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Ok...Here goes;

I purchased a 1989 Whaler Outrage 18 recently had out 4 times with wonderful results. Engine ran perfectly, up until yesterday. (Engine now has 408 hours on it.)

My marina is on the far end of a river, and takes roughly 25 minutes to enter open water. River is no wake zone in it's entirety.

After reaching open water, brought the motor to about 3800 rpm, and rode liek the usual champ she has been. I was following a 27 foot Sea Ray out , and stayed in behind her. The sea ray slowed down to pull a bumper in, and i did the same. I pulled back on the throttle so, and when i did, the engine starting burping and farting, but didn't think much of it, but as i throttled back up, i lost power, burped and farted more, and stalled. I was able to restart again, but burped, and sputtered with no power. After several attempts to get her to run, i was able to run the engine with a higher rpm (in neutral), and she seemed to clear herself up for a little while. (Oh..i had to pump the primer ball about 10 times...to get a hard ball again). So i went a little further, and it happend again. Went thru the whole process of getting her to run again (pumping the ball, letting it run at higher rpm , in neutral. After a few minutes, it cleared up, and headed back to the marina. (Wife, kids, and dog were nervous).

after it cleared itself this 2nd time, i was able to turn around, open her up, and she ran great, made it up the river at low rpm (no wake zone), and back to my slip with no problems.
My questions are....Where do i begin to truble shoot this occurence? Is it Fuel...water in the fuel? ( i do have a water seperator on board),Electrical? fouled spark plugs?

Any help would be great. Thanks

JV

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If you primer ball is going flat is sounds like fuel starvation issue. I would start with checking all of you fuel lines to see if any are kinked or bent, Then I would check the pick up in the tank, your fuel water separator, the you inline filter under the motor cover. My guess is you picked something up inside the tank.


Other things that I would look at but are probably not the culprit here are...

If all of that checks out I would have to ask how old is your fuel?

Next how old are you plugs? When was the last time you checked them, cleaned or replaced them?

I would then consider having the VRO pump pulled and checked. Any good OMC/BRP dealer and check it. Or if you would want to be on the safe side I would just get a new pump installed any way. After all they have just released the latest pump that is rated for fuels with Ethanol.

If then it is still not working correctly you might want to think about the carbs being rebuilt.

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Plugs were changed when it went up for sale ( prior to me buying it) In June, and only ran on a few sea trials. when i took delivery of it, she had a 1/4 tank of fuel in it, and i filled up last week with new gas (from the gas dock)
Carbs were rebuilt prior to her being put in the water in the spring.

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also, i should add...no alarms occurred

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UPDATE....

Had had the boat hauled this morning, had 50% water in water seperator, and 30% water in fuel tank.

Fuel is being drained from the tank and replaced, water seperator being changed,. and carburetor bowls being drained. Hopefully this solves my problem.

No, the only issue is....where did all this water come from?

Since i just recently acquired this boat, i'm wondering, how long to the fuel tanks last? I have no gas smell in the bilge, so i don't think the water is entering thru the bilge. I have heard, the fuel dock has had some water issues in the past.

Any other thoughts?

John V

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UPDATE...

Round 2 with this and very frustrating.

More water in my fuel, primer bulb losing going soft. Will be looking at my fuel lines in my bilge as having some type of leak.

How long do the fuel tanks in the Outrages last? is it possible for water to be getting in thru the fuel tank? I smell no gas in the bilge. would a leaking fuel tank contribute to losing prime in the fuel line?

Any input is appreciated.

JV

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I empathize with your frustration Amigo, nothing worse than thinking you have it all squared away only to have it reoccur. Were you able to actually confirm more water this time or because the symptoms are identical to last, figure that's the case?

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well....no water in the fuel, however, the fuel line under the deck was completely corroded internally, the anti-siphon fitting was not functioning properly, the fittings the fuel manifold were loose, and had no hose clamps on them. also, the spring in the primer bulb was shot, along with some dry rot on the primer bulb itself.

Put in a new anti siphon valve, new fuel line, doing away with the fuel manifold, new primer bulb, new filters.

Hopefully now, this should do the trick.

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Ok.....

took her out for a test with the mechanic, after the fuel line was changed.

Ran like a top. Had her up to 5500 RPM (not quite WOT) ran for about 2 miles, and she didn't burp, hesitate or anything.

I think...(read i hope) i've got all the bugs and demons out of it.

I will run her repeatedly over the next several days, and see.

Now, is there any fuel conditioner, additives etc. that i should be using for the ethanol? Also, how many people keep their plugs out and not use a bilge pump?
How many keep their plugs in, and use a bilge pump?

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1. Use some brand of fuel conditioner

2. I use a Rule-Mate 500 or 750 in all my Whalers set on automatic.
I never leave the plug out in the sump of an Outrage 18'.....

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Excellent, glad to hear it's squared away! (said with fingers crossed...). Post a follow up in a few days if you can.

I just installed a new Rule 500, also set to Automatic and never leave the plug out (22' Outrage).

Dave

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"Ethanol" is hydroscopic (It attracts water), I don't know if all of that water in your fuel tank got there from condensation or another source but, Alcohol DEFINATELY attracts water (Not like scotch and soda though). It was recommended (and backed up by the shop that I checked with) that a fuel conditioner called "Carbon Guard" be added to the fuel to prevent sticky rings (the number one killer of the two-stroke engine). The additive helps burn up deposits in the fuel, fuel is of "LOUSY" quality now, the worst it's ever been, I used the "Carbon guard" for 1 season, checked the plugs at the end of the season...squeeky clean. I'm not BIG on any type of additives but, three mechanics told me "OH NO, The Carbon Guard is a MUST, when ever adding fuel to the boat". I believe that "Yamaha" call's it "RING FREE". The guy that told me about it always gets 20 years of service from his outboards.
mw

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update.....

Ran her for the 2nd time since fuel lines were changed.

First time, no burps, ran like a champ.

second time, still ran like a champ. Both trips were about 3 hours of continuous running time, anywhere between 3500 rpm and 5000 rpm.

After the second time out, when i got back to the dock, checked for water in the seperator, and nothing!!!

i do beleive, by problems are cured.