Outboard Fuel Line Issues
We could not start our outboard engine. WHAT'S WRONG??
Our outboard engine usually always starts on the first pull and it is not flooded.
Trying to pump fuel through the squeeze bulb was a waste of time as fuel would not fill the bulb. Take the line off the engine and put a screw driver in the end and sometimes it would pump fuel and sometimes it would not. So you have to figure it is an issue with the hose or the bulb. All fittings were factory tight and when the hose was submerged in water no air bubbles when squeezing the bulb. Let's just replace the hose. We got lucky and got the dinghy started. Off to the local chandlery we go, it was about a mile walk from the dock. We were towed back to the boat because again we could not get the outboard started.
This is our second fuel hose on a two year old engine. Anyway I removed the fittings without a lot of work and reinstalled them on the new hose with new clamps. The outboard is now starting on the first pull again.
About three weeks have gone by, we are now having starting issues again. Now what? I pull the spark plugs out and the engine is not flooded. That leaves a fuel issue again. I start playing with the fuel line again, it can not be this, I'm saying to myself. I pull off the engine side of the fuel line from the bulb and nothing seems wrong. Put that back together and take the tank end of the hose off the bulb. There's an issue, I can't blow through it.
So I pull off the tank fitting, there it is, about a ½” in you can see something blocking the hose. So I cut off about 3 inches of that end, I still could not blow through it. Cut off another 3 inches and found that same looking blockage twisted up in the hose. What is this junk, this $50.00 fuel hose is garbage. This time I have a new idea, can I pull this blockage out? I was able to get hold of enough of that stuff to pull it all out of the hose. It's a plastic liner and was twisted in several spots. I ran some fuel through the hose without the liner, now to get rid of the glue that was used to keep the liner in place and then the engine ran fine.
Hose three, that's what I said hose number three. This has to be a fluke so I bought another new hose and will change it out the next time I have an issue. Well later is here and guess what. The outer hose on this new replacement has shrunk some and the thin plastic liner is sticking out both ends of the new hose. That hose was almost $65.00 as we were again in another country.
I have since replaced the Outboard Fuel Hose with Automotive Fuel Hose and put a plastic wire loom over it to protect it from the UV rays. I'm just hoping the squeeze bulb I reused does not have a liner in it. So far so Good two months later, our outboard starts on the first pull.
Closeouts Rebates Remanufactured Specials
