Years of reading the forums pays off

Finally got my new boat out on the water for more than 5 minutes. Took a ride for about 20 minutes and came back to the dock. An hour later I get in the boat to trailer it. Turn the key, starts, sputters and dies. It just wouldn't start after that no matter what I did. The father in law, ex mechanic, listens to it and say "sounds like it's not getting gas". The light bulb on top of my head turns on. Take a look at the engine and I pour a bit of lake water on the fuel rails. Try to start it again and it fires, but starts running rough and dies after 10 or 20 seconds. Now I'm sure I know whats wrong. I follow the supply line to the fuel pump, get some lake water and pour it on the pump. I turn the key and, like magic, the motor starts and runs as smooth as it ever did. Problem solved.

Thanks to years of going through the various problems and solutions people have posted, I remembered that some of you have had "vapor lock" issues and a little bit of cool water resolved your issues.

It could also be magic water. You are from the land of sky blue waters. I'm glad our troubles was your fix.

booom JACK haha

Sorry to hear about it! I too have been dealing with the issue and used this forum (while on the water) to get back underway. My boat is currently on the way back from the dealership after having Indmar's additional boost pump installed. I'm taking it out tonight to test everything out. I'll let you know how it does.

I've never had the issue, but should it arise where exactly do you pour cold water? Admittedly I've never looked for the fuel pump.

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Originally Posted by TL7

I've never had the issue, but should it arise where exactly do you pour cold water? Admittedly I've never looked for the fuel pump.

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Taft, your fuel pump should be located in the actual fuel tank so the fuel on board should keep it cool and prevent you from having this problem. I think this was mainly an issue on the 07 and older boats, my 08 has a fuel tank mounted pump and it doesnt get much hotter than the Texas summer and I never have an issue with this.

my fuel pump sits right next to the motor

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Originally Posted by rdlangston13

Taft, your fuel pump should be located in the actual fuel tank so the fuel on board should keep it cool and prevent you from having this problem. I think this was mainly an issue on the 07 and older boats, my 08 has a fuel tank mounted pump and it doesnt get much hotter than the Texas summer and I never have an issue with this.

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Does the manufacturer have a modification that can be done on these older boats? If not, I just might rig up a "sprinkler/sprayer" of some sort to a switch under the dash.
It's only the 3'rd time I've had the boat on the water and don't want to have to be opening up hatches every time this happens. Base on what I've seen this probably happens more often than not.
Not a big deal and an easy fix at any rate. Just a bit of time to do the work only once.

Inexpensive fix I got from my dealer....change your fuel filter every year. Use mid grade fuel and add an additive such as Sta Bil Marine at every fill up to fight the ethanol issue that is the primary cause of the problem. I vapor locked for 2 summers in hot weather until I followed this procedure. Never had another issue.

Scott
2006 Supra 21V

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Originally Posted by szeh

Inexpensive fix I got from my dealer....change your fuel filter every year. Use mid grade fuel and add an additive such as Sta Bil Marine at every fill up to fight the ethanol issue that is the primary cause of the problem. I vapor locked for 2 summers in hot weather until I followed this procedure. Never had another issue.

Scott
2006 Supra 21V

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OK. I've got 2 out of 3. I'm using mid grade, it's called for in the manual. I've got sta bil in the gas, double the dosage actually. Drawback is it's the gas from last fall, and the tank still reads full. When I fill up next time I'll add sta bil, as I usually don't use this in the middle of the summer. We'll see what happens.

Hi there, would using high test 91 octane gas help with this instead of mid grade? Is this only an issue with older boats, or are the 2013 lineup also prone to this problem? That's awesome you remembered this rsinger and got your boat going! Nice one!!

I had tried everything mentioned above including fuel filter, stabil, higher grade gas, running blower constantly and still had the problem. I had the boost pump installed this week and went out for a set last night with no issues. Seems like that solved it for me at least.

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Originally Posted by rsinger

OK. I've got 2 out of 3. I'm using mid grade, it's called for in the manual. I've got sta bil in the gas, double the dosage actually. Drawback is it's the gas from last fall, and the tank still reads full. When I fill up next time I'll add sta bil, as I usually don't use this in the middle of the summer. We'll see what happens.

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Be sure to change the fuel filter. Very easy. The ethanol breaks the filter down and allows less fuel through the filter and leads to vapor lock when the engine is shut down and the fuel pump stops drawing fuel which will lead to vapor lock issues. Good Luck! I haven't had an issue in 2 years after following this procedure even with temps in the high 90's to low 100's.

Here's a pic of the boost pump installed.

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Originally Posted by pctkst

Here's a pic of the boost pump installed.

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Nice to see an actual pic of the boost pump. I've heard of others installing it with good results. If my ritual didn't fix my issue I was going to look into the boot pump. Hope this is the fix for you because I know how frustrating this problem can be.

Scott