Preventing Carb Trouble

[Larry Harp]

Got my boat back from the dealer yesterday after having the carb's rebuilt. I ask the service manager why a 2002 motor had this kink of trouble so soon. He said that it's very common and about anything such as bad gas or water in the gas will cause it. I also asked him if there was something that to treat the gas to prevent this. He said Stabil is good but will make the motor smoke more. I always buy my gas at either Shell or Conoco and never at marinas or backwoods mom & pop's.

What do you guys do to prevent bad gas from getting to the carburators?



Harpo

 

[Michael Snow]

If you don't have one, get a water-seperating fuel filter. It looks like an oil filter, and either will be on the motor (my optimax's is), or in the fuel line in the bilge area. They're about $50 or so for the kit with the filter and the mounting kit. The filters are about $20 by themselves. Replace once/year. You can empty them anytime (every few months)

 

[gone bye bye]

Keep burning it....lol



Actually buy your gas from a well known and busy gas station (seems you do) and the make sure you run the gas out of the carbs prior to putting it on the trailer. The easist way is to disconnect the fuel line connector at the motor and just let it run till it dies. This will keep the gas out of the carbs and prevent the jets/floats from sticking.



Another is, as Mike suggested, a water seperating fuel filter. Most bigger outboards have these already (I know my Yammie did)....





Mini

 

[Staci Matheis]

WHOA! DO NOT RUN OIL INJECTED MOTORS OUT OF FUEL.



If you run them out of fuel, oil keeps pumping and you'll load up the chambers. You'll make it almost impossible to start or destroy your engine that way.

 

[Michael Snow]

Conversely, if you have a pre-mix motor and run it out of fuel, you're also running the motor out of oil.



On my 98 Evinrude 115, tilting the motor up caused the carbs to drain back into the fuel tank, or at least un-prime or something that made it hard to start.

 

[gone bye bye]

Me!,



Injected motors DO NOT have carbs...sorry read that wrong oil injection, not fuel injection.



With my last carbed motor (1989 Suzuki 140HP inline 4 w/4carbs) I ran it out of fuel with no ill effects (yes it was oil injected).



Mini

 

[Jim B]

You may want to try runing some merc fuel system cleaner in it every once in a while. If fuel is allowed to evaporate it will leave varnish behind and can gum up the carbs.



I dont know if im just really lucky or not but i have never had a single problem with my carbs getting gummed up, my current merc has over 120 hours on it without any carb issues and my old carbed evinrude had over 300 with no carb issues or rebuilds. I never added anything to the fuel with the exception of stabilc in the fall for winter storage. I also changed the inline filter yearly. I never added any cleaner or anything, just good quality oil and gas.

 

[Bob G.]

Ditto what Jim B. said with my XR6.



Bob G.

 

[J B]

I use my boat year-round. I pump the fuel bulb tight after every trip to fill up the carbs. I start my motor every 4 weeks for about 10-15 minutes. Never any problems using this method (recommended by a mechanic). If you store in the winter, add some fuel stabilizer and make sure you run it through your carbs. Don't let unstabilized fuel set over 6 weeks or it will gum up the carbs.

 

[Larry Harp]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

The service manager also told me to disconnect the fuel line from the motor each time. He didn't say anything about letting it run out after each use. Last winter I never went longer than 3 or 4 weeks without running the motor. I just don't want to spend another $230 for something that doesn't have a cork handle.



Harpo

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Never had any trouble with mine..of course mine's in a warm garage all winter with Sta-bil. I am going to run some Quickleen thru it before I put mine up..which probably won't be til' December.

TEE

 

[Jim Jackson]

Harpo -- does your local gas station sell only pure gas, or is it possible you are getting something without alcohol blended in? I don't trust the darn gas you get anymore. It doesn't look like gas, smell like gas, or taste like gas (had a small problem siphoning some out of the tank for the mower the other day)... Anyway, I am one of those that believes that blended gas can cause early failure on carbs...



JJ..

 

[Larry Harp]

JJ, one of the things I tried before I took the boat in was syphon the gas out. It was a pale yellow color like beer (or maybe recycled beer) and smelled more like paint thinner than gasoline. My neighbor told me that it was normal for todays unleaded gas. Not sure what makes him an expert. I don't think the stations around here are using gasahol. Don't they have to inform you of that?

Anyway I just got back from the lake and Old Super Soaker is running like a pup. Hope it stays that way and I wish I knew what I did wrong before.



Harpo