Re: what does the anti-siphon valve do?
What bothers me is the fact that it could do it at any time, any rpm, any load. Usually fuel problems show themselves at certain load conditions, certain speeds, certain cold start scenarios or within a constant parameter.
My fuel problem occurred at different conditions. Sometimes it would die 2 minutes after starting, and sometimes I could run for an hour and not have a problem. Sometimes at 3800rpms, sometimes it would die before reaching 2500rpms. My problem was a clogged fuel pick up screen, and sometimes it was able to allow enough gas for whatever I demanded, other times it would suck up just enough crap from the tank to cut out fuel flow. It happened more frequently during choppy water, but would happen in smooth water as well.
Thank you thank you guys..........I really appreciate the input.
I'm going to try the remote tank this weekend and will report back how it goes. We've run at least 150 gallons of gas through it since we've owned it (new to us this season). The guy we bought it from said he used it frequently.......whatever that means. After we bought it I took it right to our Merc dealer for a check-over and he told me he found gelled fuel in the VST and cleaned it out. Several times this season, I've removed both filters and emptied the contents into clear glass containers and there never was a trace of water or other contamination. It was always the same color all the way through.
For work done on the motor, I had hydraulic steering installed, and the dealer had to remove the motor and raise it a notch to allow for clearance of the hydraulic cylinder. I also had the fuel injectors cleaned last month ($1,000) as the dealer told me that was the cause of the stalling; it didn't fix the problem.
Don't fuel pumps simply quit without warning? In cars I've owned, the fuel pump simply dies and never comes back to life; are outboards different?
Thanks again guys--I really appreciate it; running on the portable tank should help me eliminate a few possible problems.
The gelled fuel is like what I mentioned earlier about the older non-ethanol fuel being affected by the new ethanol blend. Kind of sounds like your state used to use MTBE in their fuel, which will coagulate when mixed with the ethanol blends. I know I've said it 2 times already, but check your pick up tube screen. That gel may be coating it, which would be a deja vu of my problem. You wouldn't necessarily see it in the filters further down the line.
Some fuel pumps have a rubber diaphragm, which will deteriorate/leak, and could cause your problem also. Boats have either mechanical or electric fuel pumps, whereas today's cars have electric. So a car's pump will just die and never work again, whereas a mechanical pump can have a slow death. I think you have an electric pump, so I doubt (now) that it's your problem, unless you have a bad electrical connection to an otherwise good pump.
