Gents,
While I am new to this forum, I've been on the water my entire life and I've been the proud owner of a classic 1977 Grady White 204-c overnighter since 2006. And ever since I've owned her I've been plauged by chronic fuel flow issues. The previous owner (I am the third) had her for about 20 years and put a new evinrude 200 on her in 1990. I've recently replaced the power pack, timer base, plugs, plug wires and impeller--when she's connected to an external tank she runs like a top.
But as you might imagine, a 3 gallon external tank doesn't get you very far with a 22 year old carbureted 2 stroke sucking down unleaded like a thirsty thoroughbred--which of course is why Grady built this little battle wagon with a 60 gallon internal tank. A 60 gallon internal tank that I'd very much like to use. But every time I connect to it I have fuel flow issues.
Here's what happens; I fill up the tank, prime the lines and start the engine. She runs and idles fine. She'll run fine all day long at trolling speeds and will accelerate up on plane and get going--but sometimes after getting up on plane for a bit she starts to get fuel starved and can't maintain engine speed. If i don't throttle back she'll stall out. Typically when this happens the primer bulb is either sucked together from the vacuum or now that i've installed a new, more rigid bulb, is full, but can't get enough suction to move fuel up from the tank without feeling like it is really pulling slowly. This has happened intermittently the whole time I've owned her and has really frustrated me to no end. Twice now I've taken the deck up, pumped the tank dry, blown air through the fuel and vent lines, swabbed the inside of the tank with paper towels to collect any sediment and put it all back together. And I know what you're thinking, "Well if you did all of that correctly, she should be running just fine." ......tell me about it.....
This tends to happen when the tank gets 3/4 full or less, and in rough water, which sounds like it could be from sediment, but I don't know where the clog is, unless it is in the pickup tube.... Behind the pickup tube now lives a 2O micron filter, and electric primer pump (that isn't strong enough to move the fuel through when I have problems) and a fuel/water separater with a new 10 micron element--both the filters are translucent and are full of clean fuel--no gunk or clogs.
All I can figure is that either the tube keeps getting clogged ( or has some dirty element I don't know about) and I need to tap the tank and add a new one, or that the vent (because it is at the aft end of the tank, intermittently gets sloshed with fuel in rough water or when I'm up on a plane and slowly creates enough vacuum to cause the fuel flow problems, though I think it is more likely the former than the latter because there is no suction when I open the fuel fill when this happens, and the primer bulb remains slow and ineffective with the cap off the fuel fill.
Does anyone know if there is an element somewhere in my pickup tube, and/or how to get to it to clean it? (I've blown air back through the tube and can hear it bubbling in the tank, so if there is an element it must be occasionally getting clogged with something that diminishes flow, but not entirely.
If no element in the tube, what could it be? What is the best way to add a new pickup tube? Anybody got any ideas?
While I am new to this forum, I've been on the water my entire life and I've been the proud owner of a classic 1977 Grady White 204-c overnighter since 2006. And ever since I've owned her I've been plauged by chronic fuel flow issues. The previous owner (I am the third) had her for about 20 years and put a new evinrude 200 on her in 1990. I've recently replaced the power pack, timer base, plugs, plug wires and impeller--when she's connected to an external tank she runs like a top.
But as you might imagine, a 3 gallon external tank doesn't get you very far with a 22 year old carbureted 2 stroke sucking down unleaded like a thirsty thoroughbred--which of course is why Grady built this little battle wagon with a 60 gallon internal tank. A 60 gallon internal tank that I'd very much like to use. But every time I connect to it I have fuel flow issues.
Here's what happens; I fill up the tank, prime the lines and start the engine. She runs and idles fine. She'll run fine all day long at trolling speeds and will accelerate up on plane and get going--but sometimes after getting up on plane for a bit she starts to get fuel starved and can't maintain engine speed. If i don't throttle back she'll stall out. Typically when this happens the primer bulb is either sucked together from the vacuum or now that i've installed a new, more rigid bulb, is full, but can't get enough suction to move fuel up from the tank without feeling like it is really pulling slowly. This has happened intermittently the whole time I've owned her and has really frustrated me to no end. Twice now I've taken the deck up, pumped the tank dry, blown air through the fuel and vent lines, swabbed the inside of the tank with paper towels to collect any sediment and put it all back together. And I know what you're thinking, "Well if you did all of that correctly, she should be running just fine." ......tell me about it.....
This tends to happen when the tank gets 3/4 full or less, and in rough water, which sounds like it could be from sediment, but I don't know where the clog is, unless it is in the pickup tube.... Behind the pickup tube now lives a 2O micron filter, and electric primer pump (that isn't strong enough to move the fuel through when I have problems) and a fuel/water separater with a new 10 micron element--both the filters are translucent and are full of clean fuel--no gunk or clogs.
All I can figure is that either the tube keeps getting clogged ( or has some dirty element I don't know about) and I need to tap the tank and add a new one, or that the vent (because it is at the aft end of the tank, intermittently gets sloshed with fuel in rough water or when I'm up on a plane and slowly creates enough vacuum to cause the fuel flow problems, though I think it is more likely the former than the latter because there is no suction when I open the fuel fill when this happens, and the primer bulb remains slow and ineffective with the cap off the fuel fill.
Does anyone know if there is an element somewhere in my pickup tube, and/or how to get to it to clean it? (I've blown air back through the tube and can hear it bubbling in the tank, so if there is an element it must be occasionally getting clogged with something that diminishes flow, but not entirely.
If no element in the tube, what could it be? What is the best way to add a new pickup tube? Anybody got any ideas?
