familyguy
Seaman
- Joined
- May 30, 2008
- Messages
- 69
6 weeks ago took boat all day, it ran great.
4 weeks ago went to go fishing. At the launch ramp the boat started up fine, after 2 minutes it bogged down, died. Cranked good, but wouldn't run even after 45 min. of trying the normal start up and flooded engine start procedure; fuel squirting fine down carb air horn. Took it home to check things out - check for spark, etc. That same day it started up immediately and ran normally on muffs even after turning off and on several times while checking for likely sources of launch ramp problem.
Another fishing trip planned yesterday so went to test the engine the day before and same thing happened as at the launch ramp except it only ran for about 30 seconds before it bogged down and died, cranked fine, couldn't get it to run at all - mutha*%^$# !!! I guess no fishing today. At least it didn't happen out on the water, right.
Reviewed forum for people having similar problems. Love this forum by the way.
Diagnostics run:
1)Good spark on cylinders 2 & 4, so I figure distributor, coil, wires, and plugs are good.
2)Compression is good, plus it hasn't been blowing blue smoke.
3)Choke valve appears to be working properly during start attempts.
4)Push down on the accelerator pump on the side of the carb again to check for squirting fuel and it just spurts instead of shooting a steady stream.
5)Fuel filter removed, full of fuel, poured it into a clear container, no water separation noted, but it definitely looks a little darker than fresh fuel that is very clear. I figure it's the Stabil I add when I fill up the tank after every boat trip.
6)Disconnected metal fuel supply line from the side of the carb. In-line screen looks great.
7)Put filter back on and attempt to see if fuel pump fills fuel filter up during 4 attempts of starting engine, running starter motor no longer than 10 seconds each time. VP manual states fuel pump has excellent dry prime characteristics and can run 30-40 seconds without fuel so I figure this is ok.
8)Fuel filter removed - it's bone dry.
9)Jumped the fuel pump directly to the battery with a manual start switch spliced into the middle of the positive wire; negative wire from battery post attached directly to the fuel pump. Though I carefully looked at the wiring to determine the positive post on the fuel pump suppressor I guess the yellow/red & black wires leading to the suppressor twisted in the middle of the terminal end boot cover and I actually attached the positive to the negative suppressor post and the negative wire to the positive post. I discovered this when I flipped the hand-held start switch and the pump started humming and then the RPM's gradually decreased to zero after about 20 seconds and air was blowing out of where the filter attaches to the bottom of the pump. It should be sucking so I figure the wires must have twisted in the long boot and am hoping I didn't just fry the pump. I reattach the jumper wires in reverse and the pump now sucks (literally) because I think the pump is shot, but not from my error I hope. It does the same thing - hums good for a few seconds, then RPM's gradually drop to 0 after 20 seconds. This happened every time I depressed the spliced starter switch.
...I went ahead and ordered an OEM one from the VP website for $240. Aftermarket ones were going for about $200 so, what the hey, I'll spend the extra forty.
My questions are: Did I manage this problem properly? Am I missing something? I think this pump only had about 120 hours on it; is it normal for it to go bad after this amount of time?
Thanks for the help.
4 weeks ago went to go fishing. At the launch ramp the boat started up fine, after 2 minutes it bogged down, died. Cranked good, but wouldn't run even after 45 min. of trying the normal start up and flooded engine start procedure; fuel squirting fine down carb air horn. Took it home to check things out - check for spark, etc. That same day it started up immediately and ran normally on muffs even after turning off and on several times while checking for likely sources of launch ramp problem.
Another fishing trip planned yesterday so went to test the engine the day before and same thing happened as at the launch ramp except it only ran for about 30 seconds before it bogged down and died, cranked fine, couldn't get it to run at all - mutha*%^$# !!! I guess no fishing today. At least it didn't happen out on the water, right.
Reviewed forum for people having similar problems. Love this forum by the way.
Diagnostics run:
1)Good spark on cylinders 2 & 4, so I figure distributor, coil, wires, and plugs are good.
2)Compression is good, plus it hasn't been blowing blue smoke.
3)Choke valve appears to be working properly during start attempts.
4)Push down on the accelerator pump on the side of the carb again to check for squirting fuel and it just spurts instead of shooting a steady stream.
5)Fuel filter removed, full of fuel, poured it into a clear container, no water separation noted, but it definitely looks a little darker than fresh fuel that is very clear. I figure it's the Stabil I add when I fill up the tank after every boat trip.
6)Disconnected metal fuel supply line from the side of the carb. In-line screen looks great.
7)Put filter back on and attempt to see if fuel pump fills fuel filter up during 4 attempts of starting engine, running starter motor no longer than 10 seconds each time. VP manual states fuel pump has excellent dry prime characteristics and can run 30-40 seconds without fuel so I figure this is ok.
8)Fuel filter removed - it's bone dry.
9)Jumped the fuel pump directly to the battery with a manual start switch spliced into the middle of the positive wire; negative wire from battery post attached directly to the fuel pump. Though I carefully looked at the wiring to determine the positive post on the fuel pump suppressor I guess the yellow/red & black wires leading to the suppressor twisted in the middle of the terminal end boot cover and I actually attached the positive to the negative suppressor post and the negative wire to the positive post. I discovered this when I flipped the hand-held start switch and the pump started humming and then the RPM's gradually decreased to zero after about 20 seconds and air was blowing out of where the filter attaches to the bottom of the pump. It should be sucking so I figure the wires must have twisted in the long boot and am hoping I didn't just fry the pump. I reattach the jumper wires in reverse and the pump now sucks (literally) because I think the pump is shot, but not from my error I hope. It does the same thing - hums good for a few seconds, then RPM's gradually drop to 0 after 20 seconds. This happened every time I depressed the spliced starter switch.
...I went ahead and ordered an OEM one from the VP website for $240. Aftermarket ones were going for about $200 so, what the hey, I'll spend the extra forty.
My questions are: Did I manage this problem properly? Am I missing something? I think this pump only had about 120 hours on it; is it normal for it to go bad after this amount of time?
Thanks for the help.
