My turn for fuel system problems

[relamb]

I'm 1100 miles from the boat and won't be back for a few weeks.  I think my issue is that I didn't crank long enough to let the injection pump self bleed past the pump to the injectors.  Once I got fuel to the injection pump and it didn't immediately fire up, I assumed the injectors were airlocked and I needed to bleed them.
So I pulled out the lever, thinking I was decompressing for easier cranking, and cracked open the lines at the injectors.  Since I had the handle pulled out while cranking, I got nothing.  I was shutting off fuel, not relieving compression.
...at that point, I had to give up and head for the airport to come home.

yes, I definitely need to make sure the screen in the pickup tube is gone.  The pickup tube is pretty solidly attached to the 90 degree fitting and I could not get it apart with the tools at hand, so I just jammed it as hard as I could with a long piece of wire hoping to destroy it or poke a hole in it. I was at anchor more than 10 miles from my slip at the time.
Likewise with the tank cleaning, I can do that later as well.  But since I have free flow of fuel I'll know the tank needs cleaned pretty soon when my racor clogs up again, either with snot from the tank, or pieces of the pickup screen I demolished by jamming it with the wire!

Thanks for all the help and info,  I'll continue the thread in a few weeks when I get back to the boat and finish solving the problem.

[Allure2sail]

Hi:
I had to use a vise grip on the tube to unscrew 90 degree elbow fitting on top. The screen before you destroyed it looked like a witches hat upside down. I found my fuel system to use two different size fuel lines (1/4" & 5/16") have no idea why. Changed a fitting or two and got it to use all 5/16" fuel line. I keep an extra 4 or 5 feet of fuel line onboard. You could bring a jug of diesel just in case the crap in the tank gets you again. Read my earlier posting and follow what process I used. I agree with your thoughts on the fuel shut off being pulled out was a mistake. I do believe I had a problem with the small racor that came with the boat. I could actually see very tiny air bubbles through the plastic bowl. Maybe the casting became porous or an o'ring was compromised. That is why I replaced it with another unit that was a quite a bit larger along with a vacuum gage on the output side to tell me when the lift pump was working to hard because of dirty filter.
Good luck
Bruce

[relamb]

" I found my fuel system to use two different size fuel lines (1/4" & 5/16") "    - Anybody remember specifically which fittings they changed?  I was at the boat but the wife was with me on vacation so we didn't work on it.  Just stayed on the boat and sailed in the dinghy instead.  Next trip down to the boat in two weeks I'll have my son as a helper, we'll probably drain/clean the tank and replace the lines and the odd fittings.  Any idea how much total fuel line I might need (so I can buy in advance)?
Rick

[relamb]

with vice grips and the tools on the boat, I still could not get the fuel pickup tube apart to take out the screen.
So I just put the pickup hose in a jug of clean fuel and tried to start the engine.
Still no luck, air was getting in someplace.  I bled the system and tightened hose clamps and messed around working backwards from the injection pump until I found the culprit.  Like Bruce, somehow air is getting in at fuel/water separator.
So to get the engine running I just took that out of the line completely, and everything worked fine.
I also disconnected the return bypass line from the tank and put it into the fuel jug pour hole.
So basically my fuel jug is a temporary tank, and the fuel/water separator is out of the picture.
Runs great, and I actually went out a motored for a couple of hours to make sure there were no other issues.
Now I can get from my dock to the boatyard for haulout next week, and I can take the boat home to clean the tank and fix or replace the separator and get it ready for spring.  By the way, the fuel line from the tank to the separator was 1/4" but the separator fittings are 5/16".  I'll probably change out my fittings and hoses as well to 5/16.

[relamb]

The boat is back at my house where I have tools.  I removed the tank to clean it out completely, there was a little sludge in the bottom.  Here is a photo of the pickup tube, it goes down in the tank and is threaded to go inside the 90 degree fitting, which is threaded on the outside to screw into the top of the tank.
Into the 90 is also the fuel shutoff valve.
The tank screen is inside the top of the tube at the 90.  You can see it's condition, and this is after I tried to clean it out (I could not get it apart at the boat, needed the vice to hold it).  The screen is now in the local landfill.

Pickup tube and shutoff valve


The clogged screen


Thrown away!

[deisher6]

Hey Rick:
Yup! Throw it away. 

Recommend cleaning the tank out with muriatic acid, using suitable cautions and taking the tank off the boat.

regards charlie

[relamb]

I did clean the tank out with muratic acid, and there seems to be a film still on the bottom of the tank.  Letting it soak with some gasoline for a couple of days to see if it comes off, although all the major gunk came out.   I also removed the original aluminum waste holding tank, and put some muratic acid in it.  ...it was corroded so thin at the bottom the acid ate right through it.   Better that than springing a leak while in the boat, but now it's new holding tank time.