough for my rig. Any movement in the line cause it to kink and in turn blocks the fuel flow. I intend on replacing it with a higher pressure hose with a thicker schedule wall to prevent this from happening again though.

Thanks for all the insight and helping me out with this issue. I'll be sure to return the favor where I can.

Esco

 

[cfauvel]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

Sweet!!!

I had similar issues with some fuel lines, I ended up buying brass elbows so that no fuel line is doing a hard bend.

 

[esco]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

That's a good idea... I'll look into adding a couple where needed. Thanks!

 

[NavyChief]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

Great info gents. I'm having a similar problem.

 

[clanton]

Re: Pulp Flattening / Fuel Restriction??? 200 Johnson

Poster on other site had brass flakes in injectors, traced back to brass fittings in fuel system on boat.
Some fuel guage senders have steel screws, and steel bracket for the float rod. This is where the rust comes from. Fuel fill hose has steel wire inbedded in the hose which will rust.

Teleflex use to have fuel guage sender, all plastic and stainless steel.
All fittings from tank should pass a 9/32 bal, except antisiphon valve, which must pass pressure drop test.
I would lose the glass filter, just one good filter, and screen on pickup tube.

Passage ways in filter housing should pass a 9/32 ball.