Mystery Engine Trouble

[kaneboats]

LOL. I had a HUGE 35" Zenith large screen TV. I was so proud of it. One of my rats stuck something through the grate on one of the speakers and made it a mono TV. Payback? Maybe for when I painted the side of my Dad's new pristine white company car a nice Texaco GREEN!!!!

[Wake Master]

This is the information from an older post by Engine Nut

A little clarification. The issue we have been seeing that is presumed to vapor lock is a condition that appears to be most prevalent on the 2007 model 340 engines with ETX CAT manifolds. The theory is that the extra heat generated by the catalysts allows the heat to build up in the bilge after the engine has been run for a period of time and then shut off. After it sits for a while a condition called "heat soak" raises the temperature in the bilge and allows the fuel in the line between the pump and tank to vaporize. The high pressure fuel pump will not pump vapor.

That being said, you can reduce the possibility of happening on any boat by doing a few simple things.

First, make sure your fuel filter is clean. As the fuel pump draws fuel from the tank through the filter, it creates a low pressure (vacuum) in the line. The harder the pump has to work the more vacuum is applied to the fuel. Fuel vaporzes at a lower temperature when it is exposed to a vacuum.

Make sure there are no restrictions in the fuel line between the tank and pump. The best condition is to have as straight and short of a line as possible. Each bend in the line can cause the pump to have to work harder and increase the vacuum.

After a hard run, try to let the engine run for a minute or two before shutting it off. This will help "normalize" the engine temperature and remove as much heat as possible from the engine. It might even help to disengage the shift control and raise the engine RPM in neutral to pump more water through the engine before shutting down.

Leave the bilge blower on after the engine is shut down to bring as much fresh air into the bilge as possible. Also, make sure the bilge vent hose isn't blocked, restricted or even disconnected from the vent and that the vent isn't blocked externally. It is not a bad idea on a hot day to lt the blower run all the time the engine is running .You'll also want to make sure to turn the blower on well before starting (if you shut it off) to make sure things are cooled off. This is not an unrealistic thing to do ... how many cars do you walk by on a hot day and hear the fan running after tha car has been shut off.

Your boat is significantly different than a car. The bilge of a boat typically does not have a lot of air circulating around it unless the blower is on. Also, cars have their fuel pumpslocated in the fuel tank.This keeps the pump cooler and allows the fuel between thepump and tank to be pressurized whichraises the vaporization temperature.

Try buying fuel from another source. We recommend using gasoline from a "Top Tier" supplier. Yuo can find which suppliers sell Top Tier fuel by checking out the following site. http://www.toptiergas.com/

I hope this gives you a little insight into vapor lock. It is a condition that has been around for a long time.It can be very frustrating but can be prevented in many cases by following a few simple procedures.
__________________
Larry Engelbert
Indmar Marine Engines

[wolfeman131]

yep, you gots a case of the vapors . . .

it was hot as heck here in middle GA today (106 heat index) and both myself and my neighbor w/ his Malibu 247 had this happen to us today. Such a simple fix, it's almost silly. Reach in the cooler, grab a cold bottle of water and pour it on the fuel filter. By the time you get the v-drive cover and seats back in place, the problem is gone.

BTW - I learned all about this from reading the posts on this board. This place is great. What I've learned here has allowed me to impress my wife, kids and friends even though I am a moron.

[skiyaker]

hey I just wanted to give a shout out to the moomba forum on this one. I mentioned in another post that while on lake barkley we were about half way through filling up when the gas dock lady said "you paid too much for gas- my gas is 60 cents cheaper than state dock" we actually asked her if she waters it down or what as a joke

Well we ran it hard for a few hours then shut it down and swam; air temp was in the mid 90s. Started it back up and put her in gear and she died. I remembered reading about and asking about vapor lock right after I got my boat last summer so I did the cold water on the fuel pump trick and left the blower on and she ran right for the rest of the day. Never did it again the rest of the trip once I used the "expensive gas" and somehow it really impressed my wife that I was able to fix the boat out on the water!

Thanks fellow moomba owners!

[phospher]

Payback? Maybe for when I painted the side of my Dad's new pristine white company car a nice Texaco GREEN!!!!

LOL, OMG!


And thanks for that post Wake Master that's an informative post by engine nut.